Booking agencies
-
facingwest
- Retroactive Member
- Posts: 651
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- Location: Key West, FL
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Booking agencies
I'm starting to throw around the idea of possibly working with a booking agency. Does anyone have any feedback on this or know a company decent to work with? Also, what are the pros and cons to working through one?
The liver is evil....It needs punished.
http://rockpage.net/bands/bands.php?band=johnsolinski
http://rockpage.net/bands/bands.php?band=johnsolinski
I'm against them. They seem to eventually put a hurting on club/bars with their over priced bands(only my opinion). Also, they basically tell the bars/clubs who can and can't play at their venue. LL has a chance to play with Breaking Benjamin and also Vanilla Ice. The thing is this agency told the bar owner that his non-signed bands HAVE to open for the national acts. The club owner really has no say. If you want my national acts, you'll do as I say. Anway, we still might get to do it, but as a pre-party kinda deal. Beneficial in it's own right, but not an actual opener. Agencies seem to be like a "secret society" and they walk with their head in the clouds not giving other quality bands opportunity.
The Louder We All Play, The Harder It Is To Stay Unnoticed.
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www.solegion.com
www.facebook.com/jason.r.fetterman
www.solegion.com
It all depends on what you are planning to do. If you plan on booking all locally than there is no reason to unless you are trying to get in clubs that only book thru agencies. Those places have pretty much disappeared from our area. I remember in the late 80's early 90's that was the only way to get in certain places around here and they usually only booked thru one agency so you had to belong to that agency to get in to that club. I remember Steve Elkin Associates out of Punxy pretty much had a hold on all the clubs in the Punxy/Dubois area back in the late 80's and you had to be in his agency in order to play there. If you plan on doing more road work and especially the beach resorts that pretty much is the only way to get in these places. Some of the hotspots on the East Coast are contracted with agencies and they only get bands from them and are not aloud to book on their own. I'm out of touch with them now but some of the big agencies that book the beach clubs were Cellar Door and others but I do not know if they are even still in buisness. There are websites that list all the agencies and the contacts. I found them once by mistake so you may have to do some web surfing.
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JayBird,
While I and probably everyone else on this board who is trying to break into “tough nut” venues feels your pain, I think, in fairness, what you described is a perk of being handled by an agency. Agents are paid to promote bands in their stables, so it only makes sense to push their “B” bands into shows with heavier hitters. I don’t really begrudge bands who are represented of getting breaks like the one you described — that’s one of the reasons why they signed up. I do become annoyed, however, with clubs that won’t think outside the box a little bit, when it comes to booking.
The clubs that book exclusively through agencies do so BY CHOICE. I know this from personal experience. Previously, as a “booking guy,” I booked acts with many of the “big” agencies that service this area — Media 5, H&R, Pegasus, etc. — and never did they say, “If you want SuperBand X you have to fill your schedule with CrappyBand Y.” They all gave me exactly what I asked for and all were willing to negotiate a fee. In turn, I was free to book as many local and regional bands as I wanted, and I did.
This is my biggest bitch about a few clubs in this area — they’re not willing to work with local bands AT ALL unless they’re represented. They stick solely with agency acts no matter how horrible they are, and I think that stems from club managers and owners not budgeting the time to scout for talent. They just let the agencies fill their schedules and that’s one less thing they have to worry about.
The funny thing is, if managers invested any time in booking, they’d find a lot of “local” bands who are far more talented, put on better shows and would, in turn, draw better than most “agency” “B” bands. I’m encouraged by Four Dees as an example of change in the scene. They seem to be sliding more local groups into the mix lately and my hat’s off to them for doing that.
Back to my point: Don’t blame agencies for making it tougher for local bands to get dates and don’t blame them for pushing their smaller guns. They’re just doing their jobs. If you can’t squeeze a quality band into a venue, the blame falls to the club owner or entertainment manager.
r:>)
While I and probably everyone else on this board who is trying to break into “tough nut” venues feels your pain, I think, in fairness, what you described is a perk of being handled by an agency. Agents are paid to promote bands in their stables, so it only makes sense to push their “B” bands into shows with heavier hitters. I don’t really begrudge bands who are represented of getting breaks like the one you described — that’s one of the reasons why they signed up. I do become annoyed, however, with clubs that won’t think outside the box a little bit, when it comes to booking.
The clubs that book exclusively through agencies do so BY CHOICE. I know this from personal experience. Previously, as a “booking guy,” I booked acts with many of the “big” agencies that service this area — Media 5, H&R, Pegasus, etc. — and never did they say, “If you want SuperBand X you have to fill your schedule with CrappyBand Y.” They all gave me exactly what I asked for and all were willing to negotiate a fee. In turn, I was free to book as many local and regional bands as I wanted, and I did.
This is my biggest bitch about a few clubs in this area — they’re not willing to work with local bands AT ALL unless they’re represented. They stick solely with agency acts no matter how horrible they are, and I think that stems from club managers and owners not budgeting the time to scout for talent. They just let the agencies fill their schedules and that’s one less thing they have to worry about.
The funny thing is, if managers invested any time in booking, they’d find a lot of “local” bands who are far more talented, put on better shows and would, in turn, draw better than most “agency” “B” bands. I’m encouraged by Four Dees as an example of change in the scene. They seem to be sliding more local groups into the mix lately and my hat’s off to them for doing that.
Back to my point: Don’t blame agencies for making it tougher for local bands to get dates and don’t blame them for pushing their smaller guns. They’re just doing their jobs. If you can’t squeeze a quality band into a venue, the blame falls to the club owner or entertainment manager.
r:>)
That's what she said.