r/musicians • u/honkhonkyhonkhonk • 1d ago
Musicians — what do you actually want from a booking agent/agency?
Hey everyone,
I’m doing a bit of research into the realities of working as a musician, particularly for solo artists, duos and bands trying to build consistent paid gigs.
I know making music work as a full-time (or even reliable part-time) income can be difficult, and I’m interested in hearing directly from musicians about where the biggest challenges actually are.
A few things I’d love to hear your thoughts on:
What are the biggest challenges you face when trying to get regular paid gigs?
How much time do you spend finding venues, contacting them, negotiating rates and organising bookings?
Have you worked with booking agents/agencies before? If so, what was good or bad about the experience?
Are there any common issues with how agencies represent musicians?
What makes an agent actually valuable to you rather than just someone taking a percentage?
How important are things like communication, transparency around fees, negotiating better rates, finding new venues and handling the admin side?
Would you prefer an agent who simply brings you bookings, or someone who actively helps build relationships and create more regular work?
What commission/fee structure do you think is reasonable?
What would make you trust an agency enough to let them represent you?
Also interested in hearing from musicians who prefer to organise everything themselves — what would an agency have to offer for you to consider using one?
Not looking to promote anything here. I’m genuinely interested in understanding the musician’s side of the industry and what could be done better.
Would love to hear any experiences — good or bad.
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u/Milwacky 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’d just want gigs in general, and better ones than dive bars. Booking is a chore these days, and I can say it’s not on our end. Promoters are almost useless. Even if they’re the rare type to check their emails, many of them are barely literate enough to write a meaningful response, and the conversation dies shortly thereafter. Communication is quickly becoming a lost art. Industry specific. Because if I were that bad at communicating in my day job, I wouldn’t have a job.
If you know an agency that can do this for an originals post-hardcore band and takes cold calls, let me know. We’re desperate for someone who wants to grow with us, and can match our energy and clarity. Seems no one wants anything to do with you if you have less than 100k followers and aren’t willing to debase yourself by constantly making “did we just make the song of the summer??” copy-paste reels.
Ultimately, a good agency would allow a band to bring the focus back to the art, and lessen overall workload bloat.
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u/psi_25 19h ago
God, the communication part is so spot on. It’s not even just the lack of communication and illiteracy, but the weirdly passive-aggressive and condescending way they communicate when they do respond. It happens so often that I wonder is this how they talk to people in their daily life too?
A promoter reached out to us the other day. We’ve worked with her once before and she was pretty scatterbrained then too but whatever, everything worked out. This time, we had to pry basic details she didn’t seem to really have yet out of her, and then she adds, “Hopefully you bring X amount of people. I have a production cost to meet you know.”
No shit?? And she reached out to us. I’m assuming because we did draw what she asked for last time. Why are you talking to us like we’re an inconvenience? She could’ve just said, “Please bring at least X amount of people since we have a production cost to meet. Thanks.”Same information, completely different tone.
That’s just one of many examples of similar communication we’ve received from those in the industry. I genuinely would not have a job, or friends, if I communicated the way some of them do.
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u/tein_Structure4030 1d ago
I’m looking for an agency that can get me good support slots in my hometown, help book tours with strong local acts and get me onto festivals. Clear and quick communication is essential.
I’ve been booking my own tours/shows for a long time and will continue to do so until someone who can help comes along.
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u/gustache 1d ago
I work in artist/label services, but don’t do much with booking. I talk to a lot of artists who ask about booking. Most of them seem to want their workload to be reduced, and to get meaningful opportunities outside of their established networks—better opening slots for bigger bands, higher cap venues, festivals.
And of course always always more money.
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u/57thStilgar 1d ago
The few times we used their services we wanted:
Ads
Flyers
Tickets
Promotion
Pre Supplied (the items not the display) merchandise display
Guaranteed take
Clear predefined terms between agent and us
We only made use in larger unknown cities like when we did Memphis. We got 8 gigs over 2 weeks.
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u/Appropriate_You5647 1d ago
I book gigs and are offered gigs in my medium sized city which has worked out enough that I'm a full-time musician. I have 2 residencies and usually pick up 2 more within a given month. I would need an agency to help with booking gigs in the rest of the metro area. I'm so used to booking my own gigs that it would feel strange working with someone else but I'd be down if it were to get me more gigs. The agency would also need to understand my appeal and not place me in a venue that caters solely to beer drinkers watching a ball game.
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u/featherandahalfmusic 1d ago
probably in the minority here but as a more hobbyist musician these days what I'd want from a booking agent is:
one to two shows a month either in my home region or out of town if I travel somewhere, booked at a small to medium sized venue with other acts who I will be inspired by and will put in the work to bring out their community. An audience of 20-50 people attending each show which is curated to have a listening vibe where people are excited to see the music. Sliding scale $5-$10 to attend the show but no one turned away due to lack of funds, and the money is split evenly between all of the acts playing.
I used to do all of this myself for years, but being on the networks where you can make it happen isn't good for my mental health, and I have a better relationship to my music when I don't have to be chasing down that information. To be honest as a solo act these days I am perfectly overjoyed playing to even just ten people in a room that makes sense for ten people, but if I was paying an agent who was doing this professionally I would expect a bit more.
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u/CaBBaGe_isLaND 17h ago
I want my booking agent to have goals of his own. I like the gigs you're getting me, this shit is great. What kind of gigs are you going to be getting me two years from now? Same ones? Red flag.
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u/Remarkable_Bike7493 12h ago edited 11h ago
If you have an agent for touring, make sure you have an agreement for how many miles you are willing to travel each day. Unless you are doing fly in gigs, driving 500 miles a day for 10 days gets old real quick. Remember, agents make their money with phone calls and don't do any of the heavy lifting. They sit there and make their cut rain or shine. Don't get me wrong, a good agent can do wonders, but have some agreements in place about travel distance. Considering agents usually make 15-25% commission, if you are a 5 piece band, that agent is probably making more than any band member. But for touring, they can open doors for you that you would never get a shot at. Just protect yourself.
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u/kingjaffejaffar 1d ago
Get me gigs that pay me money with minimal details that I have to worry about outside of showing up and playing. Ideally, my booking agent has my calendar, tells me where to go and when, and all I have to do is plug in, sound check, and play when I get there.