Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jane "Electric Blue" on March 4, 2010 at 11:02pm

It is fairly standard for an agent to expect that any contacts made at an event they booked for you get feed back through them but i feel that unless this is the only way you will get gigs and that they will get you lots it is not worth signing a non compete agreement that stops you booking yourself out side of her agency particularly if you are thinking about starting your own troupe.

I would just talk to her and explain your situation basicly say that you are happy to sign an agreement for the first condition but you are in the process of starting your own troupe and can't sign if the agreement stops you performing outside the agency. If they really have gigs up their sleeve and really want you for them they will book you any way.

That is my experience any way. Also be wary of agents and signing things in general, particularly if you have not actually worked with them yet. Unfortunately there are plenty of dodgy agents out there. Also do make sure that they book you at market price so that you are not inadvertently under cutting yourself

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Permalink Reply by Van Doan on October 9, 2010 at 6:08pm

That's interesting.

So how much is market price? I'm just curious.

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Permalink Reply by Jane "Electric Blue" on October 10, 2010 at 6:36pm

Market price really depends on where you are.
A basic example for the min i would charge where i am for a corporate gig, doing walk by fire spinning/hooping at the entranced of a ball would be around $150 for the first hour and then $100 after that. But for a stage act or something more complicated it would be more. But this really depends on where you are.

It is a good idea to find out the average price in your area for a similar activity and keep with in that range, undercutting the market even if inadvertently hurts everyone including yourself in the end.

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Permalink Reply by Shekinah on October 10, 2010 at 7:42am

2 years is kind of a long time if you are already in the works of starting something on your own. However, if all the conditions are good (like price and how much of a cut do you get to keep in the end and frequency of events), I would sign it if you are looking for the experience and to get your name out there first. It could give you the security for two years while you work on establishing your own thing, especially if you are only in the stage of "thinking about it" rather than already started and have all the ground work laid for your own business. Do you know what it would take to break contract early if you wanted to split after a year or whatever? I think that would be important to find out as well.

Oh, and also, what constitutes as performing? If you are practicing in the park and end up having a handful of people looking on watching out of interest, would that be a no-no to this agency, or is it just paid gigs they want to be in control of?

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