x

Management contract?

Home 2023 › Forums › The DJ Booth › Management contract?

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • February 8, 2012 at 2:51 am #14444
    Jon Hill
    Participant

    Do you know any lawers, paralegals or law students? If so get them to look over the contract. you need to read carefully before you sign anything. It could work out very very well for you with guaranteed shows, but you should to be wary of anyone taking money from you, particulary if they didnt get you the gig. Sometimes management contracts will stipulate that said manager can take a percentage of all your shows, regardless of wether they got them for you.

    good luck mate, it sounds like you might be on to a winner with your act!
    JP

    February 8, 2012 at 3:04 am #14445
    crayc
    Member

    Jp source, post: 14507, member: 707 wrote: Do you know any lawers, paralegals or law students? If so get them to look over the contract. you need to read carefully before you sign anything. It could work out very very well for you with guaranteed shows, but you should to be wary of anyone taking money from you, particulary if they didnt get you the gig. Sometimes management contracts will stipulate that said manager can take a percentage of all your shows, regardless of wether they got them for you.

    good luck mate, it sounds like you might be on to a winner with your act!
    JP

    thanks. i was about to drop it seeing as it was very scary. i had girls run away from me crying lol. but it works i guess. i think i have some one to over look the contract. put in provisions and take my time with it. yeah if people go to my website and book me directly, i would not want the manager to take a percent off. but i am assuming i would have to put his contact info on my site anyway. let him do all the bookings. let’s see what his contract looks like. if it’s a slap in the face then i will just say no.

    February 8, 2012 at 12:36 pm #1002901
    Reason808
    Participant

    Make sure there’s a REAL plan to promote you. I had a record contract and the person didn’t promote it. Then another label wanted the song and I couldn’t get out of it. Sucked. Same for when a short film company wanted to ‘distribute’ one of my short films. Never did anything with it. Nice honor, and some small money, but not much else.

    Why not build a relationship with this guy, see how a few gigs go first? If this manager/promoter is genuine, he/she can wait to have things grow and make sure you’re comfortable. If they’re pushing you into an restricted situation, be suspicious.

    Usually people want contracts to sign you for exclusivity and lock you out of other stuff. Makes sense, business wise, but you could easily be stuck for 2 years not able to work certain clubs. Or worse, they could steal your image.

    February 8, 2012 at 6:59 pm #14477
    crayc
    Member

    reason808, post: 14522, member: 831 wrote: Make sure there’s a REAL plan to promote you. I had a record contract and the person didn’t promote it. Then another label wanted the song and I couldn’t get out of it. Sucked. Same for when a short film company wanted to ‘distribute’ one of my short films. Never did anything with it. Nice honor, and some small money, but not much else.

    Why not build a relationship with this guy, see how a few gigs go first? If this manager/promoter is genuine, he/she can wait to have things grow and make sure you’re comfortable. If they’re pushing you into an restricted situation, be suspicious.

    Usually people want contracts to sign you for exclusivity and lock you out of other stuff. Makes sense, business wise, but you could easily be stuck for 2 years not able to work certain clubs. Or worse, they could steal your image.

    thanks excellent advice. he has been getting me gigs in the top clubs here, he also discussed having this major local beer company sponsor me. they do major events and concerts here. i just don’t want to be tied down. i told him to email the contract so i can view it. i will change things and put in provisions and if he is not happy with it then i take my chances. before him no one was really giving me a chance.

    February 11, 2012 at 3:33 am #14699
    Reason808
    Participant

    Glad you thought my comments were helpful. The relationship you describe sounds like a good one. I’d only suggest that you really think about what you mean by “I don’t want to be tied down.” That’s exactly what the manager wants from you. A misunderstanding about this could really mess up the relationship down the road. From the manager’s/label/biz person’s POV, they want commitment from you (or any artist) before developing business for you further. Why spend time developing a six month marketing plan if you will drop out on month 5?

    February 11, 2012 at 7:45 am #14705
    crayc
    Member

    yea, in a way i just want to be free and take gigs i like. he is trying to market me to the younger crowd. but i am old school and i like to play house from the 90’s and change it up to various genres from 50’s to now. I like my crowd to be mature. but when it comes down to it, its about what makes the money. so i guess i just have to adapt. i am working on producing music as well. I just don’t want to be tied down long term, i think he has 2 years in mind. i am from nyc, down in pr right now, so i don’t plan on being here for more than a year. i want to go to europe afterwards. let’s see what happens. after i see this contract, i would do whats best for me. thanks for the advice

    February 11, 2012 at 10:41 am #14707
    Reason808
    Participant

    Sounds like you got good options. And you could do the house/90s/50s stuff on the side, too. Best of luck.

    February 11, 2012 at 4:47 pm #14712
    Mike Check
    Member

    When reviewing the contract look for exclusivity language …as these clauses are the ones that will tie you down & prevent you from taking other gigs. You didn’t make mention of how the promoter is compensated but I’d shy away from any upfront or flat monthly fees & structure it to where his compensation is related to getting you work that way there’s more incentive for him to hustle for you (around here typical booking agency take a 10% cut). And don’t jump into a 2yr, make it a 6month or 1yr with an optional extension period if executed by both parties, this way if he sucks you aren’t contractually locked to him.

    Since you’re producing as well you need to make sure there is language that addresses this specifically in the contract. Essentially anything you create is your copyright with full ownership and rights and in no way does this agreement impact or apply to that area of business. What you don’t want is for him to have rights or take a cut out of anything you make from an original track/production b/c he’s a club promoter not a record label promoter. Now if he actually wants to manage that aspect too and you want to compensate him for say getting a song on the radio then you need to address this specifically w/ language.

    In the end more language is better & don’t assume that if it’s not mentioned in the agreement you’re clear b/c that’s an argument waiting to happen e.g. the 1st time you get compensated for an original song. One of the biggest reasons for a contract is protection & CYA so try to think of every possible scenario and address it head on in language. And BTW, I do this in my day job 🙂

    February 11, 2012 at 5:49 pm #14714
    crayc
    Member

    Mike Check, post: 14780, member: 1342 wrote: When reviewing the contract look for exclusivity language …as these clauses are the ones that will tie you down & prevent you from taking other gigs. You didn’t make mention of how the promoter is compensated but I’d shy away from any upfront or flat monthly fees & structure it to where his compensation is related to getting you work that way there’s more incentive for him to hustle for you (around here typical booking agency take a 10% cut). And don’t jump into a 2yr, make it a 6month or 1yr with an optional extension period if executed by both parties, this way if he sucks you aren’t contractually locked to him.

    Since you’re producing as well you need to make sure there is language that addresses this specifically in the contract. Essentially anything you create is your copyright with full ownership and rights and in no way does this agreement impact or apply to that area of business. What you don’t want is for him to have rights or take a cut out of anything you make from an original track/production b/c he’s a club promoter not a record label promoter. Now if he actually wants to manage that aspect too and you want to compensate him for say getting a song on the radio then you need to address this specifically w/ language.

    In the end more language is better & don’t assume that if it’s not mentioned in the agreement you’re clear b/c that’s an argument waiting to happen e.g. the 1st time you get compensated for an original song. One of the biggest reasons for a contract is protection & CYA so try to think of every possible scenario and address it head on in language. And BTW, I do this in my day job 🙂

    thanks for the wonderful advice. I was thinking i would do a 6 month contract. He told me to go to the office to sign it. I told him email it to me so i can send it to me fictional lawyers. no way will i just go to a place and sign on the dot with out reviewing it for at least a week or 2. he initially told me the local beer company wants to sponsor me and have me do the big events as an opener for the big acts they bring here. So i don’t know if he is blowing hot air on that. so the 6 months will be my only option to see if he can deliver. well thanks every one again. very helpful.

    August 16, 2012 at 4:57 pm #1009797
    DanJam
    Member

    is it normal for a DJ manager to ask for an administration fee to be paid, namely £470. I have been approached by someone offering me non-exclusive managerial assistance for 12 months for a 20% cut but have asked for the admin fee to be paid up front. I’m very skeptical about things like this, and it will take more than a sales pitch to get me to agree to any sort of contract but this is my initial concern. thanks for any help

    August 16, 2012 at 4:57 pm #1009798
    DanJam
    Member

    when i say non exclusive i mean i won’t be the only dj they represent.

    August 19, 2012 at 9:05 am #1009960
    Todd Oddity
    Participant

    Cash up front with no proof of ability to provide the services offered is a huge red flag. If they do what they do well, then the percentage commission would more than be enough – up front money means they don’t have faith in being able to recover their own costs with bookings.

    August 31, 2012 at 6:40 pm #1011275
    Phil Morse
    Keymaster

    Agreed, I’d say as a rule never pay any upfront admin fees to agents in this way.

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • The forum ‘The DJ Booth’ is closed to new topics and replies.