Well the thing is that you should never forget:
No matter what an agent tells you, he is never your friend. He is in it to make money from you and if he sees an opportunity to make more money with someone else, he will drop you like a chewed up pen.
Hence they will try to force contracts on you, do promotional stuff for their agency for free and the like.
Of course they can get you gigs if you play it right, but you have to know what you do and handle it like a real business man or they will suck you dry and leave you to hang.
Now the above is the worst case scenario. There are actually a few agents I have dealt with that are enthusiasts themselves and only hire people they feel comfy with and really try to push them on. But you have to see through the curtain of the others to make that distinction.
So bottom line: Be aware of the business aspects and how this works, then agents can really help you. And I would only recommend agencies to people that are going pro and want to earn money.
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