Booking Major Acts (Part 2)

  • Thread starter Thread starter jndietz
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jndietz

The Way It Moves
Hey everyone, I'm trying to book some bigger acts for shows in and around the area here. I was wondering, how do I get information so that I can contact these bands' managers? Do I need to talk to the labels first?

Any insight is appreciated.
 
jndietz said:
Hey everyone, I'm trying to book some bigger acts for shows in and around the area here. I was wondering, how do I get information so that I can contact these bands' managers? Do I need to talk to the labels first?

Any insight is appreciated.
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They usually list their booking agent online or in their cd.
 
jndietz said:
Hey everyone, I'm trying to book some bigger acts for shows in and around the area here. I was wondering, how do I get information so that I can contact these bands' managers? Do I need to talk to the labels first?

Any insight is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Contact the managent co first.
 
How do I find a bands management company? I'm looking online and Googling around and can't find any information. It keeps coming up with these po-dunk websites that look... "non"-legit. Bands usually put that type of information on their discs?

FWIW: The bands I'm trying to book are Alter Bridge, Disturbed, Taproot, and a few others. I found Taproot's management company, but can't find Alter Bridge's.

Thanks
 
I think I'm going to have a really fun time trying to get ahold of Alter Bridge's band manager. It's Irving Azoff :rolleyes:....
 
Well, I got in contact with their manager. He gave me his phone number and I will call him tomorrow.

What other important things should I know in booking a major act at a major venue?
 
If all parties don't have contracts prior to the show (rare, but it happens even with big shows), then make damn sure that the venue management/owners, sound company, and whoever handles the artist's finances are all completely, 100% clear on how much everybody is getting paid, whether it's a set guarantee or a % of the door and/or bar, and if it's a %, then who exactly is tracking the sales, and if they want their own oversight into the sales tracking part, then who is going to do that and how. Don't make any assumptions or you're gonna have at least one severely pissed off party at the last minute. I've seen so many managers ready to kill the owner of one of the venues I used to do sound for regularly... Major-label management guys don't fuck around, heh... It could have all been avoided with better organization and more clear communication ahead of time.

edit: Also don't take their rider lightly - make sure you accomodate EVERY stupid little demand that is written on it, no matter how hard it may be to do so, if you want to have a good show put on by a happy-to-be-there band.
 
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TyphoidHippo said:
If all parties don't have contracts prior to the show (rare, but it happens even with big shows), then make damn sure that the venue management/owners, sound company, and whoever handles the artist's finances are all completely, 100% clear on how much everybody is getting paid, whether it's a set guarantee or a % of the door and/or bar, and if it's a %, then who exactly is tracking the sales, and if they want their own oversight into the sales tracking part, then who is going to do that and how. Don't make any assumptions or you're gonna have at least one severely pissed off party at the last minute. I've seen so many managers ready to kill the owner of one of the venues I used to do sound for regularly... Major-label management guys don't fuck around, heh... It could have all been avoided with better organization and more clear communication ahead of time.

edit: Also don't take their rider lightly - make sure you accomodate EVERY stupid little demand that is written on it, no matter how hard it may be to do so, if you want to have a good show put on by a happy-to-be-there band.
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VERY GOOD insight Hippo.. thank you. Anything else? I am going to make sure that the financial stuff is SET IN STONE beforehand. Do you know how to determine how much an artist will get paid? Is it based off of how large the venue is? Maybe how popular the artist is in the area?

Also... how do I know the right venue to put the artist in? How do I know if it will be too big or too small? Will the venue run the sound and lights, or do they have people on the artist's crew to do that?

Or maybe these are all questions I need to ask the artist's manager? I just don't want to sound like an incredible "n00b" when talking to these managers...
 
jndietz said:
VERY GOOD insight Hippo.. thank you. Anything else? I am going to make sure that the financial stuff is SET IN STONE beforehand. Do you know how to determine how much an artist will get paid? Is it based off of how large the venue is? Maybe how popular the artist is in the area?

Also... how do I know the right venue to put the artist in? How do I know if it will be too big or too small? Will the venue run the sound and lights, or do they have people on the artist's crew to do that?

Or maybe these are all questions I need to ask the artist's manager? I just don't want to sound like an incredible "n00b" when talking to these managers...
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These questions are all the job of the promoter IOW - you! Bands like Disturbed, especially if working with an unknown promoter, are most likely going to have a set fee. In order to break even on a band like that, you are going to need a pretty big venue, and a lot of cash up front. Also, make sure you hire a good lawyer to read thru the contracts, I have a friend who just got burned by a big name act - burned bad, and now they are headed to court. Also, make sure you have adequate insurance if the venue does not provide it - most don't.
 
Oh, and it just took me about 30 seconds to find Disturbed's booking manager. It say's don't even contact them if you don't have a 25k MINIMUM budget for the main act.
 
I don't think Alter Bridge is on the same level as Disturbed....so I'm going to try to place them at a venue that has a capacity of 1400 people. I talked to the venue owned via e-mail and got some basic information about it. Paying for anything that has to do with the venue will cost probably $6000+ at least. And bringing the band in will cost probably $15000+.

I'll have to find a good lawyer, too... I will begin asking around for that soon...

Thanks for the information so far guys... keep all the advice coming... :cool:
 
NL5 said:
All the tickets on their current tour are going for 120 and up. Maybe it's a European thing?
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It must be... they are in Europe for six weeks. For the gig I'm going to put on, I will be charging at least $30 a pop. Its all GA anyways...
 
Just to update everyone... I've been working on my business plan lately to get my business online.

I was wondering, how does one go about finding out how much a band will charge for a gig? I know its based on markets and whatnot... and I know that the agents can pretty much name their own price... but where can I find some ballpark figures? The only number I've found is for Disturbed and they want at least $25,000.
 
That's about the ballpark you can count on as a minimum for any major act, man... They are all different, though - I've seen some big country acts demand a 30K guarantee just to show up, and they still got some of the door after that. You can either make whoever handles their booking an offer or you can ask what they charge/need/want. Which way it's gonna work out best for you may differ from one act to another - You'll get the hang of it after a while. You just gotta jump in on the first few.
 
I am in the baby-step stages of doing something similar to what you are talking about, so don't take this as a blast, but...

From the questions you are asking, it sounds to me like you are not ready for such a big undertaking. If you had (have?) booked smaller acts, you would already know how to cold-call their people, and would have some idea what to pay. Your (apparent) lack of experience is going to come through when you talk to people, and that opens the door to them taking advantage of you. I just don't see how you can get enough "practice" here, so that you don't sound like the noob you fear sounding like. Also, problems will ALWAYS come up- you run the great risk of having what should have been a surmountable problem, overwhelming you and your resources, and threatening the entire deal. You ARE a noob at this, and it sounds like you are SERIOUSLY over-reaching. You could fall flat on your face, and it will hurt- I'd hate to see you get discouraged and decide the whole thing is not for you.

I am working sound at a music and art festival this weekend in Pine Lake, GA. Great little town near Atlanta- 700 people are registered to vote for Pine Lake's mayor, city councel. http://www.pinelakega.com/ The man who was organizer last year had some grand ideas which sounded good and probably would have been great for the festival- eventually. Unfortunately, he is not involved this year. I am not privy to the reasons, but I suspect it is mainly due to him burning himself out IN ONE YEAR. He may have done better, both for the community and for himself, had he taken it down a notch or two, last year.

The event I hope to get going will start small (actually, has already started) and hopefully grow, year to year. That way, I learn as it grows, and hopefully the problems that come up will not overwhelm me.

You gotta crawl before you walk, walk before you run...
 
I'm not too worried about anything. I mostly want to get the process figured out as much as possible before I start wheeling and dealing with the agents.

The less I sound like a "noob" the more influence I might have on negociated a good deal on getting an act here.

I feel that Disturbed should be allowed to charge $25,000. They are a multi-platinum band whereas a band such as Alter Bridge is not. They've only reached gold status with their album "One Day Remains". "Blackbird" hasn't even reached that yet. Therefore, their fanbase isn't probably as big and should result in them not asking for so much money on a gig.

I will start booking more major artists (Disturbed, for example) once I get a feel for how this works. Of course I have to ask questions... how else am I going to figure this out? I think its possible...I have a dream and a vision.
 
Well, okay, jndietz, but I still think that you are biting off more than you can chew. You are dealing with seasoned pros, people who the first thing they say in the morning is not "Good morning, honey, did you sleep well?" but rather "What's in it for me/my client?" Sharks who can smell fresh blood through telephone lines.

Getting a "feel" for how it works? Great thing to do- no replacement for experience. IF you do fall, I do hope you don't fall too hard or too far, and can learn enough from the experience to do better next time- heck, I hope you still WANT to try again (reference the guy in Pine Lake I mentioned in my previous post.)

One last thing: The best thing in the world for this kind of endeavor is OPM:

Other
People's
MONEY!
 
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