Idea: Indie Music Club Booking Agency?

2011 UPDATE: We tried this for a little while, and the folks we hired to do this have spun it off into their own agencies.

From time to time, I’ve taken on booking agent duties for clients who really mean a lot to me and to TCM. (I have one such project underway right now, which is really exciting — I will spill beans as soon as we finalize the arrangements.)

We also offer a quasi-booking service through Virtual Road Manager. And whatever is going on in the booking agent world right now, it seems like there’s a void. With Book #2 finally going to press (at a publisher that is not likely to go out of business anytime soon, unlike the previous one), I find myself wondering…

1. Should I formalize this arrangement and offer Booking as a regular menu item?

2. Given that many of our IMC readers don’t have a huge draw, would you be interested in a flat-fee booking service? (Say, $50 for a gig of 0-50 audience members, $100 for 50-150, etc.?) instead of the customary 10-20%?

If this is of interest to you, send me an e-mail or drop a line in the comments.