A middle agent, also often referred to as a talent buyer, serves as the bridge between a college event planning team and the artist’s professional representation. While the artist’s agent is focused on negotiating for the artist, the middle agent advocates for the buyer (aka your school and program board). The middle agent, acting at your direction, manages communications, pricing, contracts, logistics, and helps ensure that nothing gets lost in translation between the student board and the professional entertainment world. The work includes much more than sending an email or finalizing a contract. A middle agent assists with artist selection, budget alignment, real-time pricing analysis, contract facilitation, advancing show-day logistics, on-site execution, and everything in between. In short, they help ensure that the event runs smoothly from start to finish and that the artist shows up prepared, happy, and ready to perform. In Degy’s words, we say it’s from “Conception to Execution”.
A lot of programming boards start with strong enthusiasm and a good sense of what might be popular on campus. But too often, artist decisions are made based on gut feeling rather than research. It’s common to hear, “This would do well here,” or “Everyone I know listens to this artist,” or “They’re blowing up on TikTok.”
While instincts matter, they aren’t the only tool that can be used to justify spending thousands of dollars from student activities fees. The most successful events are the ones that combine student interest with verified data. The top middle agents should help your team become equipped with additional tools to make your decisions. That includes them offering access to industry analytics that most student boards simply don’t have. This would include a range of data sets including feedback from other college performances, historical ticket sales, radio airplay metrics, regional popularity statistics, and much more.
Student surveys are incredibly helpful for gauging interest and narrowing down genres. But when those insights are paired with real booking data and an understanding of touring patterns, your chances of success go way up. Booking based on facts instead of feeling alone helps you avoid costly misfires and helps your programming team choose artists that will truly move the needle on campus.
Artist fees are not standardized. There’s no price tag hanging off a touring musician or comedian, and most of that information is kept private between agencies and buyers. Fees can change depending on the artist’s tour routing, season, popularity at the time of inquiry, and even how busy their calendar is around your target date. While there are price lists and search tools online, they are often not kept properly updated by talent buyers. Another bit of caution is when talent buyers underprice artists on their online lists to lure student buyers to use them after seeing reduced pricing – WARNING… don’t always believe what’s on the web! Degy’s price sheets and artist ‘hot sheets’ are updated monthly (or more often) and available to programmers simply by sending us an email.
Because student buyers often approach agencies without established relationships or background knowledge, it’s not uncommon to receive inflated quotes or face long delays in communication. Colleges also book one or two major events each year, limiting some of the negotiation room. Established middle agents may have hundreds of dates (or more) allowing them a bit more volume pricing opportunity. Experienced talent buyers have worked with so many artists and their respective teams that they know what a fair price is, what can be negotiated, and when an opportunity is worth chasing. That kind of insider access can save thousands of dollars, which can be reallocated toward production upgrades, additional programming, or larger marketing pushes. It also saves you time, and most programming boards and their higher ed staff are already juggling all sorts of school-related activities that make time scarce.
Booking through unofficial channels or a “friend of a friend” is one of the biggest risks programming boards take without realizing it. The entertainment industry is built on established relationships and trust between professional representatives. Working with a middle agent means gaining access to a vetted network of agents, managers, tour teams, and vendors.
These connections don’t just speed up the process—they also reduce risk. Middle agents can help identify which artists consistently deliver strong performances, which tour teams are easy to work with, and which ones might come with more baggage than expected. Having that guidance can prevent you from signing onto an experience that’s more difficult, expensive, or stressful than necessary. Have you seen any of the horror stories? Nothing like one of these situations to give you pause about who’s on the other side of a call, email or DM. Like the time Emory University Getting Scammed on Migos. Perhaps you were too young to remember the Nicki Minaj scam involving Montclair State University in 2010. I also read about how HBCU Alabama State University’s Homecoming with Lil Wayne went down in flames.
Booking the talent is just the beginning, and it’s not even the start of the process. Discussing the artist (and complete) event budget, doing artist searches and availability checks, and early research precedes the offer and booking step. What comes next is a long list of technical, legal, and logistical details that can make or break the event. These include reviewing hospitality and technical riders, confirming stage plots and backline equipment, ensuring liability insurance coverage, and finalizing the artist performance agreement.
The advance process follows next. This stage is critical to understand how to handle as it involves the detailed communication with the artist’s team about what they need and expect. While it’s one of the most important steps, so many elements are often overlooked. Many first-time programmers aren’t aware, based on the type of artist, to ask about wireless frequency coordination, parking needs for vehicles, on-stage access policies, media approval, no-play lists, green room requirements, and more. Missing one of these steps can lead to show delays, added costs, frustration on both sides, or all of the above.
Middle agents are experienced in handling every one of these conversations and details. Their role is to support your student team by making sure nothing falls through the cracks and that everyone shows up prepared for success. If they properly own their role, experienced college talent buyers use each of these steps as learning opportunities to teach the students on the program board. They also have templates and tools to share that speed up the process, make everything more efficient, and keep things organized.
Even the most carefully planned event can face unexpected issues. A delayed flight, a late equipment delivery, a production item forgotten on a truck, or a power outage can all derail a schedule in a matter of minutes. What about weather? Most experienced middle agents have services and proper apps, along with crafting a weather and safety plan to know how to clear a space at the most crucial moments. When those things happen, experience matters.
Middle agents often provide on-site support or remain on-call to help troubleshoot challenges as they arise. They serve as the liaison between the artist and the school, make sure the schedule stays on track, and help the student team keep everything organized and under control. Having a professional presence on the ground can help reduce stress and ensure that any issues are addressed quickly and effectively.
Some programming boards hesitate to use a middle agent because of the 10 percent commission that comes with the service. But what that commission delivers in return is far more than basic booking support. It brings a team member into your process who knows how to manage artist negotiations, prevent costly errors, streamline communication, and ensure your investment pays off with a successful, well-executed event.
In many cases, that 10 percent is offset or exceeded by cost savings that come from better pricing, leveraged relationships, stronger logistics, and fewer surprises. More importantly, it brings confidence and clarity to a process that otherwise requires your student team to act as talent agents, production managers, and contract lawyers all at once.
Most students don’t join their programming board knowing how to book a major artist, and they’re not expected to. Some of the institutional knowledge is passed down through paperwork, videos, and other resources. Other times, an experienced staff member who’s been in the role for some time can help to bridge the gap. Either way, the learning process is part of the experience – it’s also, in our opinion, the most important part of the opportunity to work on a major event. Working with a middle agent who’s willing to teach and answer questions gives students the opportunity to lead an event with real support, gain insight into a professional industry, and walk away with practical experience that extends well beyond campus life.
The goal of any campus event is to create something memorable, meaningful, and successful. Booking a well-known act should be exciting. It should also be strategic. Using a middle agent ensures that your excitement is matched by preparation, experience, and smart decision-making. So, the next time your board begins dreaming about who to bring to campus, consider not just who the artist should be. Think hard about how you’ll make the process work. Because booking the right act is important, but building the right team around it is what turns a good show into a great experience.
Whether you're in the brainstorming phase or already planning a big event, we're ready to support your team. Degy’s College Team is here to help you book the right music act, celebrity, influencer, comedian, or speaker.
Reach out directly to:
Sean Sullivan, College Agent
And meet the rest of Degy’s College Team:
Jeff Hyman, Senior Agent
Sophie Low, College Agent
Delilah Bestler, College Agent
Nick DiRoma, Senior Agent
Ari Nisman, President & CEO