How to run a ticketed battle of the bands

You've got local bands looking for a stage, a venue with an available date and an idea that sounds easy to sell. Put the acts on one bill, let the audience pick a winner and give the night a name. The difficult questions start when a band asks whether bringing more friends improves its score.

To organise a battle of the bands, settle the competition rules and the concert offer together. Recruit a field you can judge fairly, agree the same performance opportunity for each act, fund the prize and explain exactly what an audience ticket buys. My preference for an independent paid event is a judged main prize and a separate audience award. That lets supporters participate without making the headline result a contest over who can sell the most tickets.

You also need an evening people would enjoy if their friend's band didn't win. Good sound, a coherent bill and a finish time they can plan around matter just as much as the trophy. If every act brings its supporters only for its own set, you haven't yet built an audience for the event.

This guide works through recruitment, judging, performer terms, production and the budget for a small commercial competition. The sample rules, scores, prices and timings are invented planning examples. They're starting points to adapt with your venue and advisers, rather than official competition standards or a ready-to-sign agreement.

Decide what kind of competition you're selling

Start with the promise to the musicians. Are you finding the strongest original live act in a particular scene, celebrating local songwriting or running an audience popularity contest? Each can produce an entertaining event. They need different selection rules, marketing and claims about what winning means.

For a first edition, I'd keep the field reasonably coherent. A bill of original alternative bands gives the judges and audience a clearer proposition than an unrestricted contest that compares a solo classical guitarist, a tribute act and an electronic producer. A broad format can work, but your criteria must explain how those performances can compete on meaningful terms.

Write a short description before recruiting. For example, an independent adult original-music competition at an established live venue, with a panel-selected winner and a separate audience favourite. That tells you what belongs in the application, which judges you need and what the ticket page should say. It also makes unsuitable submissions easier to handle respectfully.

Real competitions make different choices. Arts of the Albemarle's published application requirements specify original music and ask applicants for performance material and production information. The useful lesson is to describe the act you're inviting and the evidence you'll use to select it. You don't need to borrow another organiser's eligibility rules or prize package.

Decide whether this is a single evening or a series of heats. A series adds repeat venue costs, more availability checks and another set of promises to successful acts. Don't announce a final until you've secured its date, production and funding. For an untested event, one well-produced evening gives you a clearer way to learn whether musicians and paying audiences want another edition.

Build the budget before promising the prize

A cash prize is easy to put on a poster. Paying for it while delivering a decent show takes more thought. Price the venue, production, staff, performer fees and judging before deciding what the winner receives. A sponsor's proposed contribution only helps once the agreement and payment timing support your commitments.

Here's a fictional event with all amounts in USD. It has 300 paid audience tickets available after the venue has accounted for performers, workers, judges, guests and other admissions in its approved occupancy plan. The 300 is a selling limit for this example, not a claim about the building's safe capacity.

Its fixed event costs are:

• Venue hire, $1,200.

• Sound equipment and shared stage equipment, $1,100.

• Production crew, door staff and security, $900.

• Four agreed band fees of $250, totalling $1,000.

• Judges and host, $400.

• Marketing, $350.

• Insurance, permissions and administration, $250.

• Contingency, treated as fully spent, $400.

• Main cash prize, $1,000.

That makes $6,600. Assume a confirmed cash sponsor contributes $1,000 before the relevant bills fall due, leaving $5,600 to recover from audience tickets. There is no bar income, merchandise commission or other income in this calculation. The audience award is recognition only, with no extra cash or goods promised. The example band fee is a budget assumption, not a recommended professional rate; agree appropriate pay for the musicians and work involved. Example costs include any applicable purchase taxes; no sales tax applies to ticket receipts in this invented scenario, and business income tax is outside it.

At a $25 ticket price, assume $3 per paid ticket covers the event's variable selling and attendance costs. That's an invented allowance, not a Loopyah fee quote. Each ticket then leaves $22 towards the $5,600. You need 255 paid tickets to cover it, since 254 leave $5,588 and 255 leave $5,610.

At 270 paid tickets, the event leaves $340 after the listed costs. At 240, it loses $320. Even selling all 300 only leaves $1,000. You might accept that first-edition return, but you should recognise how little room it leaves for a cost increase or weak sales. Work through your own figures using the event break-even guide before confirming the commitments.

Now look at the cash dates. A profitable final calculation doesn't pay a supplier deposit today. List when the sponsor pays, when ticket money becomes available and when each bill is due. Set aside enough money for the prize to honour the promise even if late ticket sales disappoint. If that isn't possible, reduce the promised cost before applications open.

Give performers terms they can judge for themselves

Bands are supplying the performances you're selling. Tell them what they receive for doing that, what costs they carry and what happens if they lose. A prize awarded to one act doesn't explain the arrangement for everyone else.

The Musicians' Union's Fair Play Guide warns about pay-to-play arrangements and competitions where ticket purchases or supporter votes overshadow the music. It also recognises that fairly rewarded co-promotion can be negotiated. For this event, I'd budget an agreed performance fee for each selected act and make promotion expectations explicit, without compulsory ticket purchases.

If you charge an application or entry fee, explain what it pays for, when it becomes non-refundable and whether an unsuccessful applicant receives anything. Check the legal and contractual position locally. An audience ticket and a performer's entry payment serve different purposes, and neither should be disguised as the other. Don't assume calling a charge an administration fee resolves those questions.

Avoid requiring bands to buy unsold tickets or guarantee a minimum audience. That shifts your sales risk onto performers and changes who can afford to participate. If you offer an optional sales commission, put the rate, eligible sales, refunds and settlement date in writing. Keep those earnings entirely separate from judging.

The agreement should also cover arrival, technical preparation, set length, expenses, cancellation, substitutions and payment. Specify what the fee includes, including whether a rehearsal or soundcheck is required. A band travelling in for the afternoon needs more information than its evening stage time. Our artist liaison checklist helps organise those practical confirmations.

Make participation worthwhile without exaggerating exposure. Professional feedback can be useful if qualified judges have time to provide it. A promised future paid booking needs an actual fee, date or booking process. "Industry opportunities" needs explaining before it becomes a reason someone accepts your offer.

Recruit a credible field with a manageable application

Your first job is finding acts that fit the show, can attend and can perform with the available production. Ask for enough information to make those decisions. Don't make a polished promotional campaign the hidden price of entry.

A useful application asks for the act's name, main contact, lineup, location if relevant to eligibility, a representative performance recording and a short description of the music. Ask about availability for the complete required call, including preparation and awards. Collect initial equipment needs and invite applicants to discuss access requirements privately with a named contact.

Say what the recording needs to demonstrate. A clear rehearsal video may tell you more about live readiness than an expensive music video. Give applicants a way to flag a broken link before the deadline, and check that the selection team can open submissions. Otherwise you may reject an act because someone left a folder private.

Publish the eligibility boundaries in plain language. Decide whether all members must meet an age rule, how you define a local act, whether covers are allowed and whether the same musician can appear in more than one entry. If member substitutions are possible, explain what requires approval. These choices affect who applies and how much production work follows.

Separate selection for the bill from judging on the night. The selection team might consider genre balance and technical fit as well as performance quality. Tell applicants that. Don't advertise a purely merit-ranked audition if you're also curating an evening with a particular sound and manageable equipment changes.

Use a record of the selection decision that another organiser could understand. Note eligibility, the performance evidence reviewed and any unresolved production condition. Send selected acts a confirmation deadline and keep a small reserve list with permission. A reserve act needs a real offer when called, rather than an assumption that it can prepare and travel at the last minute.

Write the scoring rules before you approach judges

If the main prize recognises live performance, describe what a strong performance means. A vague "overall impact" score leaves too much for the panel to invent. Equally, a long form with overlapping categories can reward the same thing several times.

For this fictional four-act event, use three independent judges, each scoring every act out of 100. The panel assesses musical execution out of 35, songwriting and arrangement out of 30, delivery of the set out of 25, and engagement with the room out of 10. Those weights are an editorial example, not an established industry rubric.

Explain each category in words. Musical execution concerns control and how the players work together. Songwriting and arrangement concerns the material and choices within it. Delivery concerns whether the set feels prepared and communicates the act's intentions. Engagement concerns how the act addresses the room, without rewarding the number or loudness of its existing supporters.

That last distinction needs discussion. A quiet performer can hold an audience's attention. A mobile performer isn't automatically more effective than someone who plays seated. Tell judges to assess the performance within the act's approach and any agreed access arrangements, rather than treating movement or a particular visual style as a universal standard.

Keep safety and conduct decisions outside artistic scoring. The stage manager can stop unsafe activity, and the competition manager can apply a published conduct procedure. A judge shouldn't improvise a points deduction because a band disputes an equipment problem. If a timed overrun carries a penalty, define its trigger, amount and decision owner before the event.

The total for each act is the mean, or average, of its three judges' scores. For example, totals of 81, 84 and 87 produce 84. Record the original category marks as well as that final figure. Do the calculation without rounding intermediate values, and specify how displayed rounding relates to the actual ranking.

Here's how the two results can differ without either being wrong. Suppose the judges' totals for acts A, B, C and D are respectively 81/84/87, 86/89/89, 80/82/84 and 83/85/87. Their means are 84, 88, 82 and 85. Act B wins the main prize. Those totals are invented to demonstrate the arithmetic, and each judge still needs the underlying category scores.

Now suppose the audience returns 240 ballots. Of those, 230 are valid votes, six select multiple acts and four are blank. Valid votes split A 90, B 70, C 40 and D 30. Act A receives the audience award. The multiple selections are invalid and the blanks are abstentions under the example rules. Nobody adds the 90 votes to A's judging score or treats B's smaller following as a penalty. Keep the two award names clear when publishing the results.

Choose the tie procedure now. In this example, compare the tied acts' mean songwriting and arrangement scores, then their mean musical execution scores. If both remain equal, declare joint main winners and split the published cash prize equally. Make sure the prize terms allow that. Don't reach for an unannounced coin toss when the host is already holding the microphone.

Choose judges who can defend their decisions

Recognisable names can help sell the night, but suitability comes first. You need people who understand the relevant music, can observe every competing set and will use the same criteria consistently. Ask them about conflicts before confirming the lineup publicly.

In UK promotional marketing, the ASA's guidance on independent competition judges explains that subjective competitions need an independent judge, or a panel including an independent member, where the rules apply. Independence concerns connections to promoters and entrants. Paying someone specifically to judge doesn't by itself compromise that independence. Check how the applicable rules cover your particular event and location.

For your panel, ask about current or recent management, teaching, family, financial and close personal relationships with applicants. Agree what gets disclosed and what requires replacement. A familiar local scene may make some connections inevitable; concealing them is the problem. The published process should explain how you prevent an affected judge from deciding a friend's result.

I'd arrange an appropriate reserve judge before the show. With a small panel, one withdrawal can undermine the promise that every act receives the same assessment. Replacing someone for all competing performances is usually easier to explain than combining different panels after some bands have already played. Have the reserve observe every competing set and record scores under the same conditions, holding those records unused unless the replacement procedure requires them. Someone arriving only for the last band cannot supply a comparable live assessment of the whole field. Set your contingency before you know who benefits.

Brief judges using an invented performance description or agreed practice material. Ask them to explain how they'd apply the categories. You're looking for misunderstandings, such as one person scoring audience size while another scores audience attention. The purpose isn't to force identical tastes or matching scores.

Give each judge a suitable position, a clear view and a workable way to record marks. Collect scores independently before any panel discussion changes them. Have a separate person check addition and data entry. Keep the original sheets or records so you can distinguish an artistic disagreement from a clerical error later.

Let the audience participate without buying the result

A separate audience favourite gives supporters a clear role. Explain that it doesn't change the main judges' prize, and repeat that distinction on the ticket page, in the programme and when voting opens. People shouldn't discover the structure only after their band loses.

For the sample event, one checked-in eligible audience attendee receives one single-use ballot or voting code. A group purchase doesn't give the purchaser control of everyone else's vote. Performers, working crew, judges and the organising team aren't eligible for this audience ballot. Free guest eligibility must also be stated; in this example, admitted audience guests can vote on the same basis as paid attendees.

Voting opens after the final competing set and closes at a published time. Each eligible attendee can select one act or abstain. Have a no-valid-vote rule too; in this example, no audience award is made if there are no valid votes, and that condition is disclosed in advance. Tell buyers whether they must remain to vote. Opening voting only at the end discourages early decisions, but it doesn't prove that every voter watched every set. Be honest about that limit.

A paper system can work well in a small room. Issue one controlled ballot on entry or against a checked-in admission record, provide an accessible collection point and use two staff members to reconcile issued, unused and submitted ballots. Use numbered paper ballots so a replacement can be traced without putting the voter's name on the vote. Keep blank and spoiled ballots separate. Don't let the same attendee receive a replacement without cancelling the original ballot or code.

If you use digital voting, test duplicate prevention, group admissions, poor connectivity and an accessible alternative. A public link that anyone can forward isn't equivalent to one ballot per admitted attendee. Decide what evidence you need to investigate a suspected problem without collecting unnecessary personal information.

Publish how invalid ballots and ties are handled. For this example, a ballot selecting multiple acts is invalid, an unmarked ballot counts as an abstention and tied highest valid vote totals share the recognition. No audience cash prize needs splitting. Staff must follow that same rule even if the venue owner's favourite act is involved.

Don't sell extra votes. It changes the audience award into a different proposition and can create legal questions that an ordinary admissions plan doesn't answer. If fundraising is part of the event, explain the donation separately and have the proposed competition mechanism checked before using it.

Give every act an agreed performance opportunity

Equal set lengths are a useful start. They don't guarantee equal conditions. One act might get a complete soundcheck while another is hurried on after a technical fault. A competition makes those differences part of the result, so you need to plan them explicitly.

Collect the current technical rider, stage plot and input list from every selected act. These describe requirements, positions and sound connections. Have the production lead confirm what can actually be supplied. Backline means shared stage instruments and equipment, such as drum shells and amplifiers; list the exact items rather than promising "full backline" and leaving artists to guess.

Tell performers what they must bring themselves, what adjustments are allowed and how the crew will identify personal items. Get agreement to any substitution before the event. Shared equipment can reduce movements, but an unsuitable instrument can make an act unable to deliver its intended set.

Have the technical team test the proposed transitions. Four bands with the same number of players can still need very different changes. Our guide to stage changeovers explains how to calculate those transitions from the actual work. Use its method to confirm your gaps, rather than choosing a short gap because it makes the poster look convenient.

Agree where the performance clock starts, how the act receives a warning and who records interruptions. For this example, the clock starts on the first intentional performance sound after the host hands over. Band introductions and between-song conversation count within the set. The stage manager gives an agreed visible warning and records the finish.

An event-supplied equipment fault needs a different response from an act choosing an overlong final song. Establish who can pause the clock, what technical recovery can be offered and how any repeat is judged. The crew must retain authority over safe operation. Don't ask a judge to decide whether a damaged cable can stay in use.

Build an evening that doesn't depend on rushing

Here is a fictional timetable for four 20-minute sets and three 15-minute changeovers. The production lead has confirmed those transition allowances for the agreed setups in this example. They're not recommended minimums. Artist arrival, preparation, soundchecks and crew breaks happen under a separate confirmed daytime schedule.

• 18:30, audience doors open.

• 19:00 to 19:05, welcome and explanation of awards.

• 19:05 to 19:25, act A.

• 19:25 to 19:40, changeover.

• 19:40 to 20:00, act B.

• 20:00 to 20:15, changeover.

• 20:15 to 20:35, act C.

• 20:35 to 20:50, changeover.

• 20:50 to 21:10, act D.

• 21:10 to 21:20, audience ballot window.

• 21:20 to 21:35, checking and counting.

• 21:35 to 21:45, awards and closing.

The competing sets and intervening changes occupy 125 minutes. The example finishes at 21:45 against a confirmed 22:00 programme finish, leaving 15 minutes for recoverable delays. Venue clearance and equipment removal have their own later agreed deadlines. This schedule promises no winner's encore, which would otherwise need equipment and performance time.

Use the host to connect the evening during changes, without interfering with the crew. They can introduce the next act, explain a judging category or remind people when voting opens. Keep prepared material available, but don't fill every possible gap with sponsor speeches. People bought a music event.

Confirm running order through a disclosed process. A draw is one option once technical constraints are agreed. If production needs require a different method, explain that before selection is final. A quiet first slot and a crowded last slot can affect the experience even when neither changes the judges' criteria.

Write down how delays change the plan. Staff shouldn't quietly shorten the final band's set to recover time spent on an earlier fault. Identify optional host material that can be removed and the point at which a larger decision is required. Safety, permissions and a hard finish still apply; the fair response must be agreed before the room is waiting. Explain how a delay affects the ballot window too. If the final set finishes late, don't close voting at the original time before people have had their promised opportunity. Announce the revised window under the published delay procedure and keep counting and awards within the venue's constraints.

Confirm music permissions, safety and access

An original-music competition still needs a permissions conversation. Ask the venue and relevant rights organisations what covers the performances, recorded music between sets and any recording you intend to publish. Put responsibility for each permission in writing, including information the bands must supply.

As a UK example, GOV.UK's live and recorded music licensing guidance says public live music events usually need a licence and directs organisers to PPL PRS. Check the repertoire and use with the appropriate rights holder or licensing body. The answer for your country, venue and recording plans needs its own verification.

Permission to perform at the venue doesn't automatically answer whether you can stream the event or post complete performances afterwards. Agree recording, editing, use of names and images, and any artist approvals separately. Don't advertise a professional recording as part of participation until the rights and production arrangements support that promise.

The venue and competent production team need an event-specific safety plan. Include audience movement, emergency arrangements, electrical work, stage access, equipment handling and control of sound exposure. Keep performer and audience routes usable during changes. A contest deadline never gives the crew permission to skip a required check.

For Great Britain, the HSE's event noise guidance addresses worker and audience exposure separately. Ask your sound lead how exposure will be assessed and controlled under the requirements that apply to your event. Don't reward a band for being louder or use applause volume as a substitute for the promised ballot.

Discuss access with the venue before applications and ticket sales open. Publish practical information about entrances, audience viewing, toilets and the stage route. Give performers a private contact for requirements and explain what you can confirm. If the event includes minors, the adult-only example here isn't sufficient; you need suitable safeguarding, supervision and permissions for that different format.

Sell the whole night to the audience

The ticket page should answer why someone should attend without knowing a competing musician. Describe the music, the selected acts, the venue experience and how the evening works. "Support local talent" is a reason to care, but it doesn't tell a buyer whether they'll enjoy the bill or what time they'll get home.

Publish the performers once their agreements and production requirements are confirmed. Introduce the sound of each act using approved material and explain what connects the lineup. Short performance clips can help, provided you have permission to use them. Give buyers enough evidence to choose, rather than asking them to infer a genre from band names.

Put material details near the ticket choice. Include doors, programme times, age restrictions, access information, the two awards, voting eligibility and whether re-entry is allowed. Make clear that the ticket buys admission to the concert and eligible audience participation, not an entry in the performers' main competition or a promise that a preferred band will win.

Loopyah's ticket releases let you set prices and quantities for successive releases within a ticket type. That can handle an early allocation followed by the standard price without changing your competition rules. Decide the commercial reason for the lower price first, and keep the total inventory within the allocation agreed with the venue.

Be careful with discounts in the fictional budget. Selling all 300 tickets at $20, with the same $3 variable cost, leaves $5,100 towards the $5,600 and loses $500. Selling 100 at $20 and 200 at $25 leaves $6,100 and a $500 surplus. A discounted sellout can still miss the budget.

Promotion is the organiser's job too. Supply bands with accurate event details and approved assets, agree reasonable participation and run your own campaign to the relevant music audience. Keep sales reporting useful for marketing decisions. Don't let a referral total become an unofficial judging category after you've promised otherwise.

For people who have already bought, send useful arrival and voting information. Loopyah's attendee email tools support messages to ticket holders and audience segments. Keep the operational reminder focused on this night. Asking permission for later marketing is a separate question from telling someone when the show they paid for starts.

Prepare for the problems most likely to damage trust

A strong rules document doesn't predict everything. It gives staff a fair way to handle foreseeable problems without making a convenient exception for a popular act. Walk through a few scenarios with the competition manager, venue and production lead before applications close.

If a selected band withdraws, contact the reserve act under the published process and confirm that its production fits. Tell existing buyers about a material lineup change and follow the applicable terms and consumer requirements. Don't promote a band you know won't appear while hoping a replacement makes the difference irrelevant.

If a musician needs a substitute, check the eligibility and selection implications. Replacing an unavailable drummer may preserve the accepted act; replacing most of the lineup may produce a different entry. The organiser needs an agreed decision process and a deadline, rather than an arbitrary percentage announced after the request arrives.

If a judge becomes unavailable, use the disclosed reserve arrangement. If you can't provide the promised assessment, explain the problem and the next steps before presenting a result as though nothing changed. The appropriate response depends on your terms and obligations. A sponsor's employee shouldn't silently become the independent replacement.

Give the prize sponsor a similarly clear boundary. It can receive the agreed recognition without acquiring a right to choose the winner, see private applications or veto an act because its music doesn't suit a sales campaign. Confirm the prize's actual deliverables with the supplier. A recording session, for example, needs an agreed duration, available dates, included services and an explanation of who owns or can use the resulting recording. Don't invent a retail value to make the poster more exciting.

If the sponsor withdraws, follow the agreed contingency and applicable obligations. The organiser made the advertised promise to participants. You need to know how you'll provide the award or handle the failure before relying on someone else's goodwill. In the budget above, the cash contribution is confirmed and received in time; remove it from your own forecast if you don't have that certainty.

If someone challenges the result, separate a disagreement about taste from a procedural complaint. "The judges preferred another performance" is different from "our score was entered incorrectly" or "the published voting window closed early." Identify a contact and a submission period, retain the relevant records and explain what can actually be reviewed.

UK organisers can consult the ASA's competition administration guidance on fair administration, significant conditions and awarding advertised prizes where promotional rules apply. Have the local position checked before introducing paid entries or changing the mechanism. Publishing terms doesn't make every proposed arrangement lawful.

Use a compact competition brief everyone can follow

Keep the full terms available, but also prepare a working brief for selected acts, judges and staff. It should state the decisions they've agreed, with references to the detailed documents when needed. Here's a completed example based on the fictional event throughout this guide.

• Format. One evening for four selected adult original-music acts at an established venue. Eligibility and permitted substitutions are confirmed before the lineup announcement.

• Performer arrangement. Each selected act receives the agreed $250 fee under its booking terms. No compulsory ticket purchases. Promotion expectations and any optional commission are separate from scoring.

• Main award. A funded $1,000 cash prize decided by three independent judges using the published categories. Highest unrounded mean wins, with the stated category comparisons and joint-winner provision for an unresolved tie.

• Audience award. Recognition only, decided by one valid ballot per eligible checked-in audience attendee. Working personnel and performers are excluded. A tied vote produces joint recognition.

• Performance. Each act receives a 20-minute set under the agreed clock and interruption rules. Shared equipment, soundchecks, arrival calls and changes follow the confirmed technical schedule.

• Results. Scores and ballots are checked before the announcement. The competition manager owns procedural complaints, with a named contact and a clearly stated submission deadline.

• Rights and delivery. Permission for promotional materials is documented. Any recording use is agreed separately. The prize payment date and method are confirmed in the winner's terms.

Don't treat this brief as a substitute for the missing details. Your actual document still needs dates, named decision owners, contact details, the venue's limits, the specific fault procedure and locally checked terms. Have each responsible person read the sections they must deliver, then ask them to describe what happens when something goes wrong.

Check the result, pay people and decide whether to repeat it

At the end of the final set, let the audience know that voting is open and when it closes. Keep the rules visible while staff issue any valid replacement ballots or codes. Once voting closes, two authorised people should reconcile the count and record any invalid ballots under the published categories. Protect the judges' records while that separate work happens.

Check the main scores against the original sheets, including category totals, the mean and any tie procedure. Confirm the winner's identity and the exact award wording before giving the host the result. A short wait is preferable to announcing an unchecked winner and retracting it in front of the room.

Tell artists when they will receive the promised feedback and pay fees and prizes on the agreed dates. Record what was delivered, especially if a sponsor supplies part of an award. Thank every act for the performance, without turning that message into an unsolicited demand to promote the next edition.

For your own review, compare actual ticket income after deductions with all event costs. Reconcile free admissions and occupancy records separately from paid sales. Count the organiser's work, any unpaid invoices and the cost of benefits you promised for later. A positive ticket dashboard isn't a complete event result.

Then ask performers and buyers different questions. Performers can tell you whether the conditions and judging were credible. Buyers can tell you whether they enjoyed acts they hadn't come to support and whether the night felt worth its price. Read complaints alongside the records, rather than assuming the loudest response represents everyone.

Before booking another date, identify what you can afford to repeat and what needs changing. If the event only worked because bands absorbed the sales risk, the business needs another approach. If you can fund fair terms, attract an audience for the whole bill and explain the result without making excuses, you have a useful basis for the next edition.