Chapter 3 of 7 · Role guide
Booking agencies
Align the roster and the year ahead.
Summer festival grids are drawn by June; ADE is where agencies and promoters align the rest of the year: renewals, the winter and spring club calendar, new territories and the roster in front of buyers who flew in. This guide gives the week a shape: meetings by neighbourhood, the rooms worth an hour, and holds into offers within seven days.
At RE:UNION One room with the Spanish-speaking scene's promoters, labels and agencies and their international counterparts: the fixed point where buyers who flew in can find your roster and your team.
Who it is for
The roster and the year ahead aligned with the promoters who shape it: renewals with dates attached, the winter and spring club calendar, two new territories opened, and every hold turned into an offer within a week of landing home.
| Profile | What ADE is for, in this case |
|---|---|
| Boutique agency | Two people, fifteen artists, no Amsterdam office. Here to renew the promoters you have and open two territories. |
| Established roster | Agents with full diaries and a showcase to run. Here to align next year with the promoters who shape it. |
| Junior agent | First ADE. Here to learn the rooms, shadow the meetings and answer artists the way the agency does. |
| Stage | Realistic goal for the week | First move |
|---|---|---|
| Exploring · first ADE | Understand how buyers and agents actually work the week. | Sit in Meet the Promoters as a listener; shadow two meetings a day. |
| First roster | Test which rooms and territories fit your first three artists. | Three promoter meetings with dates and a fee position; one practitioner session. |
| Building momentum | Turn roster momentum into next year's dates and two new territories. | Renewals, expansions, new names: a concrete ask for each; holds into offers within a week. |
| Established | Align the year with the promoters who shape it; decide the shortlist. | Meetings reserved before panels and nights; a junior sent to the rooms you skip. |
Numbers that shape your week
- Summer grids close
- May–June
- Meet the Agents
- Wed 13:15
- Meetings a day
- 4–6
- Pro Pass
- €795 + fee
Before ADE
Spring · six months out
Summer · three months out
Bring
- Roster one-sheet with QR
- Avails and routing windows
- Fee position per artist
- Recent live results
- Three artists to push
- Inbound policy for juniors
Your week
Wed 21
- 11:00–12:30 Meet The Event Organisers & Promoters Pro Pass
- 13:15–14:45 Meet The Agents Pro Pass
- 14:15–15:00 Behind the Booking: what artists, managers and promoters really want Pro Pass
Thu 22
- 11:15–12:00 Beyond the Numbers: 5 trends reshaping the industry today Pro Pass
- 14:30 → early evening RE:UNION · ADE 2026 Free · QR pass
- 15:30–16:15 The Shrinking Gatekeep: a conversation between artists Pro Pass
- 16:45–17:45 30 Years of ADE Pro Pass
Fri 23
- 12:15–13:45 Meet The Managers Pro Pass
- 13:30–14:15 Creating the Next Generation of Club Promoters (AFEM) Pro Pass
- 15:00–16:00 Masterclass | Your Unique Climate Impact Pro Pass
- 16:15–17:00 Building an independent career with Mau P Pro Pass
Sat 24
- 13:15–14:00 A Deep Dive into MENA's Thriving Live Music Scene Pro Pass
- 13:30–14:15 The Brazil Boom Pro Pass
- 14:30–16:00 Meet the focus-region professionals Pro Pass
Sun 25
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening and night
-
Wed 21
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening and night
-
Thu 22
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening and night
-
Fri 23
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening and night
-
Sat 24
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening and night
-
Sun 25
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening and night
Sessions for you
-
Meet The Event Organisers & Promoters
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
Behind the Booking: what artists, managers and promoters really want
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
Beyond the Numbers: 5 trends reshaping the industry today
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
The Shrinking Gatekeep: a conversation between artists
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
Creating the Next Generation of Club Promoters (AFEM)
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
Masterclass | Your Unique Climate Impact
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
Building an independent career with Mau P
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
A Deep Dive into MENA's Thriving Live Music Scene
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
-
Meet the focus-region professionals
- Day
- Time
- Venue
- Why go
- Access
In the room
| Moment | Do this | Say or ask |
|---|---|---|
| Promoter meeting, Andaz, 10:30 | Lead with dates, budgets and avails; one sheet per artist; agree who sends what, by when. | We have [artist] routing through [region] in [month]; which of your dates fits, and at what budget? |
| Meet the Agents, Rosewood, Wed 13:15 | You are the one being pitched. Give a clear no or a clear next step in one sentence. | Not for us this year. Send one link and I will listen in November. |
| A label mixer, 19:00 | Eat first. Roster fit in one line; ten minutes, then move on unless they keep you. | What are you releasing in spring, and who is playing it? |
| Hold to offer, the week after | Recap every promoter with the dates discussed; turn holds into offers within seven days. | Confirming Thursday: [artist], [date], [fee position]. Offer attached; shall we hold until Friday? |
| A junior's first ADE | Send them to Meet the Promoters as a listener and to one practitioner session; two meetings a day shadowing. | What did the promoter actually need, and what did we promise? |
Mistakes we keep seeing
| Mistake we keep seeing | Instead |
|---|---|
| Treating ADE as a sales sprint. | It is the relationship week; summer closed in June. |
| Showcase sets as the only reason to be in a room at night. | Choose nights for the buyers in them. |
| No inbound policy; juniors promise, nobody follows up. | One link, a November listening afternoon, no promises. |
| Meetings scattered across the city. | One neighbourhood a day; the canal-ring hubs are ten minutes apart. |
| Over-promising dates you do not control. | Avails and fee positions on paper before you land. |
| "Let's catch up" messages to promoters. | Dates, budgets, avails and two time windows. |
| Holds left as holds. | Offers within a week; recap notes with the dates. |
What veterans say
-
“There's nothing like the energy of agents, managers, publicists, artists, label owners, and fans being in the same room, and it's an important place for us to get aligned on the year ahead.”
Jon Sax source -
“Bookings are now made in May or June, not only after ADE.”
Anna Knaup source -
“The artist ultimately creates the demand, not the agent.”
Simon Clarkson source -
“Don't leave booking your meetings to the last minute.”
Sharron Elkabas source -
“…the booking agent's proverbial golf course — the best place to get business done.”
Toolroom Academy source -
“…where labels scout talent, where booking agents and promoters align their calendars for the year ahead.”
Damion Pell source
Budget
Indicative five-night totals using published 2025–26 ranges and the Pro Pass price on the official tickets page on 14 October.
| Line | One agent (Pro Pass) · €2,250–3,600 | Team of two + showcase · €4,400–6,800 |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | €795 + 3.77% fee (late rate, almost sold out) | — |
| Flights / train | €150–350 | €300–700 |
| Bed, 5 nights | €800–1,500 canal ring or De Pijp | — |
| Food and coffee meetings | €250–400 | — |
| Hosted coffees and drinks for promoters | €100–300 | — |
| Transport | GVB included with the pass | — |
| Event tickets | 2–3 nights, €120–220 | €240–440 |
| Passes | — | 2 × €795 + fees; ask ADE for a company discount |
| Beds, 5 nights × 2 | — | €1,600–3,000 |
| Food, coffee meetings and hospitality | — | €600–1,000 |
| Meeting room | — | Hotel rates on request; not published |
| Showcase: venue, sound, staff, drinks | — | Not published; a project budget on top |
After ADE
- Same night
- Within 48 h
- 1–4 weeks
- January
Hi [name], Good to meet you on Wednesday. As discussed: [artist] is routing through [region] on [dates]; fee position [range], subject to the routing. Avails and the one-sheet: [roster link]. Can we hold [date] until [day next week] while you check the budget? I will send the offer the same day. [Your name], [agency]
New in 2026 for you
- New for 2026: Behind the Booking, Wed 21 14:15 at the Promoter Hub, puts MDLBEAST's head of talent buying, Encode Talent and NOON Agency on one panel about what bookers want. source
- TicketSwap's Global Promoter Hub at RIVVIA (The Empress, Keizersgracht 264): panels Wed–Thu, drinks at night, Pro Pass. Speakers include elrow's Juan Arnau and ID&T's Duncan Stutterheim. source
- ADE's 2026 meeting-room list: nhow RAI, NYX, Anantara Krasnapolsky (discount with your Pro Pass order number), The Hoxton, Hotel V, Zoku, Conscious. Book with the hotel. source
- Andaz is the Business Hub again, with "dedicated spaces for private meetings", company meeting hubs (Koolwaters Agency, SENA) and the AFEM mixer. UTA hosts a social at the Rosewood. source
- Pro Pass at the late rate: €795 + 3.77% fee, almost sold out; no day passes. Companies: "get in touch with us to get a personal Pro Pass discount offer". source
- The State of the Live Industry: One Year On (Sziget's Tamás Kádár, Tinie Tempah) is on the Pro programme: dynamic pricing, touring costs, algorithm-led booking. Time on the official listing. source