A roster should develop its own identity. Talent buyers will remember good rosters and the agents that run them. This will make it easier for the agent to develop their network.

In this post, I discuss broad categories of artist statuses that make up a healthy roster. Regardless of the genres covered by an agent’s roster, the agent is going to need to pay attention to the level of touring their artists achieve.

There are four basic principles to developing an ideal roster. Follow these in conjunction with your working goals and you’ll get to where you want to be faster.

A good roster will have an identity of its own. It will form a cohesive group of artists and the agent will become known for the artists they work with. This will make the agent’s work less chaotic and reduce the number of talent buyers they need to work with.

When an agent starts working with an artist it is a relationship that may continue for decades. It’s super important that we make every effort to make the right decision in advance to avoid wasting a lot of time.

Once the tour is routed and signed off, there’s a lot to do before it gets announced. In this post, we dig into some of the things that need to be considered before it can be released into the big bad world!

In Part 3 of routing a tour we get down to walking the walk and getting the job done. It takes a certain type of dogged and tenacious individual to route a tour – especially with emerging talent – do you have what it takes?

Before we start writing emails and making calls, it’s good practice to map out the best tour you could book in the tour window you have. A tour where you managed to hit all the cities you want. A tour with the most suitable venues and promoters. We call this our Ideal Tour.

Booking a great tour can be a very satisfying achievement. A great tour will create shows that artists and audiences will remember. It will also raise the profile of the artist. A great tour will also work financially and minimise travelling. To get this right the agent needs to do their homework first!

In this post we take a closer look at the Music Business Conference. They form an integral part of a typical booking agent’s calendar. They provide an opportunity for agents to meet with talent buyers face to face, show-case artists, learn from industry leaders and generally have a good time in a city somewhere else from the normal place of work. Fun it may be, but it is still very much work!