There are lots of choices out there for music for weddings and events, and it is important to know the right questions to ask to ensure that the people you trust to provide the perfect atmosphere for your special day are of the highest possible standard of artistry and professionalism. Selecting a Musician. Booking Agencies vs. Self-Managed Ensembles and Artists:
There are a great many of chamber music companies competing for your business. It is helpful to know the difference between those that are booking agencies and those that are self-managed ensembles. • Booking agents are businesspeople who may or may not be musicians themselves. And they contract individual musicians to play together for events, and then take a substantial portion of the quoted fee for their efforts. • The sum that the musician actually gets paid for the event is usually not disclosed to the client, and the names of the musicians who the booking agent contracts to play at the event are not always advertised. • The fees quoted to the client tend to be substantially higher than those of self-managed groups because of the agent fee, or the fee the musician is paid may be lower than industry standard to keep fees competitive. Besides the financial differences, hiring musicians through a booking agency can have artistic implications as well. • Musicians that perform together on a regular basis develop an extremely close working relationship, and the interaction that occurs during performance is instinctive and cohesive.
• Musicians that are contracted through a booking agency may never have actually met each other before the event. This is possible that they will not perform as well as an ensemble because they haven’t had as much experience working together. When you hire through a booking agency, it pays to ask whether you are booking a pre-formed ensemble or a group of individual musicians.
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