Corporate Entertainment: Working with Talent Agencies

Published July 17, 2013 | By ncmarsh

Corporate Entertainment: Working with Talent Agencies

Nathan Coe Marsh

As a corporate entertainer, I’ve run into various situations where end-clients have seen talent agents as a necessary evil — either attempts to book directly, or requests to “give us your best price — no agents are involved” during the proposal process with an end-client. My suspicion is these planners don’t understand the enormous value that professional talent bookers add — both to the client and the talent.

Great agents are experts at understanding the unique needs of each group and — based on years of direct experience — pairing them with the right act. They are an outstanding filter for quality, they often provide far better liability coverage than individual entertainers, they insure the contracting and production processes are as seamless as possible, they offer a higher level of accountability, they provide a reliable point of contact when the artist is touring or otherwise difficult to reach, and they do it all at no charge to the client.

This is a huge point: while we are not always in control of how long the supply chain is (DMC’s, Incentive Companies, Venues, Agencies sub-contracting to each other), professional entertainers do everything we can to insure that the price paid by the end-client that found us on their own and the end-client that went through a professional talent booker are the same.

The benefits to the artist are enormous — we don’t have to hold a client’s hand explaining the rider, handle contracting, and we know that when we deliver results there are much greater opportunities for additional appearances through a professional agency than through an individual client.

Working with an agent you get the best price, and a depth of experience behind it.

For a list of great entertainment agents, contact my office — NCM@NCMarsh.com or (407) 900-3831.

The Best is Yet to come!