Why is a piece about Booking being issued by a ReggaePR? Because Booking ultimately IS promotion, and Booking should never happen WITHOUT promotion. We do provide booking services, but no longer on commission. This Blog explains why we're happy to take on Booking jobs, but certain terms have to be in place, including prepayment for work performed.

BLOG ENTRY ABOUT BOOKING (revised December, 2011)

So you're looking for a booking agent, excellent. You've got a great stage show, you think people should pay for it - cover your recording, travel, and performance expenses. Sounds reasonable enough.

And there's got to be a million agents out there dying for the opportunity to book you. After all, they'll make 10-20-30% off each show, just for sitting in their office & sending out emails - how hard can that be(?!) - a few phone calls, emails, nothing to it. Right?

Wrong!

I mean, if you can attract agents like that, hit the road turnkey, and collect from those many venues waiting to hire you, you've got it going on(!), and you're better off than most.

But guess what: most (all?) markets are not clamoring for new talent - they want a guaranteed draw - and they'll not only fail to promise you a base rate of pay, but they might even force you to sell tickets, cover their nut, have their nut covered before you get anything, or just give you a percentage of the door.

Do they have a sound system, engineer, what's load in like (stairs, parking?) - do they have a backline (drums, bass rig, etc.) - or do you have to bring your own equipment. Will they serve dinner, how many drinks will you get? Is it okay to smoke there? How about hotel, or even travel expenses, will they cover that stuff?

Who's in charge of finding this stuff out? Usually the booking agent! Booking agents are ultimately your front line of representation. They're your calling card to those all-important Talent Buyers, who are holding the keys to your live audience (unless you want to simply rent a function hall, bring in your own PA, lights, etc.).

You're talking about initial email(s) - any outreach competing with literally hundreds of other interested bands - and then phone calls, whatever it takes - maybe a month or two, just to get any kind of Reply - never mind the unlikely call back on the phone. They (the venue) may or may not have opened your links to check out the music - they may demand a hard copy mailing (which you'll have to package, send, and hope they don't misplace) - who pays for postage?

Daunting huh? That's why you don't want to do it yourself. Or maybe someone in the band is doing it already. Are they getting an extra percentage, or outright pay to manage all this stuff? Rarely. But they sure do deserve respect for their efforts!

I once did all the booking & promotion for a band - but they objected (I was in the band: "why should he get paid more than anyone else on stage?") - you can guess where I headed for...the door.

Whomever's "doing the work" - supposing they finally get through - you get the club agent on the line. Do you know what to say? Your booker ought to know how to handle themselves & represent you when they finally get those precious few moments of audience with the kingly talent buyer.

Oh, and what happens when that person gets fired, and you have to start all over again, or they have to ask the owner (who's never in) for permission to book you?

Booking agents have to be organized, keep track of their progress, know what's needed next. They need an office, to pay a phone bill (cell, land line, monthly internet...not at the home 'business' rate, the actual 'out there in the world' business rate). Maybe they have a staff person...so it can take $30-80 in material costs (especially if they don't do all the work themselves, for 'free' - as they 'should,' right - cause working for you is such a privilege). Maybe on top of that, they're into each venue 2-5 hours over the course of weeks or months, to secure a date.

Did I mention the contract. Do you have a contract, do you know what to put into a contract? Do you know which items to fight for, and which to let go? You have to choose your battles in this business. Do you have a fax machine & dedicated line to receive any agreements (when they feel like sending them, in the middle of the night)? Are you comfortable rolling into the venue having never actually gotten a contract back? Better be, cause it happens all the time.

What about the Deposit (assuming you've landed that rare gig which is actually paying). What if they fail to deliver? What protections do you have - or if you got 50% up front - what if they don't pay you the rest, or they dock your pay because you showed up late?

Oops, they don't actually have those hotel rooms they were supposed to have booked, remember, do you have your contracts with you, ready to access & cross reference?  "They promised!" you'll bawl. Yeah, well so it goes.

Who gets that angry call in the middle of the night, from the Artist stranded on the road? The manager - maybe - the booking agent for sure. It's their fault, right? Tour makes too little, a venue cancels last minute - everybody likes to blame the booking agent(!). How could they "do this to you?" you'll ask. The whole band piles on, the manager washes his hands (eventually).

Everybody's mystified as to why the routing is so wonky - "why should we drive over here and then over there - instead of just going from A to B?" "Don't they" [the booking agents] "know the cost of gas?" And "why is this hotel so divey, or far from the club, that makes no sense!" But maybe the venues schedules didn't match up perfectly, or the hotel with the sweet heart deal is out of the way, 40 minutes from the venue...in the wrong direction! These things happen.

So here's the agent, hearing you yacking on the other end of the phone line at 3am, and they're looking at the whole picture: having invested $100 to $500 of their own resources (and time) into each booking (because remember, for every gig that comes through, there's about 5-20 that go nowhere), and he's saying "this is SO not worth it."

That was me, after 5 years of intensive booking - minitours, maxitours - criss crossing the U.S. with legends in the business, my own band, small acts, big acts, and some incredible stories to show for it. Don't get me wrong, great times were had by all. If the situation were right, I'd hit the road in a heartbeat.

Right now, I'm sharing the sob stories, or the downside, which has forever changed how I think about (and conduct) booking. There were those 3 dates in a row booked by that regional promoter, who was so locked into his market that it made sense to commit us to all 3 performances (to make it work for him, financially...meanwhile, we didn't pursue other options originally available to us). And then guess what: after the first show didn't deliver, he cancelled the other 2 shows, gave us a $1700 check, and sent us on our way. The check bounced (I found out, once we got back to the East Coast), and like happens with so many losers who haven't the guts to face up to the people who came through for them, he ducked me until I got tired of calling. What was I gonna to, take him to court from across the country? Oh, right, I could have 'beat him up' - where, how - and what would that have done for me (getting busted for assault in a 'foreign' land)?

It's harder when you get shafted in person, but remotely, ain't that much fun either. Here's two tidbits from some of the 'larger' acts I worked with. One was headed back East on tour. I had finally booked a date with a promoter & venue I had really been trying to work with (in North Carolina). The date fit nicely into the schedule - and the routing was perfect. They were reviewing the contract, everything was set and pretty much confirmed. Then the band's friends - a couple in Arkansas - really wanted them to play there, which would mean driving back West (and blowing off NC). Furthermore (because the couple really wanted to hook up their musician friends), they were adamant that the booking agent (that would be me) not take anything off the top. So I lost all the effort I had put in to getting them a proper date, for which I'd be compensated (remember, I'd booked the entire tour, and spent countless hours on wild goose chases...this one commission could help me recoup some of that 'loss'). In exchange, I got what was tanatamount to a slap in the face.

What about the other time [last story, I promise], when I had a whole tour of the Northwest booked for another group. We were about 3 or 4 weeks out, when I got the call: "Joe" [one of the singers] "has a parole meeting - so he can't leave his home state right then - is there any way you can move the whole tour later by 2 weeks?" Now anyone who's done any amount of booking knows that's an impossibility (and if they'd thought about it, they should have known better, given their years in the business) - but again - the booking agent is expected to pull rabbits out of a hat! Of course the venues were all booked up, and it being less than a month out, there was no way that all their calendars could simply open up to accommodate this preposterous change in plans. Needless to say, that was the last straw for me.

Nowadays, I chuckle when someone calls me for booking. They either have no idea about what it entails, or how hard an environment it is out there. Not that they shouldn't ask - why not - and there are agents out there employing bands every night of the year. Go with them! But this one - yours truly - can't begin to reconsider going through all that heartache once more, not on spec.

You want to pay me for my time and resources - even at the risk of getting nothing, or losing money on the road - I'm your man. Because if you don't have a cushion to carry you through bumps on the road, you shouldn't even consider getting onto the highway. I can't be responsible for whether you sink or swim on the road - all I can be responsible for is doing my job (how I see it) - which is combining our knowledge of venues, relationships, and savoir faire to make the necessary calls into the markets identified. Who pays what, and what comes of it, is not something I can control. At least I'll know, when all is said and done, that this time and effort I put into 'you' was compensated up front.