tauzero Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) I'm really getting utterly peed off with agents. There's some operating around Birmingham that have got quite a few pubs sewn up. So we can't approach the pubs direct, yet, despite the fact that the pubs would like us in, the agents aren't booking us into them either. What the hell can we do? Edited February 7, 2015 by tauzero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurbs Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Kiss the agents arse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Oh, I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Maybe slip the tongue in as well? Sorry. It seems a ridiculous situation yet I'm somehow not surprised. Surely if the pubs want you but their agent has to book you, but isn't, then the agent isn't doing their job and the pub needs to speak to them, assuming the pub is paying them. Edited February 7, 2015 by Maude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Pub tells agent 'We want this band, if you don't sort it we'll just put them on ourselves and you get 0% comission'. It's the only language they understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I've had this around here, a few in particular (seems to be a 'type'). Middle aged 'rock chicks' that want endless 'Bon Jovi' bands and classic Rock cover bands, cause that's waht they like. Because we play a sort of 'pop goes punk' type thing it's not their bag personally, so they just stopped booking us, despite the venues liking it and wanting us back. When I asked if we weren't getting booked purely because we weren't to their taste all vociferously denied it, and trotted out generic lines about full rosters etc, then carried on booking the same old same old. I was amused to see at least one of them has had nearly everyone she's worked alongside over the last few years finally cotton on, not sure if she's still doing it now. One told us (different act) the fee, told the venue wrong, then instead of fessing up, she got really psychotic after we queried it and showed her the message she'd send with the promised amount in and no matter how nice and dismissive of the matter we were, never contacted again, unfriended on fbook etc etc They all feel rather more like slightly unhinged wannabes/hangers on to me, but they seem to get so many venues sown up. Very irritating and unfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Agents should work for the pubs but that is because pubs are too lazy to do the footwork themselves. You might find that agents want a fee off every job the band does, and some bands are desperate enough to go for that exclusive agreement, so basically the band lets the agent put them in everywhere as they are going to have to pay the agent fee anyway. So, from this, you might find that once this type of agent gets into a few places, then they only put on 'their' bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Don't the landlords in question have ANY balls at all? It's their pub and unless they've signed a mutually exclusive contract with an agent then they should be able to bring in whomever they want to play music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRhino Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Agencies can be useful but you need to know how to work them and what you are to them. If you're a 'managed act' they will want total control of your diary and you will be expected to play where they place you. They also expect a %fee of any booking taken by you at one of their gigs. So you play a venue for the agent, someone books you for their wedding/venue/party you are expected to pay a slice of that to the agency. Even though the agent hasn't actually done any work. If you use an agent to provide ad hoc work you pay their % fee but can also decline an offer of work if it doesn't suit you. You can also use several agents. I see this as the agents working for you. You need to decide which path works best for your band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1423335706' post='2683718'] Don't the landlords in question have ANY balls at all? It's their pub and unless they've signed a mutually exclusive contract with an agent then they should be able to bring in whomever they want to play music. [/quote] What I've seen is that the Landlord has a 'mate', usually a regular who manages the entertainment side of things. Not on the paid staff. Organises the quiz nights, karaoke, discos, bands etc. Takes a small commission on it. Gets free drinks etc. To get into that pub you need to know the guy/girl as they've already got their idea of what they want. The landlord will pay all the lip service - "yeah, you're great, you'd go down really well, I'd love you to play here" - but you need to talk to X because they handle the bookings. Best chance is to keep calling X on a fortnightly basis and hope for a cancellation. That's the only way we got into one pub. But you have to ask why you want to play that pub so desperately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzodog Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I agree that its the pubs fault not the agents. A decent pub would either book acts themselves or maybe offer an agent a couple of dates a month to book for them. Thats how pubs used to do it. The agents are salesmen at the end of the day so you cant blame them for trying to get as many bands in a pub as possible. A bad band can ruin a pubs trade so if landlords cant be bothered to vet the acts themselves then they only have themselves to blame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 [quote name='KevB' timestamp='1423330828' post='2683663'] Pub tells agent 'We want this band, if you don't sort it we'll just put them on ourselves and you get 0% comission'. It's the only language they understand. [/quote] [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1423335706' post='2683718'] Don't the landlords in question have ANY balls at all? It's their pub and unless they've signed a mutually exclusive contract with an agent then they should be able to bring in whomever they want to play music. [/quote] Both of the above are my thoughts on this. Agree also with those who`ve said that in general these situations occur down to the pub/landlords being too lazy to do it themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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