Referral and Percentage

Referrals and percentage two words entertainers and event managers have come to synchronise and make it part of the business.

First of all percentage based on referrals can't be called bad in the business but when people ask you for percentage from a meagre fee then you will understand the struggle of having a business plan as an entertainer.
Event managers and show promoters have actually made this part of their duty that for every job they refer you to they get a certain percentage of the fee paid and most times entertainers agree to this and the kick back fee is shared almost the same amount with the artist so it's more like sharing the stage with the talent doing nothing and getting paid.
Don't get me wrong kick back fee is more like saying thank you for bringing the job to me but it's an appreciation and it should be left for the artist to say take this amount for referring me to this client but it's not the case infact they tell you the exact amount they want from you not minding if you are okay with it or not.

I've heard cases were the money for the job is not up to 10,000 naira and the referral is asking for kick back, for goodness sake how much is the talent going home with if out of 10,000 you want an appreciation that is more than thank you. The funny part now is that it's not just event managers alone but artists too do same infact there case could be worse (am not talking about the part, where they discuss a different price and beg you to collect something different because they make you believe you are friends.

Well I've heard a case where the referral was asking for 50% after the talent has paid 10%.. call me ignorant but that is greed in the highest order.

One may ask how do we stop this, the truth it can't be stopped because people will always refer you and you have to show your gratitude. But there is a business phase to this, get a manager, that way your manager handles all your business and even when you are getting referrals it is your manager that determines if it is good for a kick back or not and you know it is you and your manager that is talking percentage except you prefer the condition of getting to give percentages you are not comfortable with then you can leave a manager out of the picture.

I guess I have to leave here now cause I also have a kick back percentage to give to a referral, I mean we are still in business right?