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Booking agents...your thoughts.
- Thread starter Runnerman
- Start date
we had a "label" wanting to "sign" our band. we asked what they could do for us that we couldn't already do for ourselves. they never emailed back.
That's a fair question, we have some venues that give us return gigs. We have some festivals that give us return gigs. There is also a kind of DNA in us to always be promoting the band to new people and places. We each have a stack of business cards and engage as many people as possible every place we play. We are always on the lookout for new opportunities and always networking and developing relationships with other bands and people that book bands. Everyone in the band has significant experience gigging so we have learned a lot of this stuff through the trenches in previous bands. That's what got us to this point and I suppose my initial thought was that this agent could be in addition to what we are already doing. If he were to prove himself to be a gig-getting monster then maybe we could back off some of our own efforts.
That's probably a healthy approach. I wouldn't bother with an agent unless I planned to hand off the booking activity to him as entirely as possible, so that I could move my focus to whatever else needed it more.
In the end, if the booking agent is handling all the admin aspects of booking you in the few places you had already been playing, plus a bunch more, maybe the 15% you pay him for dates in your old rotation isn't too high a price for the time you get back in return.
no reason to stop promoting yourself to the audience just because you have an agent. when someone wants you for a job refer them to the agent. that way you stay the "nice guy" and the agent can get max dollars for you. theoretically at least.
There is a lot of great advice in this thread.
A band I used to work with had a booking agent. From my own experience, I would:
1. Make sure there is a minimum pay that you will play for. Trust me, the agent isn't having to show up at the dives and dumps you will have to play at. They will book you in hell to play the devil's birthday party if there is a dollar in it for them. Or worse, like a Biker Nudist Camp Memorial Day Bash. (NO disrespect to you bikers! You are great people!!!)
2. KEEP all monies from any existing gigs/contacts and their future bookings you had BEFORE the agent was hired. There is zero reason to give them a percentage of work you already had and contacts you had. Agent gets a percentage of ONLY the NEW jobs they hustle. If they insist on getting money from jobs you have already hustled, back out on the deal. MAKE SURE YOU GET PAID AT THE GIGS AND THEN GIVE THE 15% TO THE AGENT, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
3. Make sure they have their promotional machine in gear. Do they have a website, fb page, a network of clubs, etc. ? Call the band they represent and find out what their opinion is of the agent. Any problems?
4. Have a "health issue" out clause in case of band member sickness, death in family, childbirth, etc. etc. And have a 30 day right of refusal to cancel any job they book. Also have a right of refusal to turn down ANY gig they want to book you for. WE choose where we want to play, NOT the agent.
4. Ask for and check references. Call around and ask some venue managers how their dealings have been with the agent.
5. Have a band meeting and try and think of EVERY worst case scenario you can think of and MAKE SURE everything is spelled out in writing and understood by the band and have EVERY band member sign the contract. That way they are all responsible if the deal goes south. If only one band member signs, he can be hung out to dry if there are any legal problems.
6. Get a SS# from the agent and set up a business checking acct. and send them a 1099 IRS tax at years end for the amount of money they earn from their 15%. BTW, 15% is what our agent made from us.
We had a great experience with our agent and she worked hard to get us gigs and our relationship was awesome. If you find the right agent, it can be great for all parties involved. And it does make your band "look" more professional to have an agent working for you. These are just my opinions.
Apologies for the long read and GOOD LUCK!
A band I used to work with had a booking agent. From my own experience, I would:
1. Make sure there is a minimum pay that you will play for. Trust me, the agent isn't having to show up at the dives and dumps you will have to play at. They will book you in hell to play the devil's birthday party if there is a dollar in it for them. Or worse, like a Biker Nudist Camp Memorial Day Bash. (NO disrespect to you bikers! You are great people!!!)
2. KEEP all monies from any existing gigs/contacts and their future bookings you had BEFORE the agent was hired. There is zero reason to give them a percentage of work you already had and contacts you had. Agent gets a percentage of ONLY the NEW jobs they hustle. If they insist on getting money from jobs you have already hustled, back out on the deal. MAKE SURE YOU GET PAID AT THE GIGS AND THEN GIVE THE 15% TO THE AGENT, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
3. Make sure they have their promotional machine in gear. Do they have a website, fb page, a network of clubs, etc. ? Call the band they represent and find out what their opinion is of the agent. Any problems?
4. Have a "health issue" out clause in case of band member sickness, death in family, childbirth, etc. etc. And have a 30 day right of refusal to cancel any job they book. Also have a right of refusal to turn down ANY gig they want to book you for. WE choose where we want to play, NOT the agent.
4. Ask for and check references. Call around and ask some venue managers how their dealings have been with the agent.
5. Have a band meeting and try and think of EVERY worst case scenario you can think of and MAKE SURE everything is spelled out in writing and understood by the band and have EVERY band member sign the contract. That way they are all responsible if the deal goes south. If only one band member signs, he can be hung out to dry if there are any legal problems.
6. Get a SS# from the agent and set up a business checking acct. and send them a 1099 IRS tax at years end for the amount of money they earn from their 15%. BTW, 15% is what our agent made from us.
We had a great experience with our agent and she worked hard to get us gigs and our relationship was awesome. If you find the right agent, it can be great for all parties involved. And it does make your band "look" more professional to have an agent working for you. These are just my opinions.
Apologies for the long read and GOOD LUCK!
It sounds fine to me, except for two issues:
1) He doesn't deserve a percentage based on shows that you guys book yourselves. He deserves a cut ONLY for shows that he books for you.
2) In case it comes up (not sure from your OP), I would NOT agree to any kind of exclusivity clause. You should be free to work with any other booking agent(s) you care to use - and each of them should be used on exactly the same terms: You get paid for shows you actually book, and the band remains free to do business with whomever they choose.
Agreeing to anything less is to put the agent's interests above your own. You won't stay in business long if you continue to operate like that...
MM
Because you can.
Because you don't want to lose the relationship.
Because things with the booking agent might not work out, and you don't want him to ruin the work you've already done.
Agreed. Anything that helps you & your band to remain independent and in control of your own fate, while still able to benefit from the agent's efforts, is to your advantage. Anything that makes you & your band dependent upon or beholden to the agent is to the agent's advantage - but not to yours.
MM
No reason to give exclusivity to the agent. He needs an incentive to book your band. Otherwise, he will book his hottest bands first.
If he can open the door to bigger and better gigs for you then I'd give it a whirl.
We were approached by a booking agent years ago that talked a good talk but in the end (and I'm the one that ended it) he only offered to get us shows in places we had previously booked on our own. No thanks, I'm not giving you 15% to do what I've done myself in the past. Neither he or the singer were real happy with me for firing him. Oh well.......
We were approached by a booking agent years ago that talked a good talk but in the end (and I'm the one that ended it) he only offered to get us shows in places we had previously booked on our own. No thanks, I'm not giving you 15% to do what I've done myself in the past. Neither he or the singer were real happy with me for firing him. Oh well.......
Are you playing originals or covers? I played in a cover band that had an agent and we were playing at least 2-3 nights a week, every week, for standard pay. I had no complaints. I just showed up and played.
Originals with a smattering of covers thrown in. But we would be considered an originals band...classic rock style...a bit of everything 60's to 80's sounds. So yeah, it's a different situation than a pure cover band. We are usually playing with other bands but we have done several shows where we set the line up with bands we know.
