artists, what do you get having a booking agent?

[mlexicon]

and aside from that, what is the standard percentage that a booking agent takes from you?


i can think of some things, but its the the things im not considering is what im really after:

1) they have and maintain relationships with clubs, festivals, etc.

2) they manage your flights

3) manage and ensure you get payment for your time


ok so whats the rest or what am i missing?

and if your currently on an artist roster, what other services would you care to have that your current booking agent is not offering.

thanks

[patrick bateman]

The good and bigger players do exactly the stuff that you write.
Get you bookings, sort out the practical stuff regarding flights/hotels/etc, and do the contract stuff with the clubs.

That is what, IMO, a booking agency's job is.

But sadly there seems to be as many booking agencies as labels/artists now a days, and I would say that 90% of these have no real network within the booking/club scene and therefore most of these can't really get their artists any gigs, so artists end up doing what they've always been doing, getting themselves gigs and not getting anything from the booking agency (am I just talking out of experience here or what?!?!?! ahhaha)...

most booking agencies take between 10-15% on top of your fee.

[juhokusti]

Get you bookings, sort out the practical stuff regarding flights/hotels/etc, and do the contract stuff with the clubs.

That is what, IMO, a booking agency's job is.

But sadly there seems to be as many booking agencies as labels/artists now a days, and I would say that 90% of these have no real network within the booking/club scene and therefore most of these can't really get their artists any gigs, so artists end up doing what they've always been doing, getting themselves gigs and not getting anything from the booking agency

+ 1

[minimim]

One of the most important thing for the booking agency is to create a

network of promoters/club managers/event managers. Once this network is

created the dj can get more than 1 gig the same weekend.

[PsyTox]

I have a a bit of a love/hate relationship with agents. I know quite some and they are almost always nice people, but purely as to what they do or how useful they are, that's a different ballgame

A good agent can indeed get you bookings. But reality is that most agents don't do anything except cash in their fee.
More over, unless you play 2 or more times a week internationally, I don't really see the need to get an agent. I mean, most stuff you can do yourself and judging by the number of people that get screwed over by promotors even if they have an agent, it doesn't quite give you much advantages does it.

But as I said: there are good agents as well. the problem is of course that these won't just take on anyone who isn't famous already and if you are a dj who doesn't produce, you can almost be sure they won't give you a spot on any roster...

[Shepherd_of_Anu]

I think having a booking agent / sales person would be a great thing but only for certain kinds of people. For example... people who are in demand and too busy to be bothered to micromanage everything that is going on. It could be hard to stay focused on quality output of your music/art/whatever if you spend too much time on the networking and promotion part.

I have a friend who runs a 3D graphics service for architectural firms who is really talented but also really busy with a full time 3D teaching job. His partner is really good networking and has a lot of contacts so she gets all the jobs and he does the work. I think similar symbiosis could be advantageous for a DJ.

The other kind of person who could benefit a lot from that situation would be someone who is talented but hates networking and promotion. Either they don't have the personality and drive for it or they just don't want to do it. I think there probably a lot of people who are in this category. Lets face it, not everyone is cut out to run themselves ragged boot-licking and boasting about themselves to people.

[-ix]

Some also do promotion for the dj which they should imo.

[patrick bateman]

Some also do promotion for the dj which they should imo.

Very true, but this lies in the concept of being a good booking agent IMO.
Sending out newsletters with available dates, when artists have new releases etc etc etc, is the job a booking agent has.
Seems like 90% of all these new booking agencies just make a myspace profile, do some kind of agreement with 20-50 (or more) artists and then think the bookings will come by themselves.....