Brown Note Productions
Brown Note Productions is a privately held, founder-owned audio, lighting, video, and backline production company providing full-service concert, tour, and festival production services for 100+ touring artists including Foo Fighters, David Guetta, and Martin Garrix, anchored by its role as primary sound provider at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersThornton, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Brown Note Productions does
Brown Note Productions is a privately held, founder-owned audio, lighting, video, laser, special FX, staging, and backline production company founded in 2004 by Sara B. Knutson and Ryan Knutson in Thornton, Colorado. The company provides 360-degree full-service production for concert tours, music festivals, and special events, with five core revenue streams: equipment rentals, full-service production, system integration, equipment sales, and pre-production/rehearsal facility rentals. It serves as the primary sound provider for Red Rocks Amphitheatre, executing 30-40 shows annually at that venue alone, with a broader client roster of 100+ artists spanning Foo Fighters, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, Bright Eyes, and Steely Dan.
The company's underlying technology is built around premium third-party platforms rather than proprietary AI or software: d&b audiotechnik serves as the primary audio platform (SL-Series, GSL, V-Series speakers, Soundscape immersive audio, ArrayCalc simulation, and ArrayProcessing for environmental compensation), complemented by L-Acoustics, MA Lighting grandMA consoles, Clay Paky fixtures, ROE Visual LED panels, and Green Hippo/ArKaos/Resolume media servers. Brown Note maintains a 100+ person full-time crew and operates a recently expanded 120,000 sq ft purpose-built facility featuring 80,000 lbs rigging capacity, 27 truck docks, 25 bus/trailer parking spots with shore power, configurable rehearsal spaces, and pre-visualization suites. The company pioneered the first immersive audio deployment at Red Rocks using d&b Soundscape.
Brown Note's business model is asset-heavy and project-based, generating revenue through usage-based equipment rentals, professional services for full show production, and a growing recurring revenue stream from its pre-production facility. Day rates for crew leadership positions start at $350, with salaried technical management roles in the $75K-$90K range. The go-to-market is entirely sales-led and relationship-driven, with no intermediaries: word-of-mouth referrals from touring industry contacts, direct engagement with production managers and venue operators, and Instagram-driven brand visibility. The company is entirely bootstrapped with no disclosed institutional investment, no parent company, and no subsidiaries, operating across the US (primarily Colorado/Denver metro) with international reach to UK and Australia markets.
Brown Note Productions firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Brown Note Productions
- Legal name
- Brown Note Productions, Inc.
- Website
- https://brownnote.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Brown Note Productions is a privately held, founder-owned audio, lighting, video, and backline production company providing full-service concert, tour, and festival production services for 100+ touring artists including Foo Fighters, David Guetta, and Martin Garrix, anchored by its role as primary sound provider at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Brown Note Productions industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Live Event Production Services
- akta.pro primary industry
- Event Production & Technical Services (Staging, Lighting, Sound, Video) (MPAGAAAG)
Keywords
Where Brown Note Productions is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Thornton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Brown Note Productions business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Production Equipment Rentals: Rental of audio, lighting, video, special FX, lasers, staging, backline, and rigging equipment for concerts, tours, festivals, and special events
- Full-Service Production: End-to-end production services including crew, operators, production management, and technical support for live events
- System Integration: Design and installation of permanent AVL systems for venues and facilities
- Equipment Sales: Sale of new and used production equipment, musical instruments, and backline
- Pre-Production/Rehearsal Facility: Rental of rehearsal spaces, demo rooms, and pre-visualization suites within the company's purpose-built facility
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | L1/Crew Chief position - Day rate for lighting/video crew leadership |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Audio Technician Level 1 - Advanced technician with crew leadership |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Warehouse Operations worker |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Freelance Integration Install Technician |
| Other | Annual | Sales Design Engineer |
| Other | Annual | Video Production/Technical Manager |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Brown Note Productions product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Brown Note Productions provides 360-degree full-service concert, tour, music festival, and special event production, delivering audio, lighting, video, laser, special FX, staging, rigging, and backline equipment with professional crew and production management. The company also operates a 120,000 sq. ft. pre-production and rehearsal facility in Thornton, CO, designs and installs permanent AVL systems for venues, and sells new and used production gear and musical instruments.
Product overview
Brown Note Productions is a premier audio, lighting, video, laser, special FX, staging, and backline company providing 360-degree full-service production for concerts, tours, music festivals, and special events. The company operates as a single unified production services company offering integrated AVL (Audio, Video, Lighting) rental, system integration, and show design. Core offerings include: (1) Equipment Rental divisions covering Audio (d&b audiotechnik, L-Acoustics speaker systems; Allen & Heath, Digico, Yamaha, Avid/Digidesign consoles), Lighting (MA Lighting grandMA consoles; Ayrton, Martin, Chauvet, Robe, Clay Paky fixtures), Video (LED walls, ROE Visual panels, Green Hippo/ArKaos/Resolume media servers), Special FX & Lasers (KVANT, Minuit Une, atmospheric effects, cryo/confetti), Backline (Fender, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie amplifiers and instruments), Rigging (Tyler Truss Systems), and Staging; (2) System Integration for permanent venue installations; (3) Production Sales and Musical Instrument Sales; (4) Show Design services; and (5) A 120,000 sq. ft. purpose-built facility with pre-visualization suites, rehearsal spaces, and artist amenities. The company serves as the primary sound provider for Red Rocks Amphitheatre and supports major national and international tours.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Concert Production 360-degree full-service concert production combining audio, lighting, video, lasers, special FX, staging, and backline with crew and production management for touring artists, festivals, and special events.
- Touring Production Full-service touring production including equipment rental, crew services, logistics, and on-site technical support for national and regional concert tours.
- Music Festival Production Complete production services for music festivals including multi-stage audio, lighting, video, special effects, staging, and comprehensive event management.
- Special Events Production Production services for corporate events, private functions, and special occasions requiring professional audio, lighting, video, and staging solutions.
- Show Design Beginning-to-end show design services for concerts, tours, music festivals, and special events, including creative design, technical planning, and production execution.
- System Integration Complete AVL (Audio, Video, Lighting) system integration services for permanent installations including design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of commercial audio, video, and lighting systems for venues.
- Pre-Production & Rehearsal Facility Rental Rental of rehearsal spaces, demo rooms, and pre-visualization suites at Brown Note's 120,000 sq. ft. purpose-built facility in Thornton, CO, featuring an 80,000 lb load capacity hanging grid, 27 truck docks, 25 bus/trailer parking spots with shore power, and configurable rehearsal spaces.
- Production Sales Sale of production equipment including new and used audio, lighting, video, and staging gear to industry buyers.
- Musical Instrument Sales Sale of musical instruments including guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, drums, and other performance equipment.
Quantifiable outcome
- First-ever immersive audio event at Red Rocks Amphitheatre using d&b Soundscape
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Brown Note Productions
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Brown Note Productions technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Brown Note Productions partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- d&b audiotechnikcoreLong-standing partnership since the 2000s. Brown Note uses d&b audiotechnik as primary audio platform including SL-Series, GSL, and V-Series speakers. Pioneered d&b Soundscape immersive audio deployments at Red Rocks. d&b provides sales engineering support, ArrayCalc training, and collaborative system design assistance.
- Tyler Truss SystemscoreCollaborative development of custom ground-supported grid system with sliding spanner beam for Brown Note's new 120,000 sq ft facility. 80,000 lbs load capacity designed specifically for pre-production and rehearsal use.
- Laser ImagecoreLaser provider for Martin Garrix shows and long-term partnership. Stefan and Hugo from Laser Image provide laser shows and technical expertise for dance music productions.
- PHNTM (Gabe Fraboni)coreCreative show and tour director partnership for Martin Garrix's decade-long Garrix Project. PHNTM handles all creative design and oversees show operations.
- AKA Event Productions (Andrew Kirschman)minorAudio engineer for Mersiv and founder of AKA Event Productions, collaborated on the first-ever immersive audio event at Red Rocks using d&b Soundscape.
- OMBRA DESIGN (Lorenzo De Pascalis)minorVideo Director and creative partner for Martin Garrix's ANIMA show concept. Created video content and show design elements.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Brown Note Productions competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Production Resource Group (PRG): World's largest provider of entertainment and event production services offering audio, video, lighting, and rigging globally. Most direct large-scale competitor to Brown Note for major concert tours and music festivals.
- Clair Brothers: US-based live event audio and lighting production company providing touring sound systems, concert production services, and event technology. Direct comparable to Brown Note's audio-led production model serving major concert tours and festivals.
- Solotech: Canadian-headquartered global provider of audio, video, lighting, and rigging for live events with major US operations. Comparable full-service production offering across touring, festivals, and special events at a larger geographic scale.
- Bandit Lites: US-based concert lighting production company serving major touring artists and festivals. Comparable in lighting production focus and touring client roster, with overlapping service line to Brown Note's lighting division.
- LD Systems: Houston-based full-service event production company offering audio, lighting, video, and staging for concerts, tours, and corporate events. Comparable mid-sized regional production services company serving similar artist and venue clients.
- Upstaging: US-based concert lighting and sound production company serving touring artists and festivals. Comparable in production services, equipment rental, and crew support for live music events.
- Atomic Productions: Event production company providing audio, lighting, video, and staging services for concerts, festivals, and corporate events. Comparable full-service production model targeting similar client segments.
- Eighth Day Sound: Touring audio production company providing concert sound systems, consoles, and crew for major artists. Directly comparable to Brown Note's touring audio rental and production services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Brown Note Productions social profiles
Digital presenceBrown Note Productions financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Brown Note Productions leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Brown Note Productions funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Brown Note Productions M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Brown Note Productions
What does Brown Note Productions do?
Brown Note Productions provides 360-degree full-service concert, tour, music festival, and special event production, delivering audio, lighting, video, laser, special FX, staging, rigging, and backline equipment with professional crew and production management. The company also operates a 120,000 sq. ft. pre-production and rehearsal facility in Thornton, CO, designs and installs permanent AVL systems for venues, and sells new and used production gear and musical instruments.
Is Brown Note Productions a public or private company?
Brown Note Productions is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Brown Note Productions founded?
Brown Note Productions was founded in 2004. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Brown Note Productions based?
Brown Note Productions is headquartered in Thornton, United States, in the North America region.
How does Brown Note Productions make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Production Equipment Rentals are the primary driver. The others are full-Service Production, system Integration, equipment Sales and pre-Production/Rehearsal Facility.
Who are Brown Note Productions's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Production Resource Group (PRG), Clair Brothers, Solotech, Bandit Lites, LD Systems, Upstaging, Atomic Productions and Eighth Day Sound.
Does Brown Note Productions have an API?
No public API is recorded for Brown Note Productions.
What industry is Brown Note Productions in?
Brown Note Productions's product category is Live Event Production Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAAAG, Event Production & Technical Services (Staging, Lighting, Sound, Video).