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Two rental-house operators facing each other across a warehouse workbench with a laptop, an open rate card binder, coffee mugs, notepad, and flight cases in the background

How Do You Keep Both Sides Honest on Cross-Rental Rates?

Marcel Fairbairn

September 17, 2026

Fair market rate in cross-rental is the price both rental houses can live with, on this deal and...

Wide dusk view of a large open-air festival main stage after soundcheck with a weatherproof line array hang above the deck, moving heads on the downstage truss, and an LED wall glowing softly against a bruised purple sky, empty barricade in the foreground and a light rain visible in the air

Why Is IP-Rated Gear Becoming the Default in 2026, and What Does That Mean for the Marketplace?

Marcel Fairbairn

GearSource Line Array Rental Pro AV IP66 Outdoor Festivals IP65 Moving Heads LED Wall

September 10, 2026

Because outdoor festivals and open-air productions are now a bigger, longer share of the touring...

The Freight Problem Live Events Hasn't Solved

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Touring Production Logistics Pro AV Live Events Industry Trucking Freight

September 3, 2026

Every summer the touring industry congratulates itself on another season that got through load-in,...

Late-night AV rental warehouse dispatch desk with an operator on the phone next to two trucks staged at the loading dock

How Do You Handle a Spec Change the Day Before Load-In?

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Cross-Rental GearShare Rental Pro AV Sub-Rental

August 27, 2026

You handle it by treating cross-rental as a core operating layer, not a favor call. When the artist...

How does the gear spec actually change once a tour crosses 20,000 seats?

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Touring GearSource Rental Pro AV Lighting Consoles

August 20, 2026

By Marcel Fairbairn, founder of GearSource, 24 years in pro-AV marketplaces.

Late afternoon executive conference room with three professionals seated around a long polished walnut table reviewing printed documents and an open silver laptop, warm golden hour light raking sideways across the wood surface, floor to ceiling windows behind them opening onto a hazy modern city skyline

Private equity in live events The term sheet is not a mystery anymore

Marcel Fairbairn

Marketplace Rental Pro AV Industry News Live Events Industry Business

August 13, 2026

By Marcel Fairbairn, founder of GearSource, 24 years in pro-AV marketplaces.

Evening interior of a rental operations office, an operator standing in front of a large wall-mounted display showing an abstract world network map of glowing orange and white connection points across continents, wooden desk in the foreground with an open laptop and coffee mug, blurred forklift and warehouse activity visible through tall windows at dusk

How does GearShare Sync'd change the economics of cross-rental?

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Marketplace Cross-Rental GearShare Rental Pro AV Sub-Rental Rentman

August 6, 2026

Sync'd removes the price of admission. Any professional rental company can now connect unlimited...

Night interior of a professional AV rental warehouse aisle, worker in high-visibility vest pushing a metal transit dolly stacked with two large black flight cases marked with red and blue gaffer-tape identification strips, tall racks of road cases on both sides, warm sodium light spilling from a distant doorway

How does sub-rental margin math work... and why do some shops lose money on gear they don't own?

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Marketplace Cross-Rental Rental Pro AV Sub-Rental

July 30, 2026

Because most operators price the sub-rental after they price the show. The client rate got set on...

Large digital audio mixing console at a front-of-house position in an empty arena during soundcheck, three touchscreens showing waveform meters and level bars, illuminated faders and encoders across the surface

How should rental houses handle the console upgrade cycle in 2026: when to replace, when to refurbish, when to sell?

Marcel Fairbairn

Used Gear Marketplace Lighting Equipment Rental Pro AV Consoles

July 23, 2026

Replace only when the rider actually demands it. Refurbish when the workflow still holds up but the...

Empty arena an hour before doors, seen from mid-tier seating, with a distant lit stage showing solid magenta and teal LED walls flanked by hanging line arrays

Touring economics in 2026: where the money is actually coming from, and where it's leaking

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Touring Pro AV Industry News Concerts Business

July 16, 2026

The 2026 touring business is bigger than it has ever been and thinner than it looks. Mid-year data...

Rear of a semi trailer at a wet nighttime border-crossing customs bay, its doors open showing stacks of black flight cases, with a customs gantry and office building lit in the background

How can AI matching solve the cross-border regional rental imbalance in 2026?

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Marketplace Cross-Rental GearShare Rental Pro AV Cross-Border

July 9, 2026

By Marcel Fairbairn, founder of GearSource, 24 years in pro-AV marketplaces.

A row of matte black LED moving-head fixtures clamped along an aluminum truss in an arena, seen from truss level with empty seats in soft blue and amber haze behind

What has actually changed on the truss since the LED-hybrid and IP-fixture wave?

Marcel Fairbairn

Live Events Touring GearSource Lighting Equipment Rental Pro AV Lighting Fixtures

July 2, 2026

By Marcel Fairbairn, founder of GearSource, 24 years in pro-AV marketplaces.

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