What is Alive Network?
Established in 1999, Alive Network is the UK's most successful live entertainment booking agency, arranging live music and entertainment for weddings, corporate events and parties.
We represent over 6,500 of the UK's very best musicians and entertainers. We book for more than 10,000 events each year worth over £10Million for our members, with more than £75Million secured to date.
We also run an industry leading artist management and development programme, producing & mentoring our top acts at our world-class recording studios The Silk Mill.
The majority of our work is dealing with inbound enquiries for private events, with customers searching our website to find artists available on their event date, doing their research, and then making enquiries for the acts they like best. This means we can only represent artists who have good enough promo materials to attract enquiries.
We are not a directory and there are no fees to join, but your application must be approved by our experienced artist liaison team who hand pick the artists from online applications and auditions. The standard of performance & promotional materials required is high.
How can I join?
You can apply to join by submitting an online application or by requesting a live audition. There are no fees to join.
For online applications it’s important that you submit high quality promo materials otherwise your application will almost certainly be declined. Please take time to compare your existing promotional materials to those of our top ranked acts. We look to recruit acts with promo of similar quality.
If you need help to produce better recordings, video or photos pre-application then we offer these services are extremely competitive prices. Check out our recording studio here.
You can join on a standard membership level whereby you’re free to work with other agencies & take direct bookings, or you can join on an exclusive membership basis where we look after all your private events work and we pay to produce all your promotional materials. Exclusive members get much more work as we invest £££££ into their promo and marketing.
Online applications are ideal for artists who already have high quality promotional materials (audio, video, photos).
Auditions are great for new bands (especially original bands who are considering getting into function work) who perhaps want to get feedback from us prior to committing to spending money on promo, or who want to join our development program and have us produce their promo.
Please call 01782 740 839 to get advice on joining.
How do bookings work?
After a customer has used our website to search and shortlist the artists they like, they submit an enquiry. The enquiry is assigned to a dedicated coordinator who will liaise directly with the selected artists and the customer to confirm all the event details and get confirmed quotes.
The coordinator supports each customer through the enquiry process, answering any questions about the selected artists and about hosting entertainment at their event. They negotiate individual requirements and costs until the customer is happy that they’ve found the perfect act, and the act is happy with the deal on the table, at which point a booking is secured between the customer and selected artist.
Alive draws up a legally binding contract and takes a booking deposit (our fee) - and the artist is usually paid directly by the customer on the night of the event. You have full say in your prices and everything that you agree to, and once the booking is secured, you are welcome to speak directly with your customers. An Alive coordinator supports each booking before and after the event to ensure everything runs smoothly.
How do my fees work?
You choose what you want to charge (including a price inc travel per UK county) and we put our commission on top. You can chose which counties you want to work in and a range of other factors which affect your prices.
You should not charge us the same fee that you charge for ‘direct’ bookings otherwise once our commission is added, you will be too expensive. For example, if you pay to advertise yourself in order to get direct bookings, then you need to offset a similar cost to incorporate our fee. We recommend you set your prices with us at 10-20% below your normal direct costs to ensure you don’t significantly undercut us nor undermine our relationship.
Our normal commission rate is around 20% depending on your membership level.
We have suggested net retail prices for all formats of act, and we can offer advice on how you can price yourself to be competitive and win gigs. Most artists get paid on the night of each event, but it’s possible to request payment in advance from customers or to have Alive collect all or part of your payment upfront.
Does it cost anything to join?
There are no fees to join - but all the artists we represent are hand picked from the best applications and auditions that we receive. This ensures quality and reliability for our customers, and it’s why we’re the leading agency in the UK.
Why was my application declined?
Because we receive hundreds of applications each week we can’t always respond to declined applications with specific reasons. However - 99.9% of the time one or more of the following four reasons will apply:
- The promotional photos were not of a professional standard
- The artist’s identity / performance style was dated or unsuitable for our client base
- The act’s performance or vocal quality was not good enough
- The production quality of the audio / video was not good enough
Your promo materials need to show that you are as good as or better than other similar artists that we already represent. You might be amazing live, but your promo needs to be able to sell you online.
It should not be difficult to compare your promotional materials with the relevant top ranked acts listed on our website. Take time to review the quality of your promo materials against theirs and judge for yourself how well you compare.
If you need help to produce better recordings, video or photos pre-application then we offer these services are extremely competitive prices. Check out our recording studio here.
Ideally you will have done this BEFORE applying to join - but if your application was unsuccessful, you can make improvements and re-apply (see next question).
Can I reapply?
Yes - we want everyone to have the chance to improve their application and come back to us with something we can work with.
However, before submitting a second application please call us and chat about what you need to improve so you don’t waste money producing new promotional materials that will get declined again.
If you need help to produce better recordings, video or photos then we offer these services are extremely competitive prices. Check out our recording studio here.
