How to Contact a Booking Agent

• 1). Get your act on a stage in a public setting. It may require taking shows for little or no pay or shows that pay the artist from admission at the door. Promote these performances with professional looking fliers and Internet advertising. Consider investing in display advertising in local newspapers.
  
  
• 2). Develop a plan for your musical act that outlines what you hope to achieve with your act and how you believe you can achieve those goals. Become organized about your musical career and lay out your ideas on how your musical act can succeed. Include what you feel is distinctive about your act and list the audience you feel your act appeals to. Take an honest inventory of what your act has to offer, and then start to find a market that a booking agent will be able to work with. Booking agents are not a musical managers. They are not interested in developing your career. They want to know what you have to offer, who you feel you can offer it to and how hard you are willing to work to make things happen.
  
  
• 3). Use various sources such as directories in the library, Internet websites and the phone book to put together a list of prospective agents. Create a list of agents' phone numbers. Break the list down by musical genre and remove agents that do not fall into the realm of what your act offers. Do not assume that your act is so innovative that an agent would be willing to deal in your genre when he normally does not. An agent only wants acts that work in the areas he is familiar with because that is what the agent's customers expect.
  
  
• 4). Formulate what you would like to say when you contact the agent. Do not attempt to impress the booking agent with your past accomplishments right off the bat, be humble in your introduction but be confident. Introduce yourself by name, indicate the name of your musical act and let the agent know why you are calling. Practice speaking before you start dialing the phone to be sure you are delivering your initial introduction with purpose and confidence.
  
  
• 5). If you get past the introduction, keep the rest of the conversation brief. Ask if the agent would accept a press kit from you. If he agrees to the press kit, push further and mention your upcoming shows in the area. Ask the agent how long you should wait before you follow up on the press kit, and then plan on making that follow-up call when the agent suggests that you should.