Talent, Management
& Agency Agreements

A talent agent procures employment for an artist; a manager advises and develops the artist's career. California's Talent Agencies Act (Cal. Labor Code §1700–1700.47) reserves procurement for licensed agents only. When a manager crosses into procurement, the management contract becomes voidable and commissions paid under it can be ordered returned by the California Labor Commissioner. Most artists do not realize this line exists until a dispute surfaces it.

Industry standard is 15–20% of an artist's gross income for a manager and 10% for a licensed talent agent. Newer artists typically start at 20%; established artists with leverage negotiate down to 15% or onto a sliding scale. The commission base — what counts as "gross" — is the most negotiated term. Writer-side publishing royalties, label tour support, and recording funds are common carve-outs that protect the artist's actual take-home.

Most management agreements run between one and five years. A first-time artist with leverage can ask for a one- to two-year initial term with renewal options tied to performance benchmarks like income thresholds or deal closures. A flat five-year term with automatic renewals and no exit triggers is the version lawyers push back on hardest. The longer the term, the more leverage you give up if the relationship stops working.

A sunset clause defines what your manager continues to earn on deals from your management term after the relationship ends. A clean sunset steps the commission down over 18–24 months and ends. A bad sunset extends in perpetuity, which means you keep paying your old manager on the same income that any new manager will refuse to work alongside. The sunset is the hardest term to fix after signing.

A key person clause names the specific manager you signed with as the reason you signed with the firm. If that person leaves the company, the clause gives you the right to leave with them or terminate the contract entirely. Without it, you can be reassigned to a stranger inside the same firm with no exit. Insist on it whenever you sign with a management company rather than a single manager.

Under California's Talent Agencies Act, only a licensed talent agent may procure employment for an artist. If your manager has been booking work, the California Labor Commissioner can void the management contract and order commissions returned. I have lived under these agreements as a touring artist — most managers cross this line routinely without realizing it. The leading case is Marathon Entertainment v. Blasi, which established that even occasional procurement triggers the rule. SGL restructures the contract to stay inside the line and refers contested Labor Commissioner disputes to outside counsel.

Yes. California law treats record contract negotiation as a narrow exception to the talent-agency licensing rule. A manager can shop, negotiate, and close a recording agreement on your behalf without holding an agency license. Booking shows, casting calls, and most other employment procurement still requires a licensed agent. The record-deal carve-out is the narrowest exception in the Talent Agencies Act, so do not assume it covers anything else.

Each contract should explicitly carve out the activities and income streams that representative is paid on. Your agent commission applies to work the agent procures. Your manager commission applies to gross income subject to defined exclusions like writer-side publishing and tour support. Your lawyer is on hourly or flat fee — never a commission. Without clean carve-outs, every payment becomes a renegotiation.

It is two. The management contract sets the long-term relationship: commission, term, exclusivity, sunset. The brand deal is a single transaction: deliverables, usage rights, exclusivity per campaign, payment. They affect each other but get reviewed separately. For brand-specific terms, see Brand Deals & Influencer Agreements. For touring deals your manager may negotiate next, see Live Performance & Touring Contracts (forthcoming).

If the deal involves real money, a long term, or rights you cannot easily get back, yes. The fee for a redline is small relative to the percentage of your income the manager will collect for years. Most disputes that end up in front of the California Labor Commissioner trace back to terms a lawyer would have flagged before signing. A redline now is cheaper than a dispute later.

Exclusivity decides whether you can hire other people for the parts of your career your manager does not handle. A broad exclusivity clause means one manager controls every income stream you have, including the ones they have no contacts in. A narrow exclusivity clause lets you bring in specialists where you need them. Negotiate exclusivity by activity and territory, not as a blanket grant.

Read the termination clause first. Most management contracts allow either party to end the relationship with 30 to 90 days written notice. The friction is rarely the termination itself; it is the sunset clause and any disputed commissions. A clean exit means a written termination notice, payment of commissions due through the term, and clarity on which post-term deals the old manager still earns from. Most relationships end quietly when this is documented in advance.