Welcome to Backstage Pass:

Each article blends personal insight, professional best practices, and behind-the-scenes tactics that don’t appear in textbooks or on TikTok. It’s straight from the desk of someone who still does the work every day.

About Me

Along the way, I’ve served as a senior agent, director of operations for a major agency, and founded my own firm, which I now have run for more than 20 years. I also teach Concert Tour Management in the Live Entertainment Management master’s degree program at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.

This series reflects everything I wish someone had told me when I was just starting out—and what I’ve learned since.

Not a roadmap, not a lecture, certainly not a memoir—but something more vital.
A companion.

The Backstage Pass Series: Table of Contents

Part 1: Behind the Job Title
What a music talent agent actually does, what they don’t do, and why the job is so misunderstood.

Part 2: Are You Wired for This Work?
At its core, this job is professional selling. Learn the mindset, skills, and misconceptions to overcome.

Part 3: Apprenticeships & Entry Points
How people break into the industry, the reality of agency training programs, and self-starting paths.

Part 4: Understanding the Buyer
From promoters to PACs, nonprofits to corporate clients—who buys talent, and what do they need?

Part 5: Anatomy of a Deal
How a booking happens from inquiry to confirmation—offer sheets, holds, deposits, and details.

Part 6: Tour Structure & Routing Strategy 
How agents build tour plans that make financial, geographic, and logistical sense.

Part 7: Artist Relations 
Managing expectations, navigating egos, and setting realistic goals with your clients.

Part 8: Signing Artists 
How agents evaluate talent, build a roster, and establish representation agreements.

Part 9: Booking Strategy 
The art of pitching artists and growing a fanbase

Part 10: Starting Your Own Agency 
Are you ready to make the leap from agent to agency owner—including branding, business structure, budget forecasting and legal issues.

Part 11: The Real Business Side 
Resilience, ownership, and what it really takes to sustain your mission beyond the startup phase.

Part 12: Beyond Music Bookings
What it takes to build upon the music bookings with production services, consulting, diversifying the roster with keynote speakers, comedians and more.

Glossary of Live Music Industry Terms – an 18-page indispensable reference to learn the concert industry’s most important terms and jargon.

Who This Series Is For

• Music business students or recent grads wondering if this path fits their personality and skills
• Emerging agents and artist reps looking for guidance beyond the classroom
• Concert buyers, presenters, and nonprofit arts programmers seeking to better understand the agency side
• Artists curious about how agents think and what makes a successful working relationship

How to Use It