Force Majeure (French for "superior force"), also known as cas fortuit (French) or casus fortuitus (Latin), is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, or an event described by the legal term "act of God" (e.g., flooding, earthquake, volcano), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract. [Source, Wikipedia]

Once a booking is confirmed your artist is committed to perform at your event and will turn away all further work enquiries for that date and/or time. The cancellation charges reflect the loss of income that the artist has suffered as a result of the cancellation.

Under the Terms and Conditions of the contract, the artist is not permitted to cancel for any reason except circumstances covered by Force Majeure (war, famine, serious illness etc). In the unlikely event of cancellation of the artist, we would do all that is feasibly possible to provide you with a suitable alternative at no extra cost to you. If however, we are unable to supply an alternative (and the artist has cancelled for reasons not covered by Force Majeure) then the artist is liable to pay you a fee equal to your booking deposit and you would have nothing extra to pay. Booking deposits are not refundable under circumstances covered by Force Majeure.

If you have to cancel your booking once it has been confirmed then you will lose your booking deposit or prepayment. In addition to this...
- If you cancel within 90 days of the event 50% of the outstanding balance is payable.
- If you cancel within 30 days of the event 100% of the outstanding balance is payable.
 

Yes. We accept payment from most major debit and credit cards. There is no charge for debit card payments but we have to apply a 1.5% surcharge for credit cards to cover merchant costs.

We prepare contracts for all bookings which are mutually signed between you (the client) and the musicians or band (the artist). Our contracts aim to clarify all the agreed details, thus avoiding any potential misunderstandings and offering all parties peace of mind. Click here to view the current Terms and Conditions as they appear in our contracts.

To confirm your booking you need to pay a non-refundable booking deposit or prepayment which is typically about 20% of the total fee. We prefer to take this payment by debit/credit card over the phone. Your balance is normally payable 14 days prior to the event date (although exceptions can be made) and we settle with your artist after the successful completion of the performance.

Once you have decided which artist you would like, you need to contact us to check their availability for your date. Please call us on 0845 8387884 or email us at enquiries@dgmusic.co.uk

A: Professional musicians can have bookings in their diary up to 12 months or more in advance (especially around weekends in the Summer and Christmas). If you want the best then you must plan ahead as much as possible. If you are booking music with less than a month to go before your event then choice will be much more limited.

A: The cost of live music depends on the following factors...

- Number of musicians required (most of the fee is wages)
- Location of event (musicians will need to travel to your event)
- Date/timing of the event (weekends and public holidays command a premium rate)

It is therefore not possible to offer an exact quote without the above information. If you require a precise quote for an artist please contact us.

Yes. All balances are payable to DG Music Payments Ltd, a client account for transferring fees to artists. You can pay all or part of your balance at any time by debit/credit card, cheque or BACS. Of course, if your booking is cancelled for any reason, then any monies owed to you under the cancellation terms of the contract would be returned to you.

Most of our musicians and bands supply all the necessary sound equipment within the booking price. For bands this usually (but not always) includes PA and/or stage lighting. Please note that all pop and jazz artists will require electricity which needs to be provided to their precise location. Classical musicians will often require chairs and musicians who are required to play outdoors often require a gazebo or covering to protect them and their equipment from direct sunlight.

Most bands will play 2 x 45, 50 or 60 minutes sets and will require a minimum of 20 minute break between the sets. Please see the ‘Additional Info’ section in each artist profile for specific details on each artist's set times.

About an hour and a half. The majority of this time is used for loading in and assembling the equipment. All bands will need to perform a short sound-check which will take roughly 15-20 minutes. Most bands prefer to do this when there is no-one else in the room.

Standard times for an evening band booking are for the band to arrive no earlier than 6pm, and to finish playing their sets no later than 12.00am midnight. Arrangements can be made for earlier set up times and performing after midnight but this attracts an additional cost.

Yes, this is usually fine. Music can be played through the band’s PA system via MP3 player or laptop free of charge, between the band’s sets and for a limited period (usually 20-30 minutes) after they have finished. Please note that you cannot use the band PA until they have finished their set up and sound-check.

Yes. In addition to an artist’s standard stage lighting we can provide enhanced lighting packages including dance floor lighting and venue lighting such as colour co-ordinated up-lighters. Please see our Sound & Lighting section for more info.

Unfortunately not. Artists’ public liability policies do not extend cover to 3rd parties.

Yes, if it is a song within their repertoire. Some bands may also be happy to learn a new song especially for you but there may be an additional charge for this to cover rehearsal time. If the band can’t play your chosen song then they will happily play the original recording through their PA system.

Yes, to a point. Bands can never play their entire repertoire in one performance so are usually happy to try and include a number your favourite songs from their repertoire. Do bear in mind that all of our bands are experienced in performing at events and have tried and tested set lists that will work for your audience. So, ultimately it is best to let them write the set list!