Develop Mental: The Role of an Agent in Artist Development

Jeremy Holgersen, an NYC-based agent for The Agency Group, books the live appearances for a 49-artist roster that includes Bad Brains, Bear Hands, Ceu, Finger Eleven, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Lauryn Hill, The Pogues, Skinny Puppy, We Are the Ocean, and Yngwie Malmsteen. Here, he offers his perspective on the expanding role of the booking agent in artist development — and how to win the attention of this potentially valuable ally.

Agent Jeremy Holgersen shares what he sees piloting bands' live careers at the NYC offices of the Agency Group.

An agent is an integral asset in a budding artist’s career now more than ever before. With record labels playing less of a role early on, often times an agent is discovering and signing talent before labels do.

If unsigned artists are able to establish themselves through a Website, release their own tracks, obtain great reviews, and build a strong fan base, it’s more likely that those artists will catch the eye of an agent.  Agents are constantly reading, researching and surveying all of the resources available to them online and offline, in an effort to identify prospective new talent.

Success in this business ultimately depends on the artist. One of the best ways for an artist to break into the music scene today is through touring. For certain artists, the best option may be to tour immediately, especially if their music is already well-known on the Internet. In other instances, it’s more effective for artists to start by building recognition through social networking, and subsequently, touring.

Years ago it was common for artists to utilize other channels of promotion to reach a new fan base such as MTV. The record label would then promote its artists and their music videos.  While those channels are still important, they’re not as influential today as they once were, and artists aren’t waiting around and relying on those mediums to have careers.

An artist will always get to a point where they need to reach a new audience, and with the Internet and access to social media at their fingertips, an artist has a pretty good chance of developing an independent fan base on its own.

For example, Ok Go was one of the first bands that were recognized from their 2007 music video for “Here it Goes Again.” The video instantly went viral on the Internet and it really had people talking.  It set a new precedent because the buzz was about the video first, and the popularity of the song became secondary, but nonetheless, audiences eventually realized it was a really good song which wound up climbing to the top of many music charts.

You have the power as an artist these days to think of the right angle in order to garner the attention you want.  As an example, the Brooklyn band Atomic Tom, despite being signed to a major label, took it upon themselves to create their own video to call attention to themselves.  And it worked.  Their self-made video for the song, “Take Me Out”, filmed with a phone camera on a NYC subway in October, 2010 – went on to have over 5 million YouTube views.

As agents, we don’t rely heavily on record labels, but rather Websites, blogs and the way a band or an artist has developed their social media and their online brand using tools such as Nextbigsound.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

I definitely recommend that developing artists create strong social networking sites and use the tools available to them online because it will help an agent take notice — and may eventually jump-start their career.

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