Bookers/Talent Buyers, Music

Working Schedule

• Talent Buyers and Booking Agents may work full-time jobs, or their duties may simply be part of another job. They work normal business hours, usually on the phone, writing emails, researching acts or venues, and firming up contract details. Travel may be required and they may work nights to visit venues and ensure the acts that have been hired are taken care of and have what they need. Talent Buyers might go out to local area venues to scout new talent. 

Typical Duties

Talent Buyers

• Research bands and other acts to find suitable talent for local venues and upcoming events
• Talk with venue stakeholders to learn about the types of shows that sell the most tickets or that they want to focus on
• Develop a strong sense of what local community audiences are willing to pay to watch
• Keep track of venue seating/occupancy, estimated ticket prices, and how many tickets must be sold for a show to make a profit for all interested parties
  • Factor in additional revenue-generating sales, such as drinks, food items, service fees, parking, VIP packages, etc. 
• Reach out to artists and booking agents to discuss interest, review schedules, and negotiate contracts
  • Some contracts are known as tour riders and are broken into two parts—a  technical rider and a hospitality rider
  • Highly sought-after acts may have extensive tour riders featuring some high maintenance demands! But, if the Talent Buyer really wants that act, they may have to deal with it 
  • Check out Tone Deaf’s “17 backstage riders where the artists just took it way too far” for examples of some crazy band requests!
• Alert venues of bookings so they can update calendars. Work with concert promoters and venue reps as needed, so they can create advertisements and other promotional materials
• Contact “opening acts” in the local area that can play brief sets prior to the headliner act
• Collaborate with applicable venue staff, bands, agents, tour managers, road crew, audio engineers, DJs, etc. 

Booking Agents

• Form ongoing relationships with Talent Buyers for venues where your band(s) wants to travel
• Objectively review the acts you represent to ensure they are suitable for particular venues being looked at
• Research audiences and genres to gain a better understanding of what “sells”—and who is buying it!
• Discuss details regarding fees, projected revenue, and other contract details
• Go over potential acoustics issues and equipment setup
• Review other events scheduled in the areas being booked, to ensure there’s no stiff competition in a similar genre that could draw away crowds
• Share publicity information with venues for use in marketing materials, such as photos and biographical details 
• Take into consideration if the band will be a headliner or opening act. Relatively popular bands may not like opening for other acts…but, especially at major venues, the headliner must be whichever act will bring in the most ticket sales at the highest prices!

Additional Responsibilities

• Follow social media groups that discuss music acts. Pay attention to what people are saying about what they want (or don’t want) to see
• Review potential competing events in the area that might draw away crowds
• Discuss arrangements for bands to sell their own merchandise or other items at the event
• Keep up to date on current music, artists, and trends
• Build strong relationships with venues, artists, agents, managers, and promoters 
• Help new acts gain exposure through bookings  
• Ensure contract terms are pre-arranged and all payments are made in a timely manner. Follow-up with applicable personnel, as needed

Soft Skills

• Attention to detail
• Creativity
• Goal-oriented
• Entrepreneurial 
• Initiative
• Leadership and management skills 
• Multitasking
• Negotiation skills
• Organization
• Passion for music
• Patience 
• Persuasive
• Problem-solving
• Strong communication skills 
• Teamwork
• Time management 

Technical Skills

• Broad knowledge of many music genres, artists, and trends
• Calendaring
• Cultural awareness
• Familiarity with concert marketing strategies
• Good “ear” for music
• Knowledge of entertainment contracts and tour riders
• Logistics (such as travel arrangements, including lodging, meals, and transportation)
• Profit and loss statements and split points
• Venue management

• Venues that host music events (such as cafes, bars, nightclubs, arenas, theaters, amphitheaters, stadiums, convention centers, and cruise ships)
• Self-employed

Both Talent Buyers and Bookers must look out for the best interests of their customers, but also try to ensure mutually beneficial agreements. For Talent Buyers, they must find acts their venue can afford and which will attract as many ticket buyers as possible. Bookers, too, must pin down suitable venues where the acts they represent will be promoted and set up for success! In some cases, however, a deal may not necessarily make money for everyone but can still be a good investment because of the relationships it builds, which can pay off in the future. 

Some bands let their popularity go to their heads, and can become difficult to deal with. Their tour riders can also get complicated, with frivolous demands such as having a small tree “no less than four feet but no higher than six feet” in the dressing room. 

Trivia: Former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth once explained that his band’s infamous rider to have M&M’s available but with all the brown ones removed was actually done as a test to see if the venue was paying attention to more technical aspects of the contract. 

Concert ticket prices have gone up considerably in recent years, while simultaneously the economy hasn’t been doing so hot. Thus, it is important for Talent Buyers to find acts that people can afford to see but that will also generate enough revenue for the venue to make the effort worthwhile. 

Meanwhile, ticket reselling (when third parties buy up seats and then resell the tickets at a markup) is becoming increasingly scrutinized as the practice has gotten out of control. Many resellers do it as a side hustle to earn extra cash. Others have organized systems that scoop up popular show tickets as soon as they hit the market, with the intent to resell them at the highest possible markup to people who can afford them. 

That said, artists and venues are also in hot water due to the practice of dynamic pricing, which adjusts ticket prices based on supply and demand. This allows said artists and venues to maximize profits at the expense of the majority of fans who get priced out of the market when they can’t pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to see their favorite band live. 

Talent Buyers and Bookers were typically music fans growing up, and many likely went to frequently see live music events. Some are musicians themselves and learned the ropes while working inside the music business. In addition to knowing about music and how live events function (including the financial aspects of such shows), they’re also people persons who enjoy growing their networks while wheeling and dealing with artists, managers, and venue representatives. Most are extroverts who may have held early jobs in sales or conducting business via phone and email.