Terms and conditions for an entertainment booking agency

An entertainment booking agency sits between the artist and the client, and the terms have to say clearly which of them carries the risk when the act falls ill, the venue turns out to have a sound limiter nobody mentioned, or the client decides to book the same band direct next year. I draft client-facing terms for a booking agency for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Agencies and management companies placing bands, DJs, comedians, tribute acts, speakers and variety performers with corporate clients, venues, festivals and private customers in England and Wales. Most agencies sell both to businesses and to consumers booking a wedding or a birthday, and the law treats those two groups very differently, so the terms need a section that applies only to private clients.

What matters in an entertainment booking agency's terms

Agent for the artist, or principal selling the performance

This is the decision everything else hangs from. If you contract as agent, the performance contract is between the client and the act, you earn commission, and your terms must say so in words a client cannot later claim to have missed. If you contract as principal, you have sold the performance and you carry the act's failure yourself, with a very different insurance and liability position. Agencies drift between the two: agent language on the website, principal behaviour on the invoice. When an act does not arrive, the client will read whichever version suits them.

Commission, deposits and how the money moves

Your terms should state when the booking fee becomes payable, when your commission is earned, whether the balance is paid to you or to the act on the day, and what happens to money you are holding. Commission earned on confirmation rather than on performance is the point most agencies get wrong, and it decides whether a later cancellation strips you of your fee. For business clients you can claim interest and fixed compensation on late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. Private clients cannot be charged a surcharge for paying by card under the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012.

Riders, venue conditions and what the client must provide

Most performance disputes are really about the room. Stage size, power supply, load-in access, parking, changing facilities, meals, curfews and sound limiters all belong in the client's obligations, with the rider attached and accepted before the deposit is taken. The terms should say that the act is not in breach where the venue cannot deliver what the rider requires, that the venue's own music licences and safety rules are not your responsibility, and that a limiter cutting the power mid-set is not a failure you pay for. Without that, an agency gets blamed for a venue's shortcomings.

When the act cannot perform

Illness, injury, a broken down van and a member leaving the line-up are all foreseeable across a roster, so the terms must deal with them rather than leave them to goodwill. Set out your right to supply a substitute of comparable standard and repertoire, the client's remedy if no substitute can be found, which normally is a refund of what they have paid, and an exclusion of their wasted venue, catering and travel costs. Add a force majeure provision that covers travel disruption and venue closure, and state plainly that you do not guarantee the personal appearance of named individuals where a line-up changes.

Cancellation by the client, and private clients in particular

A sliding cancellation charge that rises as the date approaches is normal, but it has to reflect what you and the act actually lose. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a disproportionate default charge, or keeping a prepayment with no matching obligation on you, sits on the list of terms a court may find unfair and will not enforce against a consumer.

Bookings taken by phone, email or online from a private client are distance contracts under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, giving fourteen days to cancel, and the period extends by up to 12 months where the cancellation information was never given. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 an advertised price shown to consumers must include your booking fee and any other mandatory charge.

Going direct, exclusivity and the limit of your liability

The client who books the band through you this year and rings them direct next year is the agency's occupational hazard. A non-circumvention term covering repeat bookings for a defined period after the introduction is worth having, and so is a clause on what happens when the client pays the act direct. Keep exclusivity and restriction wording proportionate, because the Competition Act 1998 makes restrictive terms a matter for care. Then cap your liability at a level that reflects what you earn rather than the artist's fee. Against business clients the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 tests that cap for reasonableness, and no cap can cover death or personal injury caused by negligence.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Do I need a second set of terms for the acts on my roster?

Most agencies do. Client-facing terms and artist-facing terms answer different questions: commission, exclusivity, cancellation by the act, dep arrangements, payment timing and who insures what. I draft one set at £995, so a second set is a separate engagement. Which comes first depends on where the arguments are happening now.

What if the client pays the act direct on the night?

That is a contractual question, not bad luck, and the terms should answer it. I will provide for balances routed through the agency where that is your model, for commission remaining payable where a direct payment is made, and for the act's obligation to account to you. It also needs to match what your artist agreement says, or the two documents will pull apart.

Am I covered by the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993?

Those regulations cover self-employed agents negotiating the sale of goods for a principal, so an agency booking live performance falls outside them. There is no statutory compensation or indemnity on termination in that situation, which means your commission, notice and termination arrangements with artists are worth writing down properly rather than assuming the law fills the gap.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Terms and conditions for a DJ or wedding band

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.