How To Find a Booking Agent for your Music
Securing a music booking agent can be the key to leveling up your career and landing higher-profile gigs. “How To Find a Booking Agent for your Music” offers expert tips and strategies to attract the right agent and build a thriving performance schedule.
How To Find a Booking Agent for your Music
by Michael Gallant from the Disc Makers Blog
For indie artists, booking gigs can be both a joy and a burden. On the one hand, there’s the rush of finding the right venue with perfect availability, contacting and winning over the person in charge of scheduling shows, sealing the deal, and spreading the word. On the other hand, there’s the frustration of hours of research, outreach, follow up, coordination, negotiation, and sometimes, rejection. If you’re at a point in your career where you have momentum and could really benefit from outside support when it comes to locating, pursing, and securing great gigs — then a music booking agent may be for you. Here’s some advice on how to get started.
What does a booking agent do?
The short answer is that booking agents help find you gigs so you don’t have to — but the real answer is much more nuanced. A booking agent’s skills and responsibilities can include:
- Strategizing when it comes to planning tours, festival appearances, and gigging in general
- Identifying the best venues for you to be playing in
- Introducing your music and performance to bookers
- Pitching specific upcoming concert dates to venues
- Interfacing with venues where want you to perform
- Negotiating terms, expectations, and payments on your behalf
- Leveraging their professional connections for your benefit
- Contributing to the overall potency of your brand and the longevity of your career
How do you get noticed by booking agents?
Like nearly anyone in the music business, booking agents want to work with artists who are talented, committed, responsible, and professional — artists who have already proven they can put on a memorable show. Plus, booking agents have to make a living, so they’re always looking for artists who can help them meet their own bottom lines. Here’s how you can get noticed:
Prepare your music portfolio
One of the best ways to convince booking agents to work with you is to show them evidence of the amazing and utterly packed live gigs you’ve played in the past. Invest the time in putting together an impressive and professional-looking electronic press kit (EPK). Be sure to include professionally shot and produced recordings and videos of you doing what you do best.
Build your online presence
Booking agents will want to see you engaging actively with an enthusiastic fan base, so
double down on getting your digital presence in order. That means showcasing your talent to fans and fellow music industry professionals alike via social media, and having a website that proudly communicates who you are and what you do.
Networking and industry connections
Conferences, workshops, jam sessions, happy hours — anything that gets you shaking hands and sharing conversations with fellow music industry folks will move you closer to connecting with booking agents in meaningful ways. Don’t be afraid to leverage your own network by asking fellow music people for recommendations and introductions.
Research potential agents
Do your due diligence before approaching any booking agents, and make sure that those you reach out to are people who specialize in your genre of music, have a notable track record of success, and have positive reputations. Music industry directories and trade associations are also great resources for research.
Make the pitch
Keep your pitch emails concise, positive, respectful, and confident without crossing the line into arrogance or hype. Include solid facts about what you bring to the table in an agent-artist relationship, and also consider mentioning what attracted you to contact that particular booking agent. Be sure to follow up regularly and respectfully, but again, don’t overdo it. You want to be heard, but you don’t want to annoy your contact into blocking your email and phone number.
Negotiate contracts and agreements
Different booking agents will earn their income according to different terms, so make sure to carefully review any agreements before you sign them. In particular, look at how much the agent charges overall, how much they make per concert booked, exclusivity vs. non-exclusivity, and what happens legally if you decide to part ways. Then, do your research to make sure everything is legit and industry standard. Having a qualified music lawyer review any agreement is also highly advisable, as they may catch red flags you’d never notice on your own.
Maintain a good relationship with your agent
If you land a booking agent, great — now it’s your job to treat that person like a valued and respected member of your team who is working hard to make things happen for you. Always respond quickly when your agent reaches out, give them everything they need to succeed on your behalf, and keep them posted on everything new and significant that happens in your career.
DIY booking as an alternative
Sometimes booking agents just aren’t taking on new clients. Sometimes, try as you might, you can’t get the right agent’s attention — or the agents that you’re able to work with don’t deliver the results you’re looking for. And sometimes, it’s just simpler to do things on your own. If you’ve decided to take matters into your own hands, whether short term or long term, keep these tips in mind:
- Start early. Many venues book weeks, months, or even years out. If you want to get the performance spots you crave, do it on a reasonable and realistic timeline.
- Do your research. Go to lots of live shows yourself, search the internet, check social media, follow your favorite artists who play music similar to your own, and tap into your network to find out which venues are the best fits for you.
- Be realistic about your audience and draw. Make sure that the venues you’re looking at are a good home for your type of music. And when/if asked, be positive but realistic when predicting how many fans you can draw. In particular, promising a full house and delivering only a handful of listeners will not lay the groundwork for a good booking relationship moving forward.
- Be respectfully persistent. Venues often have tons of artists banging down their doors and trying to get gigs lined up. Follow up regularly with folks you’re trying to work with at venues, but always do so with positivity, patience, and understanding. Push too hard and you risk closing doors that you were seeking to open.
- Have merch and media ready. CDs, postcards, t-shirts, vinyl — any and all merch and physical media can help you land the gigs you want. As part of your outreach, consider showing your booking contact a package so they can see how awesome you are via objects they can actually touch, not just pixels on a screen. And if you don’t have these assets in hand or need to refresh your inventory, Disc Makers can help.
- Stay flexible. Maybe a venue doesn’t have your preferred date and time available, but offers you something in an alternate space instead — or maybe there’s a slot suddenly open for a different artist. Don’t write anything off and seriously evaluate all opportunities, even if they are not what you originally asked for.
Look the part
The more your overall house is in order, the more attractive you’ll be to any booking agent you approach. Remember, pitching and networking like a professional starts with physical media. Reach out to your friends at Disc Makers for affordable, top-quality CDs and vinyl records so that you can share great-sounding music with those in your network. Stock up on physical media, start pitching yourself to booking agents, and enjoy the new opportunities on the horizon.
Michael Gallant is a musician, writer, and entrepreneur living in New York City. His debut album for the Steinway & Sons label, Rock Rewind, features solo piano reinventions of Pearl Jam, U2, Halestorm, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, and more. Read his recent article for the National Endowment for the Arts and follow Michael on Twitter at @Michael_Gallant and Facebook.com/GallantMusic.
