People ask me what separates a good live sound company from a bad one. The honest answer is that I wouldn’t know, because I only work with good companies.
That is a joke, but there is a serious point underneath it. Whether you are booking a live sound company in North Wales or hiring a touring crew anywhere, the same checks apply. After years in this industry you learn to spot a properly run operation within the first phone call, and you learn to spot a cobbled-together one just as fast. If you are a band manager, a promoter, or anyone responsible for booking sound for a show, you can learn to spot the difference too.
Here is the checklist I would run through before handing anyone your gig.
Do they ask the right questions before they quote?
A good live sound company asks about access and power before it gives you a price. How does the equipment get in? What power is available on site? These things shape the whole job.
If a company is happy to hand over a kit list and a number without asking anything about the venue, that tells you something. They are quoting a guess. The right questions come first, the price comes after.
Can they give you a kit list in advance?
A professional company can tell you exactly what it is bringing before the day. If they cannot, they are not properly organised.
Ask for it. A clear kit list is one of the simplest signs that a company plans its work rather than improvising it on the morning.
Do the equipment brands actually match?
This one is a quiet giveaway. If you see JBL subwoofers paired with Mackie tops, that tells you straight away it is a cobbled-together budget rig.
A coherent, professional system uses matched equipment that is designed to work together. If the brands do not belong with each other, ask why. There is sometimes a good reason, but more often it means the kit has been assembled on price alone.
Are they providing proper paperwork?
This is where the serious companies separate themselves from the rest. Ask whether they provide a few key documents.
- CDM documentation. CDM stands for Construction Design and Management, the formal safety framework that governs how professional event production companies plan and manage risk. A company without it is not operating to professional standards.
- Risk assessments and method statements. These show they have thought about what could go wrong and how they will handle it.
- Plans. A stage plot, a system diagram, and a site plan. A company that works to drawings is a company that knows what it is doing before it arrives.
If a supplier cannot produce these, that is not a small gap. It is the difference between a professional operation and an amateur one.
Have they offered a site visit?
For anything beyond the simplest show, a good company will want to see the space, or at least assess it properly based on the scale of the job. A site visit is where the real problems get spotted early, before they become problems on the day.
Have you actually spoken to them on the phone?
A company you can only ever reach by email or text is a concern. Live production runs on quick, clear communication, and you want to know there is a real person who picks up when something needs sorting.
Have you seen their insurance?
Ask for it. A professional company will show you its insurance without hesitation. Reluctance, or a vague promise to send it later, is a warning sign on its own.
Is there a duty of care for the crew?
This one matters more than people think. A company where staff routinely arrive at 9am and leave at 2am the next morning, with no support and no pastoral care, is not a well run business.
Tired crew make mistakes, and tired crew is a safety issue, not just a kindness issue. How a company looks after its people tells you how it will run your event.
The red flags, in short
If you want the quick version, walk away when you see:
- Mismatched or incompatible equipment brands
- No insurance, or reluctance to provide it
- Equipment that has not been PAT tested. PAT testing is the regular electrical safety testing that all professional companies carry out on their kit.
- No documentation: no kit list, no risk assessment, no method statement
- Everything driven by cost alone, rather than capability or safety
None of this is about spending the most money. It is about making sure the company you hire treats the job, and your show, with the seriousness it deserves. While you are at it, it helps to understand the difference between FOH and monitor engineers, so you know whether your show needs one engineer or two.
Frequently asked questions
What should I ask a live sound company before booking?
Ask whether they check access and power before quoting, whether they can give you a kit list in advance, whether their equipment brands are properly matched, and whether they provide CDM documentation, risk assessments, and insurance. A professional company answers all of these without hesitation.
What is a red flag when hiring a PA company?
Mismatched equipment brands, no insurance or reluctance to show it, equipment that has not been PAT tested, no kit list or risk assessment, and a company that only ever talks about price.
What is CDM in event production?
CDM stands for Construction Design and Management, the formal safety framework that governs how professional event production companies plan and manage risk.
Should a live sound company provide a kit list in advance?
Yes. A company that cannot tell you what it is bringing before the day is not properly organised.
Booking sound for a show in North Wales?
We provide live event production and live sound across North Wales, Chester, and the wider UK, for bands, choirs, promoters, and venues of every size. Ask us any question on this checklist and we will answer it gladly. That is genuinely not a sales pitch, it is just how a good company should work.
Get in touch and we will talk through what your show needs.
Darren Hughes is Director of Pivotal Sound & Lighting, a live event production and AV company based in Llay, Wrexham, North Wales. PSL provides live sound, PA hire, and full event production for artists, choirs, and promoters across the UK and beyond.