Q: What is the difference between managers and agents?

A: There seems to be alot of confusion on this issue.

In the music industry agents take care of booking, they do not negotiate contracts, etc. They only book the band.

Managers are much more involved in the clients lives than anyone. Managers sometimes do booking but for the most part they don't. A manager will make contacts in the music industry for you, they will answer your questions, be there for you as a support mechanism and sometimes a well grounded kick in the pants when you need it :) They are often involved with contract negotiations, trademark and copyright procedures, they advise you on business issues concerning your career. They may shop your demo to record labels, publishers etc, work with publicity and promotion, and help shape your image to get the attention of the industry. Your manager is probably your closest companion in your music career and they need to be someone you trust implicitly. If you meet with a manager and feel you don't trust them then don't sign with them. Good managers care about your career as much as theirs because if you are using a small management agency your success is their success. In other words you don't get paid neither do they so they have to work hard to make things happen for your group.

Agents on the other hand also don't get paid if they don't find work for you, but they are more choosy and for indie artists it is very difficult if not almost impossible for you to find an agent willing to take you on. This is why some managers do end up taking care of booking for their artists or the artists themselves do it.

In some states it is illegal for managers to book because of a "double whammy" effect that some managers have done that make the other good managers out there look bad. They not only collected a percentage of the performance via their contract with the band but also got paid the agent fee as well. This is unethical and in California, New York, and Florida they have passed laws to cover this.

Tam McClure at Artist Management Services replied to this question when posed to her "Yes sometimes I do find myself booking bands, even when I didn't want to, but I didn't have a choice. So instead of charging both a booking and managers percentage I only took the managers percentage via my contract. I also let the band give me that money I never take it off the top myself. If the band *felt* like paying me more that was their choice and they did it out of their own gratitude to me. Even though I don't book in a state that carries one of the laws regarding this I felt it best not to get a reputation as being an unethical person. Your reputation and the way you affect others is all you leave in this world once you are gone, particularly in this business, so you have to weigh the options and make decisions based on that"