Re: Booking Agents... (Kinda Rant)
Hello Adam,
First off, there has already been a lot of prodding on this new forum in the area of language and its proper use here.
As such I must point out the redundancy of your title. The first part "Booking Agents", pretty much stands on its own.
Everything after that would out of necessity be a rant. (Do I need to add an emoticonny doo dah?)
So, as mentioned, when a price is quoted to an agent, it is your fee + his.
The good part is that if he wants more money, he needs to get you more money.
Really you need to decide what kind of gigs you want. In local bars he offers you no service.
Unless he has the exclusive on the club. Then, if they pay your fee and his, no harm no foul.
But if you want to get better paying gigs this is where he can help you.
You can not be expected to have contact with every convention that comes to town, or every wedding that is planned.
But your agent, if he is a good one, can. Then it is his job to determine if you are a good fit monetarily, musically, and availability.
But you need to decide if you want to be a bar band, do corporate work, or both.
No derision on being a bar band. It is much more about you, and you get to decide your presentation.
Two stories,
1) Went to pick up a sound system from the "Killer Tomatoes". They looked quite down. What happened?
"Bill booked us as a country act." (Even from the name I can tell that is a bad match.)
2) There used to be an agent here who for decades booked the biggest country bar in town.
It took that long before the bands and the bar figured out that he was charging both of them the booking fee.
Double dipping.
Regards, Jack
