An Interview With Booking Agent Patricia Brower

1. What inspired you to become a booking agent and promoter?
I was inspired to become a booking agent and promoter when I was attending Northwestern University in Chicago. I was asked to join an acapella singing group and I took the opportunity to perform around the city. This experience was the spark that ignited my passion for the music industry.

After singing in an acapella group and performing a lot, I was inspired to get us more gigs. So I got us booked to perform at the Chicago Public Library, and was so excited about it. However, my bandleader felt that I was stepping on his toes and said, “You don’t need to do that; that’s my job.” I was a bit offended, so I told him I would start my own thing.

I met this Singer/Theater performer, Kenny Davis, he was talking about how he was getting paid to do these shows. He impersonated Sammy Davis Junior. He was so good at his craft, he was featured in the local news as a local celebrity. This got posted around the bank, and everyone was excited to have a celebrity working there. While he was delivering the mail to me, we started talking and I was thrilled to hear about his passion for the industry. One day, he suddenly looked at me during our conversation and said, “You should manage me.” Surprised, I responded, “I would love to manage you! I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get into the music industry. What do you need me to do?” He replied, “I’m going to a party on Friday night. Why don’t you come with me?” I excitedly answered, “I would love to!” After many conversations and hanging out, the first gig he handed me was Elizabeth Taylor’s Birthday Party as she was a Sammy Davis Jr. fan. I think that was the initial spark of my interest in booking and promoting for other people.

2. What do you enjoy the most about working in the music industry? 
What I enjoy the most about working in the industry is the growth I see in the artist that I work with. The growth as a result of promotions, getting label offers, their live performance skills increasing, and the confidence that they build through these opportunities. That’s what inspires me. I feel like this is a ministry for me to help people in the industry get from point A to points B C D — that excites me.

“During COVID I switched from booking and producing live theater shows to artist promotions because everybody was recording and because everybody was home bound. My craft in artist promotions became very skilled and I had success in that.”

3. How has the booking and promotion process changed over time? 
Well, it is interesting, you would ask. As you know, we had the big thing called COVID that happened and that turned the industry upside down. Everyone in the industry was scrambling to figure out how to keep the entertainment going. Nobody was accepting bookings. Actually, all bookings were canceled until further notice, which no one know when that notice would be. During COVID I switched from booking and producing live theater shows to artist promotions because everybody was recording and because everybody was homebound. My craft in artist promotions became very skilled and I had success in that.

Locally, after about a year after the initiation of the pandemic, a small minute group of people started doing outdoor concerts for people that were shut in. Artists and bands would hop on a truck bed and perform for the neighborhood outside of people’s houses or in parks. Then venues started allowing 1 to 4-piece bands to perform in front of their business like coffee shops and pizza shops and small restaurants. Then came the online concerts, where people were booked to perform online for the masses. Indie artists started performing online for their fans as well. When the venues opened up for us in my market, theater venue rentals skyrocketed to triple the amount I was used to paying. The house could only be filled with ¼ of the seating capacity. They charged an exuberant amount of money to film the event. When things got back to “normal,” it became a matter of who was still in the business, who was still alive, and all the situations under those matters. I remember pulling out my 700-page roster of nationwide venues and going through each venue calling to see if they were still open and booking acts. Maybe 2 out of 10 were still open and doing business. It was the same for companies as well. What a grueling situation that was. It was discouraging. But you press on, find your way and one thing leads to another to gain the success.

4. How long have you been booking for? 
As I worked my way through the business side of the entertainment business, first being a manager, then a publicist, then a promoter, I decided to officially start booking acts around 2006. I transitioned from being an entertainment consultant to an agent after seeing how much the need for bookings a necessity for indie artist was as they traveled across the country to come perform in my little Tuesday night live hip-hop venue. I quickly grew as an agent and at one point have 65 artists of all genres across the US that I was single-handedly booking for. When I had to step away due to health conditions, I maneuvered to teaching a booking agent course to those willing to learn. I ended up teaching over 100 people worldwide. It was an exciting experience. I was even offered to teach the course at Columbus State Community College at one point. In 2014, I shut down the Agency to pursue the Ohio Talent Seeker project, which ran for about 4 seasons until COVID shut everything down. It was my intent to open the agency back up once OTS was stable. After the pandemic, I opened up the agency again and here we are. Ready to take on the world.

“Booking is nothing but sales — presenting, selling, and negotiating.”

5. What tips would you give to someone starting out in the booking and promotion business? 
Take those music business classes and booking agency classes from the various colleges that offer those courses — schools like Berkeley College, Sail University, etc. I would say put into live practice the work that you learned through those courses. Grab an artist and start booking them. You get stronger and stronger as you learn to negotiate and produce. Booking is nothing but sales — presenting, selling, and negotiating. As you progress, doors will open and cause your progression to be a steady flow of connections and negotiations.

6. How do you create a strong and lasting relationship with artists?
Artists will trust you as if you’re their own family once they see the work that you have put in for them to help them reach their goals. You become someone that they rely on.

They believe that you will help them get to their desired destination. They always promise you the world once they once who you are what you can do for them. That’s when you know you built a good relationship with them.

7. Who are some of the places and people you have booked for? 
My website www.browerentertainment.com list all the places and people I have booked for in the past. Mentioned some of them right now would be KRS-one, MC Lyte, Pete Cosey, B.O.B. Bob, Saving Jane, Judge Mathias and a number of others. Venues I have booked for include multiple night clubs nationwide. I booked for Ohio State University, Columbus State University, Georgetown University, other colleges in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and the list goes on with colleges. I booked for the Department of Defense, Various events at the Kentucky Derby including providing a host for the Ludacris Derby Event. I booked for wineries, jazz festivals, various festivals nationwide, and I provided artist for events on the Whitehouse lawn in DC on World Aids March. I toured about 13 artist/bands in New York, kicking it off with a double night A&R showcase, along with tv interviews, club performances, etc. We had a four-day weekend event from the morning to night full of booked events.

“It’s about making connections, building relationships, building on trust within the relationships and selling artists for events that bring in revenue for the event holder and get artist book and paid for said events.”

8. What advice would you give to someone who is interested in becoming a booking agent and promoter? 
Being a Booking Agent is a lucrative business. You have to start out just like anything else in the music business with the grind. Booking is creating sales S.A.L.E.S period. It’s about making connections, building relationships, building on trust within the relationships and selling artists for events that bring in revenue for the event holder and get artist book and paid for said events. If you could get past the initial format of building relationships writing contracts and getting artist booked, one booking turns into another booking, which turns into another booking and son and so forth. Before you know it you are in a lucrative state of business.

9. How do you navigate the complexities of the industry in order to maximize your success? 
OK well that’s a good question. Post pandemic it is a lot more difficult to navigate the complexities of booking as you don’t know from one venue to the next who’s still open and who has closed down for good. It takes a little more time to go through your roster and see who is still in business and who isn’t anymore as far as venues, organizations, as well as promoters and talent buyers. a little takes a little longer to find that right scenario and the connections again first starting out when you making calls to do things after COVID was over who’s still alive and who’s not alive who just got out of the business and who is still in the business so this past year is trial and error for me and maybe I believe for a lot of people crown air seeing you know rebuilding and reconnecting with those relationships that you had pre COVID and make and building new relationships and creating tours it’s just a little bit more difficult because half the world is not here anymore. But it’s still lucrative.

“We cater to the client. We broker all styles of acts. With indie acts we seek out venues that suit their genre of performance.”

10. How do you decide which shows to book and promote? 
Well, for my company, it’s based on who/what each client is looking for. We cater to the client. We broker all styles of acts. With indie acts we seek out venues that suit their genre of performance.

11. What unique challenges have you faced while working in the music industry? 
The pandemic has made everything unique I’m rebuilding an entertainment booking agency post-COVID that’s the most challenging thing there is at this moment. Cleaning out the contact and venue list that was built over the years. Online tools we use to use for bookings are no longer accurate anymore, so it feels like I’m rebuilding and discovering new ways to fill the gaps in building with promoters and venues new and old.

12. What do you think are the most important qualities for a successful booking agent and promoter?
I believe the most important qualities for a successful booking agent and promoter is to be like that of a salesman never giving up always looking for the yes out of a million nos. Build on those yeses and make them long-term relationships. Build on your commitment of booking national acts or your artists or your speakers or whatever, but it is an important quality is to have a salesman-like attitude. Constantly read up on how to negotiate and master the craft. Keep your head up and just do it and when you look back you can see that you did it! You are now an expert negotiator in the art of booking acts.

You can find more about Patricia’s business and how to work for Brower Entertainment as an agent here: www.browerentertainment.com.