In addition to the needed time required to plan an event or tour, additional issues include all of the logistics and behind-the-scenes required for a successful event or tour. That’s where a booking agent comes in!
Working with a booking agent is a smart move when you’ve reached the stage where you have a regular schedule of shows and are ready to start thinking about chances outside of your local area. Regrettably, not all booking agents are ideal for working with because making a living in that industry often involves making decisions based on money rather than a passion for your art form.
It’s probably hard to want to spend the extra money on a booking agent when you’ve been successfully scheduling and handling all of your events yourself. If you want to continue to grow your career–and your income–having an agent is essential. Still hesitant? Here are 5 reasons you should have a booking agent.
Understanding What Booking Agents Do
In the broadest sense of the term, it is the responsibility of a booking agent to make many types of public performances possible. This includes acquiring and scheduling performers, negotiating deals, putting in place the necessary technical infrastructure for events, and, in many instances, arranging hospitality, logistics, and promotional activities. They’re also the reason why musicians can get many paying gigs.
They collect suggestions for shows and work to schedule performances. After that, they make offers and counteroffers until they reach an agreement. During this period, the promoter in issue has an “option” concerning the date and time in question. Trustworthy agents get contracts signed, and advance payments received long in advance of any performance they are responsible for arranging.
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Need for Experience? Booking Agents Gotchu!
It is recommended that you work with someone who has a significant amount of professional experience under their belt, despite the fact that there are a considerable number of promising rookie booking agents. Putting your professional future in the hands of a booking agent who lacks experience is highly risky due to the harsh nature of the industry.
This does not mean that you should immediately eliminate someone just starting their booking agent career. Many enterprising college students have successfully brought tremendous performers to their campuses.
Using Booking Agent info can help you search for a seasoned and professional agent.
How Can You Guarantee Experience?
It can be helpful to determine the worth of a candidate’s experience, which can take on a variety of shapes. What has been their secret to success, and how did they use the lessons they learned from their setbacks to propel them forward? A qualification story that includes a setback here or there followed by a successful recovery is preferable to one with no account.
You should feel more confident in a booking agent’s capacity to handle any issues that may occur if they have already gone through the ups and downs of the industry. This is true regardless of the booking agent’s age—whether they are 40 or 20.
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Top-Notch Planning and Negotiating Skills
Strong organizational and negotiating skills are essential in any profession, but a booking agent must have plenty. When coordinating many locations and artists at once, things can rapidly become disorganized without a detailed and up-to-date calendar. Also, booking agents with solid hearts can exert pressure to close deals.
Why is Attention to Specific Details Necessary?
From the beginning of your interactions with booking agents, you should look for any red flags in how they communicate with you. Their ability to stay on top of things can be gleaned from various sources, including the timeliness and polish of their email correspondence and the quality of their online presence. If a booking agent doesn’t seem prepared for your meeting, you shouldn’t have faith that they will be prepared when it comes time for an event.
When booking performances, timing is crucial, so ensure your booking agent is always on top of things. It might determine whether or not you get a spot on a prestigious television show.
How Do Negotiation Skills Affect Events?
Negotiation skills are also crucial for booking agents because of their regular contact with performers, managers, talent buyers, and venue owners. If you’re a musician, your booking agent is responsible for making sure you get paid for the events you play. This means they must be fluent in the “legal lingo” of the contracts and agreements you’ll be asked to sign.
If something is wrong with a specific arrangement with a venue, your booking agent should be able to identify the problem and take care of it promptly. Because of the necessity of bargaining in this business, you don’t want to work with a booking agent who gives in to bullying tactics.
Show your booking agency your previous venue contracts to see if they will work with you. It’s a good sign that they will be able to negotiate on your behalf if they make suggestions for improving the documents you present and clearly and precisely outline the terms of your business agreement.
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Creativity Is Part of the Job
Performers have an understanding that things don’t always go as planned on stage. In fact, it’s not uncommon for minor issues to arise right before a performance. While the venue is often to blame, it’s the booking agent’s responsibility to rectify the situation. In the unpredictable world of the music industry, where anything may go wrong on the night of the event, ingenuity is a crucial quality for booking agents.
Resourcefulness In Any Emergency
You will likely witness the famous double-booking scenario, in which a venue or agent unintentionally books two bands at the exact location at the same time, play out amongst your musical contemporaries at some point in your career. When working with a booking agent that is savvy enough to solve problems as they arise, you lessen the likelihood of encountering such sticky situations. The skills of a booking agent are most valuable when things go wrong, and the priority should be finding a solution before freaking out.
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Established Relationships and Networks in Venues
You can only attract so many new fans by playing the same venue over and over again, so finding a booking agent who has connections at a wide variety of venues, both locally and in other attractive cities, is an excellent first step. The right connections can open doors to performing for new audiences in exciting settings, where you can earn a respectable sum of money and audience.
How Does A Booking Agent with Connections Help You?
It’s essential to have a sense of the booking agents’ connections to the locations you’re keen on playing before you commit to working with them. Be realistic in your predictions about the kind of draw you can make when conducting your self-evaluation. Start by compiling a list of potential venues in your neighborhood, and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want directly. “In exchange for X dollars, I’d like to perform here. Could you make this work?”
It’s a fact that most venues have a preferred genre, and you can’t change that. The correct connections, however, are invaluable. If a booking agent has had previous success bringing a particular performer to a given venue, that venue is more likely to welcome the performer back.
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Passion and Interest for What You Do
One final, often-overlooked attribute in a booking agent is an interest in what you do and knowledge of the place. Let’s say you’re a musician looking for gigs. A booking agent who is also a music fan will be better positioned to negotiate a fair fee and find a suitable venue for your performance.
Remember that not every potential booking agent shares your level of dedication to the industry. You’d be better off with a booking agent who shares your musical tastes and is well-versed in your genre than with an impersonal one. A booking agent is worth working with if they can get you gigs and is enthusiastic about your work.
Booking Agents Open Doors of Opportunities
If you are an artist looking for ways to expand your horizons, booking agents can help you navigate the real world. They have the experience, knowledge, connections, and interest that could go a long way into helping you move forward.
Booking agents will give you light into the seemingly dark world of reality. That’s why they open the doors of opportunity for artists that need them.