Artist contract negotiations that can haunt you

Life’s filled with negotiations.
I learned it was free to get on the Camel, but it was $20.00 bucks to get off.
I was already on the Camel
Not much to negotiate.

I believe in making decisions according to my principals and core beliefs. That’s who I am and have always been. Your character belongs to you and how you decide to negotiate all the deals in your life falls entirely on your shoulders.
Please note that what I’m about to discuss is a simplified overview regarding the financial negotiation process. I will highlight items which I feel are more important at this time.  
I’ve always tried to negotiate with the hope of an outcome acceptable to both parties. Not always easy! As an artist, when dependency on the outcome makes it impossible to walk away from the deal, you’re not negotiating with your best interest in mind. Let’s say that your asking price is $1,000.00 and they offer $100.00 for your services. Here are some things you should keep in mind:

A. If you take the $100.00, from that moment on, you’ve set your price for this Client/Agent and possibly many others. Clients/Agents talk to one another.
B. There will be the moment when you will hear “Please do this one favor and we’ll raise your price next time”. History has shown otherwise from where I’ve stood.  
C. When you set your book price for your services remember you can always come down during negotiations but you can’t go up.
D. Know who are you negotiating with. Are you negotiating directly with the client? Is it your manager who is negotiating with an agent who is negotiating with another agent for the client? You can see how layered it can get and how many people will need to get paid in some situations. 
E. Understand that you will probably never know what the actual price being charged for you is. You will receive one contract from the agent to you which will bind you for your services for the event at your fee. The Agent will then send a contract for the full contract price including your fee, expenses and whatever else they have negotiated to the client to sign.  Please note that many Agencies will need to cover the costs of insurance, musicians, travel, commissions and other expenses which will be reflected on the full contract price to the client. 
F.IMPORTANT: The decision you make to accept or refuse may affect getting future work from that Client/Agent. Here is where being financial independent comes in play. If you’re out of work for weeks on end, the probability of you accepting a lower contract price when your feeling financial stress is more likely.

SO. . . . .

Before accepting any contract:
1. You need to fully understand and spell out exactly what is required of you
2. Calculate All Your Expenses and Determine who is paying them, and get it in writing. 
3. Determine your net income and how that works with your financial picture. 
4. Understand what the circumstances that may result from accepting or refusing the contract.
5. Determine the value of the contract from a promotional and developing relationship position. 

Number 4 and 5 are the most difficult to navigate and will require your own personal perspective. They are, on the surface, less than tangible but can ultimately be the most dangerous and destructive. 
Here’s some reasons why. If you refuse the contract and set a precedence of only accepting contracts for only $1000.00. Anytime the Agent has an event for $900, they’ll call someone else. If you refuse too many times or are not available very often, they’ll call someone else. If your difficult to work with, they’ll call someone else. However, caveats to all of this can be if you’re the Next Big Thing, In Demand, Have been requested by a client etc…
Agents and Clients are not in the business of forwarding your career. They provide a commodity to their clients/audience and THAT is what we are. A Commodity. We are no different than Coke vs Pepsi.
In the world of negotiations, sometimes I’m Pepsi and fall out of favor and vise versa. That’s what reinventing, updating and change is for but that discussion is for another day. Number 5 has always held an interesting perspective for me as well as kept me up nights. There have been times where I’ve actually donated my time to an event rather than accepted a lower price. I can always argue the point that I accepted the contract for humanitarian reasons but my price remains firm. This is a tough one to do because you can’t give away your talents and hard work. We really shouldn’t have to but there are always Real Special Circumstances that present themselves for this one. 
As I said in the beginning, these are generalized points which I hope will guide you with your negotiations but. . . Once these and other issues structured with the deal are considered, you will need to make a decision. If you accept the $1,000.00 dollars for the 30 minute show and find out that the client paid $3,000.00, Don’t complain! Don’t call the Agent in an uproar because ultimately. . . “You Accepted The Contract and The Conditions. The negotiations are over. If you refuse and never get another call from that Client/Agent, don’t remorse over it. Focus on making your product one that’s desirable and in demand. The rest will fall into place.
The Hard Cold Fact
Unless your negotiating directly with the client itself,
go into all negotiations with the thought that there are probability layers of people involved & your price is not what the client is paying. Count on the fact that no matter what you are told or believe, there is always information regarding the deal that you won’t be privy to.
I never said it was going to be easy.
As long as there are those willing to play for the $100.00 for a $1000.00 event, and there are countless, there will always be exploitation.

Always try to put yourself in the best position to negotiate and call the shots in your life and career. Please remember that every contract is binding and you must always understand what your signing and never sign anything under duress. Your career and financial future may depend on that one signature. . . 

Good luck in all your negotiations

ARTISTS INTERESTED IN PERSONAL COACHING AND SHOW DEVELOPMENT CAN USE THE CONTACT FEATURE.


About the author: Tony Pace

A 40 year veteran on and off the stage with business experience in Event Production, Marketing, Fundraising and Performance, Tony Pace has gained practical knowledge in almost every aspect from the thousands of individual events he’s produced and performed. Whether you’ve experienced him in his One Man Broadway Style Production, Variety show, as Emcee/ Motivational Speaker, or headlining in Atlantic City or Vegas, the end result is the same. He has been a major fundraising force for organizations with a proud track record of profitability for each. Tony Pace incorporates a unique grass roots perspective to each event to achieve success with the belief that from a small fundraiser to the Tony Pace Casino Production, the ticket has the same value in the end. His skills are eclectic but concise. He’s been a guest speaker for the 2011 World Ticket Summit in Vegas and a past Board of Director Member for the American Heart Association as well as Easter Seals Program Veterans Count. His experience is as diverse as his talent. Tony Pace has been blessed with a history of nothing but success sharing his gift around the world. His ultimate goal is to leave each day better the one before and judging by the smiles we see, he does just that.!