Entertainment Industry Insider

I’ve been running sound for one of my best friends’ band for a couple months now. How do I become a tech with a national act?

-Jeremy. Naperville, IL

Do you have a job, work everyday, and have that steady paycheck coming in? Then keep it. Trust me! It’s stable and you get to shower every night. My advice is if you work with a local act and have a job, keep this as a weekend job. It can be something you do on long weekends, vacations, or a summer holiday. If you really want to do this fulltime my suggestion would be to go to halls and facilities and get some real stagehand experience. Learn how to move equipment, tie knots, and other things that you wouldn’t learn by hanging around bands at bars. Learn to change lighting equipment, soldering, to lift things correctly and then pack them away. This is not setting up mics at Schleepys Pub between pints. If you’re still in school I would suggest taking as many stage craft type courses at college. You know the ones… drama, musicals, ect. Some may seem a little lame but the disciplines you learn are essential for any rock tours you may do. Staging Grease or Macbeth is pretty similar to staging Iron Maiden as far as terminology and basic ideas go. Please, please learn the difference between “up stage” and “downstage stage” and “Stage Left” or “Stage Right”. If you don’t have answers for a question ask someone. And it’s a good idea to remember gaff tape can fix nearly anything on the road.

My band is going ready to go out on tour as an opening act. We will be in a van/trailer but playing with a national act with a bus. Their agents asked for a rider. What can we ask for, or even expect if we are playing clubs that are brand new to us?

-Keygan. Oakland, CA

With your act being what it is and not being well known I would ask the club for no more then a case or two of water, a dozen towels (which you return), and maybe a discount on some food. Anything else is pretty much a luxury. The other thing to do is contact the main act and ask if you can be included on some of their catering. A club tour won’t be much but it may be of help. Paying your dues is part of the process. Good luck getting some pizza and maybe a few drink tickets. You’ll probably consider it pay dirt after a week and a half.

Just came upon the site, I have a band that has been playing around the area for the last 3 or 4 years. We put out a cd and have a bunch of people coming to the shows. The manager of the club we are normally at says we should get a manager and a lawyer. How do we do that?

-Daniel. Colombus, OH

Before you need a manger and a lawyer you need to ask the following questions. First and most important; how many business interests have approached you with situations needing managerial or legal counsel? How far outside your local geographical area or hometown do you play? How many times a month do you play? How many people come to see you on a consistent basis to these shows? How many pieces has your band sold through all possible avenues?

Now what comes first? Manager or lawyer.  In my opinion the need for legal counsel comes secondary to having someone in your corner that has faith and belief in your band as a manager. You will go through different lawyers for different situations but hopefully you will retain the same manager through the critical parts of your career.   Here is what a manger is not.

1. The guy that sets up your equipment.
2. Your girlfriend.
3. Your roommate who is in pre law.
4. The owner of the club where you play.

The manager has to be the traffic cop, disciplinarian, presenter of situations, and mediator of band idiocy. He also has to communicate with legal people, booking agents, club owners, press, media, and all kinds of other “important” people. This person needs to be doing this as a profession. Not as a hobby when he gets home at 5:30 every day.

Now for your lawyer. This is not going to be your moms and dads lawyer. The guy you went to college with who is now an attorney for a telecom company is not your bands lawyer. Not the guy who got rid of your DWI ticket. Nor someone who’s practice specializes in medical recovery. Your attorney needs to be with a law firm that represents entertainment law and copyright practices. They also need to be able to practice in NY, CA, and TN (New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville are the three major music markets). Before hiring an attorney you should find out what entertainment clients they have worked with, and what deals they have structured with various record labels and deliverance companies. Also any type of auxiliary entertainment clients they may represent. What are the terms that the company uses? The basic terms should be either percentage, flat, or percentage/flat/front end from record label.

In conclusion if I was a new act I would actively seek an aggressive full time manager who at the time of contractual situations would be the person I would count on to secure the legal expertise for the team. One caution I would always have would be to make sure the attorney and the manager have no collusionary situations underway with any other acts.

We want to be an opening act for a band coming through town. A lot of our friends think we are as good as the bands on MTV. We don’t really know anyone in the business and are wondering how can we do this?

-Conner. Lincoln, NE

Sadly in most situations the opening acts (or support as it’s known in the industry) are chosen either by management or the record label. Occasionally the promoter will be able to add an additional act in smaller markets. In that case it’s a good idea to find out who’s promoting shows in your area and make sure they have a full press kit. Make sure they are aware of when and where you are playing and how many people you’re bringing in. This could be helpful for the club to fill seats for an upcoming show. Another route is to check with the showcase clubs in the area who feature national acts. You can get on the show by going to the club owner and speaking with him directly, especially if you play the club regularly. Be aware that any opening act situation doesn’t pay a lot of money. Opening for a tour can even end up costing you money. Ozzfest openers have been known to pay upwards of 80,000 to receive a chance to showcase themselves before thousands of the tours fans. So next time the promoter offers your band a couple of hundred dollars to open up for a band consider it a Christmas miracle. The best way to open concerts is to stage your own and be a headliner.

I’m getting ready to graduate from college and have been working with the student activities committee on bringing artists to my school. I’m thinking after I graduate I’d like to become a booking agent. Are you guys hiring?

-Leo. Washington, DC

We are always looking for bright new people to join our staff Leo. The last four or five people we have hired started as interns in our office. We like people that we can train. Our interns work with us for a while before we make any long term decisions about working in full time position. At that time they will be assigned as an assistant agent for a period of approximately two years. They assist in all types of booking procedures, phones workings, and in person with clients at our events. Please send us a resume (agents@bookingentertainment.com) of what you’ve done and we’d love to give you a call. Even if we can’t offer you anything here we may be able to point you in the right direction. Hope to hear from you soon.

I’m a singer and a song writer and I have just been approached by a company who has seen me play and wants to manage me. What’s the typical percentage for a booking agent/manager?

First of all they are two totally different things. While in a lot of smaller markets managers may act as booking agents, in the professional world they are entirely different positions.

For your benefit let me tell you what each does for a national artist. The booking agent secures dates and looks for opportunities in TV, Radio, and Live Performances. The manager is the traffic director who coordinates the booking agent, records label, press, touring, and all day to day activities involving the artist. In California it is illegal to be both an agent and a manger (conflict of interest). In most other states it is legal but a bad idea. If you are not above a local situation meaning you are dealing with this as a profession and a full time job you need a booking agent. Also if you are working with an agent/manger in a small situation beware of signing any long time contract that can haunt you in the future. For managers the fee can slides between 10 and 20 percent. Most artists’ agencies hover around 15% but can fall between ten percent and twenty percent as well.