Booking Agent For Live Performance

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum. 

I have been very fortunate to make a career out fo my music through the digital world.  I'm a singer -songwriter and producer however I would like to diversify my income stream. 

Up until this point, I have never really wanted to do live work as I have a young family and it was more important to me that my kids and wife had my presence.  I am now at a point though where I am open to doing live performances but the one issue I face is finding paying gigs. 

Ideally, I'd like to work with an experienced booking agent who can take care of finding gigs and in return get a % of my fee. 

Would any of you know where to point me?  I'm based in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Something I’ve seen much more of in recent years is, “are you available on [date]? I have a Wedding in [area] looking for a [band size] playing [genre]. How much can you do it for?”.

Then they balance price against the likelihood of repeat bookings. They will expect you to have all your own promotion material and understand the requirement from their perspective.

I reckon this is the inevitable consequence of online connectivity.

Just so you’re aware.

Pipers get a lot of good work but are often only required for a few numbers at an event so I would have thought that you would want to buddy up with some - and use the same agents.

shufflebeat said:

Something I’ve seen much more of in recent years is, “are you available on [date]? I have a Wedding in [area] looking for a [band size] playing [genre]. How much can you do it for?”.

Then they balance price against the likelihood of repeat bookings. They will expect you to have all your own promotion material and understand the requirement from their perspective.

I reckon this is the inevitable consequence of online connectivity.

Just so you’re aware.

Appreciate the input. 

Thanks

BenSirAmos said:

Pipers get a lot of good work but are often only required for a few numbers at an event so I would have thought that you would want to buddy up with some - and use the same agents.

Yes, good thinking.

Thanks

The_Singing_Scotsman said:

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum. 

I have been very fortunate to make a career out fo my music through the digital world.  I'm a singer -songwriter and producer however I would like to diversify my income stream. 

Up until this point, I have never really wanted to do live work as I have a young family and it was more important to me that my kids and wife had my presence.  I am now at a point though where I am open to doing live performances but the one issue I face is finding paying gigs. 

Ideally, I'd like to work with an experienced booking agent who can take care of finding gigs and in return get a % of my fee. 

Would any of you know where to point me?  I'm based in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Live work is great, although it can be hard graft, a lot of hustle, and you need a business head on you as well as having your show slick and together.  It's incredibly competitive, there's always someone who will do it for less, so you need to know your value and find clients that understand it and will pay the fees you're looking for.  I made a decent living playing wedding/function/corporate gigs for a while before I fully shifted in to the not-on-stage end of live production/touring work and it can be lucrative, but it's not always easy. 

I'd say for an agent to be even vaguely interested in working with you, you would need to have:

> A clear idea of the kind of gigs/venues you're looking to do - function, corporate, bars/pubs etc
> A clear idea of the material you're looking to play and the target demographic for your audience
> Good quality video, audio, photo content for promotional use.  Video needs to very quickly show what you're about as attention spans are limited - a series of quick samples showing the big hitters in your set often has more impact than full 3 or 4 minute song performances
> Social media and web presence
> Suitable equipment for the type of performances you're looking to do, inc PA, lights, transport. If you're a solo guitarist/vocalist this obviously requires a lot less than if you're putting a full band together

Any agent worth their salt who will be capable of getting you decent work would want to see all of the above in place to be able to pitch you successfully to clients, and anyone happy to take you on without all of the above is probably just stuffing their roster and happy to make a quick buck from you where they can, rather than making sure they're curating high quality product for their clients.

Live gigging is a busy marketplace, with a mix of seasoned pros, keen and talented music students/young'uns just stepping in to freelance work, weekend warriors gigging around the day job, and keen amateurs who are just happy to be playing out at all.  You'll find there's plenty of "race to the bottom" work out there where the cheapest quote gets the gig regardless of anything else, but there's also high end, well paid work *if* you've got the standard of show and the standard of marketing, promotion and professional communication to secure it.  You need to figure out where you see yourself fitting in to that, both as a starting point and longer-term, and look who is operating in that space locally. 

Great way to make a living though, and as you've got other income streams, won't come with the pressure to be immediately busy - I've always found having diversity in your income is key to getting by in this business! 

mike257 said:

The_Singing_Scotsman said:

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum. 

I have been very fortunate to make a career out fo my music through the digital world.  I'm a singer -songwriter and producer however I would like to diversify my income stream. 

Up until this point, I have never really wanted to do live work as I have a young family and it was more important to me that my kids and wife had my presence.  I am now at a point though where I am open to doing live performances but the one issue I face is finding paying gigs. 

Ideally, I'd like to work with an experienced booking agent who can take care of finding gigs and in return get a % of my fee. 

Would any of you know where to point me?  I'm based in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Live work is great, although it can be hard graft, a lot of hustle, and you need a business head on you as well as having your show slick and together.  It's incredibly competitive, there's always someone who will do it for less, so you need to know your value and find clients that understand it and will pay the fees you're looking for.  I made a decent living playing wedding/function/corporate gigs for a while before I fully shifted in to the not-on-stage end of live production/touring work and it can be lucrative, but it's not always easy. 

I'd say for an agent to be even vaguely interested in working with you, you would need to have:

> A clear idea of the kind of gigs/venues you're looking to do - function, corporate, bars/pubs etc
> A clear idea of the material you're looking to play and the target demographic for your audience
> Good quality video, audio, photo content for promotional use.  Video needs to very quickly show what you're about as attention spans are limited - a series of quick samples showing the big hitters in your set often has more impact than full 3 or 4 minute song performances
> Social media and web presence
> Suitable equipment for the type of performances you're looking to do, inc PA, lights, transport. If you're a solo guitarist/vocalist this obviously requires a lot less than if you're putting a full band together

Any agent worth their salt who will be capable of getting you decent work would want to see all of the above in place to be able to pitch you successfully to clients, and anyone happy to take you on without all of the above is probably just stuffing their roster and happy to make a quick buck from you where they can, rather than making sure they're curating high quality product for their clients.

Live gigging is a busy marketplace, with a mix of seasoned pros, keen and talented music students/young'uns just stepping in to freelance work, weekend warriors gigging around the day job, and keen amateurs who are just happy to be playing out at all.  You'll find there's plenty of "race to the bottom" work out there where the cheapest quote gets the gig regardless of anything else, but there's also high end, well paid work *if* you've got the standard of show and the standard of marketing, promotion and professional communication to secure it.  You need to figure out where you see yourself fitting in to that, both as a starting point and longer-term, and look who is operating in that space locally. 

Great way to make a living though, and as you've got other income streams, won't come with the pressure to be immediately busy - I've always found having diversity in your income is key to getting by in this business! 

Mike, that is a super helpful response.  Thanks for taking the time. 

When I was gigging the agencies did slightly different things with slightly different expectations. However, generally we stumbled upon them via venues. Look at local venues, gig listings, etc, and see what looks like something you think you should be doing and contact the venue to ask if they book direct or via an agency (and who that agency is). Lots of places do book direct but many don't want the hassle and rely on an agency to find acts for them. You may end up on the books of multiple agencies. 
My problem with agencies was that they did have higher expectations than we could really meet. The good photos, bio, set list type stuff fine but the short notice gigs or the ones at the other end of the country no we didn't and therefore they didn't tend to bother with us. Booking your own gigs can be a royal pain in the arse but equally you aren't setting yourself up for gigs you simply don't want to do. 

EricTheWeary said:

When I was gigging the agencies did slightly different things with slightly different expectations. However, generally we stumbled upon them via venues. Look at local venues, gig listings, etc, and see what looks like something you think you should be doing and contact the venue to ask if they book direct or via an agency (and who that agency is). Lots of places do book direct but many don't want the hassle and rely on an agency to find acts for them. You may end up on the books of multiple agencies. 
My problem with agencies was that they did have higher expectations than we could really meet. The good photos, bio, set list type stuff fine but the short notice gigs or the ones at the other end of the country no we didn't and therefore they didn't tend to bother with us. Booking your own gigs can be a royal pain in the arse but equally you aren't setting yourself up for gigs you simply don't want to do. 

Thank you, appreciate the input!

AntonHunter said:

Are you looking at playing your own original stuff or covers? Most of the advice here is aimed at cover acts. If you've got an audience for your music through the digital world, have a look at your streaming data, see where they're located and maybe put on a gig (or tour...) by hiring venues yourself. Hard work, but if there's an audience already interested in your music then that well more than half the battle!

Be clear with what you want out of it too, very few people will make money playing originals live to begin with, so if you're looking to promote a new single, or raise your profile in more areas, just make sure you know what you want!

Booking agents are only interested in acts they can make money off, which might mean you have to do some of that leg-work to get yourself there first (same as with the advice above).

Super helpful!  Yes, it would be originals I'd want to be playing.  I like your suggestions about my analytics informing me.  I guess I'm just trying to avoid the administrative load.