Gigs & business
Per diem
A per diem is a fixed daily cash allowance for food and incidentals while travelling, paid separately from the fee. It is normal on multi-day trips and tours and unusual on a single local booking.
In practice
Ask about a per diem when a booking involves a night away. It is normal on travel dates and never offered unprompted.
Raise it in the same message as travel and accommodation, because it is part of the same question: what does this trip cost me. Expect it in local currency and in cash on arrival, which is worth knowing so you are not looking for an ATM at three in the morning. On a single local gig it is not a normal ask and pressing for one reads as inexperience rather than professionalism.
Per day
How it is paid
Travel dates
When it applies
On arrival
When it usually lands
Where these come from: Touring convention for artist per diems — practice, not financial advice.
Why it matters
It exists because receipts are a bad system for both sides. A fixed amount per day means nobody is reconciling airport sandwiches, and the artist is not out of pocket for eating in a city they were flown to. It is administrative rather than generous.
For a DJ playing weekends near home it will rarely come up. It starts to matter the moment a booking involves a night away, and knowing the word is most of the value — you cannot ask for something you do not know is normally offered.
Frequently asked
Is a per diem normal for DJs?+
On travel and tour dates, yes. On a local booking, no — the fee is the fee and asking for a daily allowance for a night at home is not a normal request.
Is a per diem part of the fee?+
It is separate, and it should be written separately. Folding it into the fee makes it invisible next time, which is how a term quietly disappears.
Do I need receipts for a per diem?+
Normally not, which is the point of the arrangement. How you treat it for your own tax is a question for whoever does your accounts.
Related terms
Buyout
A buyout is cash paid instead of providing something the rider asked for — usually the hospitality items, sometimes a meal or accommodation. Both sides often prefer it, because cash is easier than shopping.
Booking fee
A booking fee is the agreed amount a DJ is paid to play, independent of how the night performs. It is sometimes called a guarantee, because that is exactly what distinguishes it from a share of the door.
Load-in
Load-in is the window during which artists and crew may bring equipment into a venue, at a specified door and time. It exists because a building has one goods entrance and a schedule for everyone using it.
Accreditation
Accreditation is the pass system controlling who may go where on a site — laminates, wristbands and colour codes, each granting a defined set of areas. It is issued on arrival against a list submitted in advance.
Explore: Pacing a marathon set · Load-in · Accreditation · All DJ terms