[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Booking agents

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

article on Booking Agents:   in response to a new group wanting to know 
how to get one.


Sent: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 14:40:07 -0700
Subject: Booking agents

      RE:Booking Agents
  
 Hi Thunderbird AKA MOKA:

  If you want to hire a real Booking Agent, that knows what they are 
doing, you need to have a steady track record of good paying gigs and 
be able to show that there is a demand for your product ( Music) at a 
reasonable amount of income to earn your band what they want to make 
and also to support the time and efforts that the booking agent is 
going to have to put in to book your band.

  Since most Agents work on commissions you have to be in the position 
to earn a substantial amount of money just to pay the booking expenses 
and earn reasonable amount of money for the Agent who will be working 
about 40 hours a week to get your band on a stage for 4 hours a weekend,

  Since you are booking your own shows now you have a taste of what the 
Agent must do, and trust me it in no easier for an Agent to do it that 
it is for you.    The agent also has to deal with the issues of your 
9-5 DAY gigs which will conflict with many of the booking possibilities 
he will find.

  Playing live music does not come easy and it is very difficult to book 
a band that works full time jobs other than music.

  There is a lot of fierce competition out there for those gigs and 
there will always be other groups working full time who often will have 
more experience and expertise that need those jobs more than a group 
with full time income from a 9-5 gig.   

  Every time a band in your situation gets one of those gigs it takes 
away another opportunity for a full time Professional Working Band of 
musicians to get a pay day and earn a living as well as their agent 
losing out on his commission.

  All bands in this category should think long and hard about this 
situation that is rampant in our business.  How would you feel if guys 
started coming to your 9-5 gig and possibly undercutting your security 
paycheck by offering to work for less money or for free just to get in 
the door?

  This situation is not healthy for the live performing business in the 
long run, and is the biggest culprit for having the club business in 
the mess that it is in today.  Especially in the genre of music that 
many Sonicbids bands are in.

  The club owners are no longer very interested in booking any bands 
because they think they are really any good or any better than the one 
before or after them, it is a numbers game, as I have stated in 
previous posts.  They are in the alcohol business and they will sell 
alcohol to anybody who comes through the door including the band and 
all their friends on the guest list.

  Hellooooooo!    Smart bands eventually learn to use that Guest list 
very guardedly and only put people on it that are really important like 
reviewer's and business folks who they are trying to establish a 
relationship with to further the cause of the band or artists.  Most of 
them do not care how good your band is so long as you have bodies in 
the place with cash or credit cards to buy alcohol.  Bottom line.

  The clubs will not tell you this because they want you to fill the 
club with people and if you or any other group is willing to do that 
they will "LET" you play  if you sell tickets or have a draw of folks 
who are willing to PAY to see and hear you.

  Now how many folks are willing to pay to come see you do your 9-5 
gig?   

  What I am attempting to paint a picture of here is that you must think 
about your band as a business and treat it like a business and run it 
like a business just like your 9-5 operation.

  To do it any other way will not attract a real Booking Agent who 
depends upon reliability and availability of his acts to go play where 
and when he can get someone to pay for you.

  Contrary to all too often popular belief in our business, The Booking 
Agents "DO NOT HAVE ALL THE JOBS"  they have to go find or make them 
just like bandleaders do and unless your band is already established as 
a financially secure act and has a sustainable level of income to pay 
for the promo, leg work and telephone bills and all the other stuff 
that you have to do to book a gig, as well as make additional money for 
payment of the Agent.  That agent is not going to work for you, and 
will probably do no more than what you do now, sit back and wait for 
the gigs for you that fall into his lap, and call you only when his 
best clients are booked solid and he has that extra gig that fell into 
his lap.

 I hope this explains the process a bit.

  I know some very high paid  Lawyers and Doctors who tell everyone they 
"Play a Little Music on the Weekends" and they go around playing for 
free or close to it just to get off and massage their egos.  They 
called me to book  them ONCE,  I informed them that I don't "DO A 
LITTLE BRAIN SURGERY Of LEGAL PRACTICE " on my days off and I would 
appreciate it if they didn't go hustle my Weekend Gigs for cheap or 
free, which is why most of us are now "WEEKEND WARRIORS"

 Cheers, 

 Tom Wiggins
 International Booking Agent
 for more years than I care to remember.  :))