Working through an Agency

[Andy P]

After this weekend i've been contacted and thanked by the agency that booked me and asked if I want to 'go on the books' for more regular work. Having worked in chains before I'm no stranger to people taking a cut and their gigs are certainly the kind I want to be doing (rather than 60th's in the local social club) when I was working in bands this was kind of the main way to get work.

Do any of you guys use or work via agencies and are their any pitfalls. pro's and con's worthy of mention??

[rth_discos]

After this weekend i've been contacted and thanked by the agency that booked me and asked if I want to 'go on the books' for more regular work. Having worked in chains before I'm no stranger to people taking a cut and their gigs are certainly the kind I want to be doing (rather than 60th's in the local social club) when I was working in bands this was kind of the main way to get work.

Do any of you guys use or work via agencies and are their any pitfalls. pro's and con's worthy of mention??

I work with an agency for non mobile work, and it works very well.

Bear in mind you now have 2 clients - the person in charge of the gig you are performing at, and the agent. Keep both happy.

Just ensure you understand what their invoice requirements and payment terms are, as well as carefully reading any contracts you sign to ensure you're not exclusively tied to them. But bear in mind there will likely be a clause about non-competitive work (ie contacting a client within x months after working for the agency)

[Pe7e]

You may find some agencies are notoriously slow at paying out, check their reputation with other local DJs if you can before accepting work.
Some agents may require you to work 'unbranded' so you may need to adjust your kit and work wear accordingly.
Check out their policies in advance in case of a dissatisfied client, I've heard of, but never experienced personally, agents refusing to pay out because their client has complained.
Also be sure you will be given Full details of the gig, i.e. names, contact numbers, times, type of gig etc. It's no fun turning up at a gig that you are going to be completely out of your depth at, i.e. a strict tempo dancing event, if you don't know a fox trot from a waltz and don't have the appropriate tracks in your collection.

[ukpartydj]

are their any pitfalls. pro's and con's worthy of mention??

I run a small agency and work regularly with 3 other agencies.

Cons:

- 2/3 of the agencies I work for will pay 30 days after the event. The other pays within a couple of weeks. I try to pay within 7 days because I'm great :).
- Less personal, all agencies I work with will not give you contact information unless the client has asked for you to contact them.
- Information is limited. One of the agencies I work for will give you the times, the location and the event type and that is all - you need to do a bit of nosing/asking around to find details like the B&G's names which always makes it that much more fun!
- Expect to receive less than your normal fee.
- You must promote the agent who provided you with work and not yourself, handing out your business cards or giving your details is considered bad practise.
- It's difficult to sell extras.
- You may be required to change a few things in line with the agency policy, customer service, what you wear and how you react to certain situations.

Pros:

- Zero advertising costs, no website, no business cards, no google adwords or wedding fayres.
- An agent can obtain work which you may not be able to as "just a single DJ" many want an agency for bulk bookings in certain hotels, nightclubs & corporate events.
- Like myself agents know other agents and a lot more work IMO gets thrown around.
- More short notice bookings.

If it was possible for me to obtain enough work without using agencies I certainly would, however they provide work for me and my DJs on dates which I would otherwise not have filled.

[ppentertainments]

Are you talking about an agency, or working for another DJ ? Big difference.

[Andy P]

An actual agency - I already share work with other local DJs when there are surplus bookings - guys thanks some good advice

They do pay a month behind which I can live with
They do get gigs I could only dream of and
They do have a few stipulations about branding etc

I will deffo check out not getting paid however

[ukpartydj]

I can be very tricky with the not getting paid bit.

I worked for an "agency" a few years ago, they gave me around 5 gigs previously and paid so I was content they were good for the money.
They decided to give me 5 or 6 gigs in the space of a month (all over the place as well not local) which I was quite happy with. I did the gigs and a couple of days before the last gig they weren't responding to my calls or emails about my late payment - I did the gig and they're paying me something stupid like £20 a month back for like 7 years because "they in financial distress" of so my solicitor keeps telling me.

Same with many businesses though - some are honest hardworking people and others are greedy pigs.

[Reel Feeva]

For DJ work, I work on my own and don't use an agency except for Christmas party nights, but I also play in a ceilidh band and work through a couple of agencies for that.

One agency is very upmarket and provides excellent work in very exclusive venues. He is well organised and expects a standard of service fitting to these venues, and as above expects us to promote the agency. Most of his work is corporate or weddings and he is also the same agent who puts work my way in nice venues at Christmas. When working in the ceilidh band with him, he supplies a separate DJ, who is his sole supplier. At one point prior to the crash in 2006, we were doing about 80-100 gigs a year with him. Now I get about 15-20 gigs a year. As the work declined we built a ceilidh band website and he objected, but now doesnt bother due to other more famous and lucrative acts taking his time and providing him with an easier and larger cash stream.

I also work through an agent of sort who advertises under his band name and then backfills/subs work out. For that I am also expected to DJ as well.

Apart from the agent who works in exclusive venues, most of my work is paid on the night or before. With the agent who works in nice venues, it can be anything from being paid before the event, to waiting sometimes 60 days, but never has he not paid, and I have been working with him for about 15 years now.

The agent will certainly provide more work, but l would want to make sure you can also work on your own and that there is no exclusive rights. When we were at our peak the agent wanted some sort of exclusivity, but the volume of work justified this, but as it has dropped significanly, he cant hold a gun at our head in that respect.

Go for it but go in with your eyes open.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

It's been pretty much covered.

IF you can trust the agent to pay up (the one agency I work for pays up 4 weeks following regardless of when they get paid, which to be fair to them is often 90 days after the gig...) then it's a nice way to pick up extra gigs with no leg work.

The compromise ultimately comes on price - I make a lot less than one of my own gigs doing it via an agent but it's a gig I've not advertised for, don't need to do any admin or meetings for - I turn up, set up, play, head home, get paid and I can deal with that for less money if the calender is quiet.