getting an agent. whens the right time?

[rhythmtech]

been thinking bout this a lot lately.

although im getting plenty of gigs over here in ireland its very hard to get anything sorted for uk and europe as its impossible to network in person. was thinking the time might be right to try and get an agent as my third release is due anyday now.. maybe its too soon?

anyone got any experiences with agents, advice on who might be suited or general opinions on the matter?

thanx

[dan the acid man]

i think if you have the time to do it yourself, then keep doing it yourself

[rhythmtech]

time isnt the problem though.. i have more than enough time to organise my gigs.. but outside of ireland and uk i really dont know any promoters.. and its very disheartening when email after email dont get replies.. whereas an agent would have the network already there..

i'd still look after my own gigs here though

[eyeswithoutaface]

with all due respect, you'd have to be someone pretty well on their way to being massive already to have an actual agent take you on. It's agencies who you should target if you wanna go through that route. I personally wouldnt, it's a personal thing i'd say i wouldnt trust anyone else to sort out my stuff for me in any respect, agencies are different in the sense that if you want to just pull in as many gigs as possible they will no doubt help you, but you have to work alot harder to make them wanna keep hold of you. 3 releases in probably wont tempt many of them unless your a really, really good dj too who is likely to bring enough gigs in to make their 10% or whatever it is 10% of something worthy. Business comes into it alot more as soon as agencies are involved.

good thread actually, food for thought at least. I personally wouldnt really wanna sign with an agency but i'm not pushing myself in the sense of wanting to be out gigging every weekend so i'm happy.

be interesting to see how u get on if you do approach a few, let us know mate

[rhythmtech]

well i'll see what happens.. might leave it till new year.. theres another few releases planned for after xmas and one is quite big so that might het me a bit more attention?

[eyeswithoutaface]

well how big the producer deems their next release to be wont matter much at all to an agency, they would want to see it sell very well and for the next few eps to do just as well to be convinced that your worth taking on. That coupled with great skills as a dj etc etc. There are all kinds of reasons how people get onto agencies, dont forget alot consist of tight knit groups of friends who probably arent even bringing it that many bookings, but are able to at least SAY they are an agency, if you get me? It's different with say the top agencies like Dynamix where their artists are all proven at what they do

[The Overfiend]

I think you should do what you feel is more condusive to your own career.
If you feel obtaining an agent would help further your chances of getting booked, which via the monster called networking may help.
Then so be it.
At the end of the day your releases serve as a promotional tool to your dj career in some instances.
But if you truly feel you have the talent and the chops to hang with the big boys then I see no reason to hold yourself back and not obtain a booking agent.

[The Overfiend]

It's all about initiative in the present state of things.
Everything is a risk.

[rhythmtech]

@ eyes:

its more the label thats big rather thhen me thinking thhat the release is gonna be big (unfortunatly, much as i would love to, in this day and ahe i havent a clue if it will be a big seller), but i do get where you're coming from.

@ sam:

you're right, everything is a risk these days but hopefully some agencies are willing to take a risk.. i cant see how taking on an artist is any big outlay for an agency (but then again i dont know the ins and outs of how they work).

does anyone know of any agencies?

the only ones i know of or have dealt with are

kinetic djz (space djz, inigo kennedy etc)
sufcollective
and 1 or 2 more i cant remember off the top of my head..

maybe someone knows some smaller agencies?

[eyeswithoutaface]

yeah agreed everything is a risk these days, Intergroove going down the other day just backs that up really. You will probably just get alot of conflicting opinions on this thread actually because i think agencies are a bit kinda "marmite" if you get me.

[RDR]

yeah agreed everything is a risk these days, Intergroove going down the other day just backs that up really. You will probably just get alot of conflicting opinions on this thread actually because i think agencies are a bit kinda "marmite" if you get me.

eh..

when did intergrove go down? missed that one (reminds self to not bury head in sand...)

[MorePunkThanFunk]

i was chatting with clodagh about this a while ago and she said that although she's with a few agency's she gets the vast majority of her gigs through her own website.

with what you said about emailing promoters, it's easy to ignore emails. try and build a friendship through email or phone, then maybe post a mix cd then broach the subject of gigs.

i dont know what its like for promoters but i get sent shit loads of links from people who i don't know with little more than 'have a listen'... or words to that affect. i think **** em, if they can't be bothered to first make some kind of contact and build a friendship then i can't be bothered to listen to there music. also if possible send well labelled mix cd's... who can be arsed downloading mix's they take ages. it's all about looking professionnal

[Ms.Rhythm]

if your wanting agent contact numbers then i'd invest in the MIM "Music industry manual" for dj's and producers its basicly full of contact numbers which are great for networkingwith, you can get them second hand from amazon.co.uk for £22, a brand new one is like £60 odds i bought the 03/04 one from htfr for £5 but im gonna get the o6 one cause i found it that usefull.

thing with agency's is that most of them dont speicalize in the type of music you play, alot of it is based on the more popular side of electronic music . The clubs who are normaly hiring from agencys tend to be chain clubs that are intrested in house, hip-hop , r&b, maybe hardhouse n funky techno , music that girls who are into their high heels and poof drinks can dance too ya know?

Apart from that baz i would honestly invest in trying to market yourself abit more around the internet , start networking and find as many clubs around europe and the uk that play the kinda music you play and send them a demo, get friendly with them and youll probably be invited over to play. You could make anyone famous if you marketed them right SO GET TO IT BOY!