What a booking agency looks for in an artist

An agency takes an artist on when it can sell them: a sound a promoter can describe in one line, demand that already exists outside your home city, material that does the selling for you, and a person promoters want to book again. What an agent does well is take demand that’s already there and turn it into more and better-paid shows. Building it from zero is mostly your job, through releases and nights that go well. This guide is about showing an agency what you have, and about knowing what you sign when one says yes.

What an agency looks at

Start with the sound. Can someone who has never heard you tell a promoter what you play in one sentence? “Hypnotic, percussive techno, 130 to 135 bpm, long sets” is something an agent can pitch. “Eclectic, all genres” is hard to place. A name that is spelled and capitalised the same way everywhere helps more than it seems.

Then agents look for signs that things are already moving:

• Releases on labels promoters know, or a steady run of your own, with the next one dated.
• A residency or a regular night at a club with a reputation. It shows that a club trusts you with its regulars.
• Shows outside your home city, booked by people who aren’t your friends. Repeat bookings count most: a promoter who books you twice has seen the numbers.
• Your current fee range and what is confirmed for the next six months. An agent needs this to price you, so be honest.

Follower counts are a signal, but promoters look at tickets. An artist who reliably fills a 300-capacity club is easier to book than a bigger account who doesn’t.

Your press kit is what an agent sends out ten times a week, so it has to be complete:

• Photos in several crops: landscape for event pages and banners, portrait for posters, square for listings. At least one with space around you, so promoters can set type on it. Print resolution (3,000 pixels or more on the long side) and web versions, with the photographer’s credit, taken within the last two years.
• A logo or wordmark as a vector file and as a transparent PNG, if you use one.
• Three bio lengths, in the third person: one line (about 20 words), short (about 100) and long (about 300). Facts first: where you’re based, what you play, labels, residencies, clubs you’ve played. No superlatives. “One of the most exciting voices in techno” is the line most promoters delete first.

Studio mixes show taste. Live recordings show how you read a floor, and that’s what a promoter is paying for. Send one or two recent, full, unedited sets recorded at a club or festival, with the date and venue named. Live acts: a video of a whole show, or a long continuous excerpt, plus a current tech rider. Links should play without a login or a download.

The last thing is the one most artists underrate. Agents ask promoters about you, and promoters talk to each other. They notice whether you answer within a day or two, are on time for the pickup, treat the staff well and keep your rider realistic. Given two artists who draw about the same, a promoter rebooks the one who was easy on the night, and an agent would rather pitch that one too.

What a booking agency does, and what it doesn’t

Artists often mix up these three jobs. They are paid in different ways, too.

An agent can’t make promoters want you. They can put your name in front of the right ones, price you sensibly and protect your dates. Whether the promoter books you a second time comes down to the night itself. At club level, plenty of artists have an agent long before they need a manager. Advancing is sometimes done by the agency, sometimes by a tour manager or a separate service. Ask which, before you assume.

How commission works

Commission is a percentage of the fees the agency books. In European club music, 10 to 20% is the usual range, and 15% is common for DJs. A higher rate can be fair when the agency also advances shows, books travel and collects the money; a lower one when it only books. Whatever the number, the agreement should say what it is taken from.

• The fee, not your costs. On a landed deal, the fee includes travel. Ask whether commission is taken on the whole fee or on what is left after the travel the agency paid. The second is fairer: nobody should earn a percentage on a flight.
• What you actually receive. On door and bonus deals, commission usually applies to your share after the settlement, bonus included.
• Tax withheld abroad. Ask whether commission is calculated before or after artist tax that a promoter abroad withholds. Either can work, as long as it is written down. The tax itself is covered in Booking artists from abroad in Austria: tax and invoices.
• Buyouts. Agree whether money that only replaces costs, such as a hotel buyout, carries commission.

Say [Artist A] plays a landed deal of €2,000, and the agency books flights and a train for €450. At 15%:

The difference is €81 for one show, or €3,240 over a year with 40 shows like it.

VAT on commission. Commission is the agency’s service to you, so it is invoiced with VAT where VAT applies. As of 1 October 2026, for an agency based in Austria:

• If you are based in Austria, the agency adds the standard rate of 20% (§ 10 UStG 1994). If you charge VAT on your own fees, you can usually deduct it as input tax.
• If you use the small business exemption (Kleinunternehmerregelung, § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27 UStG 1994, turnover up to €55,000 gross a year since 2025), you can’t deduct input tax. The 20% is then a real cost on top of the commission.
• If you run a business in another EU country and give the agency your VAT ID, the commission is taxed where you are based. The invoice goes out without Austrian VAT, under reverse charge (§ 3a Abs. 6 UStG 1994).

This is general information, not tax advice. Check your case with a tax adviser.

Exclusivity and territories

Most agencies ask to represent you exclusively in a territory. Every show request there goes through them, including the ones that reach you directly, and the agreement usually covers commission on those too. In return, the agency protects your dates, prices you consistently and keeps promoters from playing two agents against each other.

Agree in writing:

• The territory. Worldwide, Europe, a region such as DACH, or Europe without the UK. Bigger artists often have one agent per continent. Never two agents for the same territory.
• Carve-outs. Your own parties, a residency that started before the agency, label nights, benefit shows. Say whether they carry commission.
• The term and the exit. A year with a clear notice period is a reasonable start. Agree what happens to shows confirmed before the end: the agency is usually paid on those, even if they take place later. It should not be paid on shows booked after you leave.
• Who confirms. Whether the agency may confirm offers for you, and when it must ask first.
• The money flow. Either promoters pay the agency, which pays you after commission, or they pay you and the agency invoices its commission. Both work if every show comes with a statement.

How to approach an agency

Check the roster first. If the agency books nothing near your sound, or works with artists at a very different stage, look elsewhere. A small agency whose promoters already book music like yours can usually place you faster than a famous one whose promoters don’t.

Then write one short email to one person: the one who handles new artists, if the agency names someone. Five to eight sentences:

1. Who you are, where you’re based and what you play, in one line.
2. What is happening: the next release, a residency, recent shows outside your city.
3. What you need: representation in which territory, or advancing for shows you already have.
4. Links: press kit, two live recordings, a list of past and upcoming dates.

Links, not attachments. Nobody opens a 200 MB file from a stranger, and a private link that expires next week is no better. Make sure everything plays without a login.

Timing helps. Write when you have something to hand over: requests you can no longer handle well, or a release dated three to six months out. An introduction from a promoter or label that has worked with you counts for more than any cold email. If there is no answer after three or four weeks, follow up once, with something new. After that, silence usually means no, and it is fine to try elsewhere.

Don’t write to five people at the same agency, don’t put several agencies in copy, and don’t round up your numbers. Agents check.

Red flags

• Upfront fees for representation. A fee to join the roster, an “onboarding” or “development” fee, a monthly retainer for booking. A booking agency earns from the shows it books. Paying for a clearly defined separate service, such as PR, is different, and belongs in its own written agreement.
• Promised outcomes. A number of shows, a fee level, a festival slot. Nobody can promise those honestly.
• No written terms. Commission rate, what it is taken from, territory, exclusivity, term, notice and money flow should be on paper before the first offer goes out.
• Commission on everything. A booking agent taking a share of your releases, streaming or merchandise is acting like a manager without doing the job.
• Pay to play. Slots you pay for, or tickets you have to buy and resell.
• Money you can’t follow. Fees that arrive late, without a statement per show listing fee, costs and commission.
• Pressure to sign quickly. A good agency is happy for you to read the agreement and ask someone you trust.

No reputable booking agency charges you to join its roster. It earns a share of fees it has actually booked, and it shows you the calculation for every show.

Whichever agency you talk to, ask the questions above before you sign. If you’re thinking of us, our page about us has the terms.