Musician's Agent

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By mid-afternoon, when Australia and Japan open up, I'm focused there. I try to go

home by 7:30

p.m. I then will either go to a show or my day continues at night, at

home, because in Japan and Australia it is the middle of their day. My job actually

starts Sunday afternoon because that's Monday morning in Asia. My home phone is

available at all times."

POINTERS FOR THE JOB SEARCH

The mail room or an internship is one way to get in the door at an agency. "We

have a very good system at CAA," says Dalston, "where we reward people that work

internally. There have been three assistants that have been made agents in the last

year. My assistant is now being put in the position of trainee and the next step up for

him is agent. When you work in a team environment, you learn how the team oper-

ates. It's a continuation of passing the torch so that the team stays in place, as

opposed to hiring somebody to bring in a big act to make a bit of money, which

could ruin the chemistry of the whole department."

Sharpen your clerical, organizational, and phone skills and apply to be an assistant

or an intern. At larger agencies, the mail room or temporary work are other ways to

get into the company. Once inside, after you've completed your assigned work, offer

to help agents or their assistants getting building avails or performing other tasks. "I

find some of the best people come off the concert committees from schools," says

Williams. "Those kids know a lot about music. They have studied it; they love it."

THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS JOB:

"Basically, the agent is always wrong. It doesn't matter what happens,

some way, somehow, people figure out a way to blame the agent."--CD

"It's not fun when an artist or manager makes you do something that you

know is wrong [for their career], but you have to do it anyway."--BW

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:

"I love the people. I love the clients. I love the way we're treated here [at

CAA]."--CD

"What I really like is being able to take something and see success come of

it; to take a small act and build it to a big act. That's incredibly rewarding,

not only to see the success that the individuals in the band have, but the

promoters and everybody making money. One of the most exciting things

is being able to take a band like R.E.M. and go from a club to a stadium."

--BW

VOICES

EXPERIENCE

Musician's Agent - Page 3