Got offered my dream job, but with a catch.

Over the past few years I've been running metal shows in my hometown. I also book shows/tours for a bunch of Canada's biggest metal bands.

This morning I awoke to an email in my inbox from a company called "The Agency Group". I've dealt with a few of their agents before since I book shows in my hometown, but the subject line of this email was a lot different than usual.

The email pretty much stated that they were interested in using me to run every metal show that heads to my city. But what really shocked me is that they actually want me to be an agent. I'd probably start out by booking bands that nobody has ever heard of, but it has a lot of potential.

I was on the phone with the person who emailed me for about an hour and a half trying to get all of the information I would need.

It turns out that if I take this job, I'll have to stop running shows/booking bands under my current company. This would honestly hurt me a lot, it's taken over 2 years to get this going in full-motion.

I'm also wondering if taking this job will hurt my chances of having my own band ever getting signed to a "reputable" label. I've spent about a year and a half working on this project, and I can honestly say I'm finally happy with the group of people I'm playing music with... I don't even know if I'd be allowed to represent my own band, there's still so much more information I need before I can accept their offer... I don't even know if I can "negotiate" with them, or if their offer is non-negotiable.

I'm excited and scared at the same time, for the past little while I've been the big fish in the little sea. Working for someone else doing something that I've done on my own for so long is going to be a huge change. I've come to acceptance with the fact that I'm going to have to be the "bitch" for a bunch of people who have been doing this for a lot longer than I, but I'm honestly fine with that. If I've learned anything from the "music business" it's that it's A LOT smaller than you'd ever think...

I just wish I knew what the people who found out about my company actually thought of me. They could be thinking "Let's just buy him out and then fuck him over and hire a new promoter to take his job for less money". Or they could be thinking "Holy fuck, this kid has taken over the whole city, we need him because we definitely can't do this ourselves".

Basically I'm torn between thinking "they're out to get me" and "they fucking want me". If I take the job and they fire me I can never book a show with their company again, and they'll probably ruin my chances of working through another company... If I don't take the job they'll probably just give all of the tour offers to the FUCKING CITY (which you guys don't know what I'm talking about, but trust me, it's corporate fucking bullshit).

Oh well... I know I'm going to take the offer... I'm just curious of what their true motives are.

PS - If you're interested, shoot me a message and I'll hook you up with all of our social media links/plug-ins. I'd post them here... But that would look like spamming.

 

I'm sorry dude that is a lot to read right now, I will respond tomorrow.

 

thats really cool man, im sure its non negotiable , which is a bummer.
But you got to follow your heart man, are you making decent money now, doing what you love? sighing big bands? Id say just stick with the dream you had instead of your dream job... wait what do you dream?

 

Yeah, I really don't think I have that much room to bargain with them... But I can't complain, it's a huge company.

I'm making good money at the moment, my company is my day job and hobby which has allowed me to have a lot of fun doing this. The new job will have the opportunity to make a lot more money, but will also be a huge monetary gamble. (Every show is technically a gamble, but I have it down to a science where I know how much profit will be made about a week before the show).

My dream is to be "that guy who brings all of the bands to town". I'll admit it sounds selfish and self absorbed, but I'm honestly doing it for the fans. I've seen people go and get autographs from band members and they had huge smiles on their faces and I'd think "wow, I made that moment happen".

One time I booked a show with a band called "Skull Fist". They're from a city relatively close to mine so the bands family all came to the show. One of the members of Skull Fist have an autistic brother who was at the show. The autistic kid came up to me and said "You brought my brother here, he's famous, he plays in Europe and he's on MTV, this is the first time I've seen them play in a year." That was honestly the best feeling I've ever gotten from doing this. Better than getting a huge payout, not even joking.

 

nah its ok, i wouldnt say thats selfish. we all want everything life has to offer.

 

It sounds like the potential to be screwed over is huge here... what happens to your band if you take this job? What happens to the two years worth of work you've already put into this...it doesn't sound like a good deal to me unless you can negotiate to keep working similarly to what you're used to...

 

just live your life, dont ask the fuckin internet, goof

 

That's generally my line.

Thems fightin' words :afro:

 

Is your current position taking potential money away from the big company that's offering you an agent position? It might be that they see you as a problem in your present capacity and the job offer being option "A" in terms of coping with the problem... are you essentially in business for yourself as opposed to working for a company? Seems that the intent might be to get what they see as competition out of the way.

 

I don't want to rain on your parade but I also think that they may be getting the opposition out of the way. Fuck this e-mail, telephone conversation shit set up a face to face meeting before deciding anything and most importantly BE ON YOU GUARD!

 

i've met an agent for the agency group, and he was a huge douchebag. i know that doesn't help you, but it's all that came to mind with me.

 

Yeah, I'm the cynical type, but seriously. If your company, which sounds like it is expanding, is in anyway a threat to this company that want's to hire you... They are actually out to kill your company. I'm going with stinkfoot on this one... Watch out.

Better yet, tell them to watch out and double your efforts with your company... Competition is scared.


Just my 2 cents.

 

This.

...and if they really want you, anything is negotiable. Set up a meeting and be prepared with questions (write them out beforehand as it can be difficult to remember everything in the moment). They came to YOU, so don't be afraid to really find out what's at stake by asking questions. You are essentaily interviewing them.

 

You should stop feeling like a pawn in this. Flip it around and tell them the rules for accepting their job. Tell them what you want, put it in a contract, or no deal. Politely, of course, you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot. This is a 2 way street and they know it. They should expect that a strong minded business individual will come back with a counter offer. Just because the economy is in the toilet doesn't mean that they can take advantage of a good situation. And it does seem to open a lot of doors.

you sound like my cousin .. . are you in st.T?

 

OK, first of all congratulations on your success.

I think the fact that they want you to stop your company is a little bit sketchy and worth looking in to. It doesn't really sound like a good measure to me. I've been in the scene for some years now, and there are some things that you might want to bring up next time you talk to them.

First of all, I've seen some clauses regarding booking when you start working for an agency. An example would be something like not being able to book a similar show in the same city 1 month before or after a particular show, or not being able to snatch a band that is on their roster. These things make sense, but not being able to do ANYTHING sounds a little nazi to me.

Regarding whether you think they are trying to buy you out or legitimately give you a job, I think the answer is both. I think they see that you've built something legit, and a good booking agent is few and far between in the scene (I'm sure you already know that shitty booking agencies with people who have no clue what they are doing are all over the place). They are probably trying to expand their company and would like to have someone in your area, and they probably also know that in your area, you are their biggest threat. So again, both. That being said, I think there's some room to work here and it could potentially turn in to something nice, if you play your cards right.

If I were you, I would try to add a clause to my contract that states that you are still allowed to do your own thing on the side, but only if it doesnt interfere with their own shows or tours.

Ask them about your band, but I don't think that should be a problem. If it is, that company really sucks. I know of some bands who own a label and are signed to a different label (Jacob from Converge owns Deathwish and they are signed to Epitaph, for example). If they can make it work, you can too.

So yeah, my advice - play your cards right but if they dont let you do you thing on the side, then fuck em'. You seem to be doing fine on your own anyways, so why would you confine yourself to their attempted monopoly?

 

Sounds to me like they want to buy you, and get you out of the way. I'm sure you have heard of 'Anvil' ? how are they doing ? I watched a movie about them and was so impressed by how hard and long they worked to try and get somewhere.

 

I think the real problem with dream jobs is what happens when you wake up.