Gigs & business
Booking agent
A booking agent sells your live dates: they take offers, negotiate fees and terms, advance shows and chase payment, for a commission on the fee — commonly around ten to fifteen per cent of it.
In practice
Agents convert demand rather than create it. Get asked for first; the right time to sign is when you are turning work down.
Before that point, do the job yourself: a clear rate, a fast reply, an invoice that goes out the next day and a press kit that answers a promoter’s questions without a phone call. When you do talk to agencies, ask what other artists on the roster look like and who specifically would be working your dates, because a big name on the door means nothing if you are the ninetieth name on a junior’s list. And read the term and the territory before the commission — an exclusive worldwide deal is a much bigger commitment than the percentage suggests.
~10–15%
Typical commission
Demand first
What has to exist already
Term
What to read before the rate
Where these come from: Common booking-agency commission ranges and practice — industry convention, not financial advice.
Why it matters
An agent is a distribution channel, not a career. They are paid when you play, so they are excellent at converting demand that already exists and largely unable to manufacture it — which is why signing with one before anybody is asking for you tends to disappoint both sides.
What they genuinely add beyond deals is the awkward conversations. Negotiating your own fee upward, chasing a promoter who has not paid, or declining a lowball from someone you like are all easier when they happen through a third party, and that has value even at a healthy commission.
Frequently asked
When should a DJ get an agent?+
When you are getting more offers than you can comfortably handle. Agents are paid on dates you play, so they multiply existing demand rather than creating it from nothing.
What does a booking agent charge?+
Commonly around ten to fifteen per cent of the fee, though it varies. The term and the territory matter as much as the percentage.
What is the difference between an agent and a manager?+
An agent sells live dates for a commission on them. A manager works across the whole career — releases, strategy, team — usually for a percentage of everything.
Related terms
Manager
A manager works across an artist’s whole career rather than a single revenue line — releases, strategy, team, partnerships and the day-to-day — usually for a percentage of overall income rather than of live fees alone.
Booking fee
A booking fee is the agreed amount a DJ is paid to play, independent of how the night performs. It is sometimes called a guarantee, because that is exactly what distinguishes it from a share of the door.
Promoter
A promoter books the acts, hires the room, sells the tickets and carries the financial risk of a night. They decide who plays, in what order, and for how long.
Radius clause
A radius clause restricts a DJ from playing within a given distance of a booking for a period either side of it. Festivals use them heavily; a typical shape is a set number of miles and a window of weeks.
Explore: DJ press kit template · EPK · Manager · All DJ terms