Negotiating in the Music Industry

This weekend I interviewed an up and coming producer, manager and booking agent in the Christian music industry named Terry Dillard, co-owner of Cinder Entertainment. Cinder Entertainment represents artists such as Freddy Rodriguez, Ricardo Sanchez and Tye Tribbett, which are some to the top names in the Christian music industry today.

In this short interview we discussed the importance of negotiation with emphasis on the topics of separating the people from the problem, dealing with dirty tricks. This week I’m going to share a little bit of the wisdom and knowledge I gained from our conversation.

On the topic of separating the people from the problem, Terry says that it’s mandatory. Cinder Entertainment mostly represents Christian artists; therefore they work with churches most of the time. The size of the churches that Terry deals with is usually sizeable churches with thousands of attendees. Terry finds that the problem is usually in the fact that approvals for spending limits are often miscommunicated. The result is often delayed deposits and delayed approvals from the artist managers, which lead to heated conversations. Terry mentions that it’s very important to understand the position of every one involved and be the liaison for solutions.

When I mentioned dirty tricks, the first thing that came to Terry’s mind was a promoter. Terry says that his experience is that promoters tend to use dirty tricks the most because they are attempting to make a commission for their promoted event. Cinder Entertainment asks for an honorarium for their artists, which requires a deposit upfront. Promoters unlike most churches have to do more to make a profit because they have to pay for a venue and help. Churches have staff and volunteers that are available for all of their projects. Terry says that promoters are usually less willing to negotiate because they do not want to take on the risk. Some will use dirty trick negotiations to lower their risk. The way Terry has dealt with that is to work with promoters occasionally and not regularly.