(1) Remember that a contract is a legal document and therefore has to favour all of the parties it covers equally and without bias to any one party it names. So if you see an agent with the odds stacked in their favour and very little covering / protecting the DJ remind them of their legal obligations.

(2) Read any contract carefully, including any small print, and if in doubt ask for advice

(3) Always find out what the payment terms are, before you agree to the booking. Remember that you cannot agree any changes to those that the agent has made with the client on your behalf, without agreeing it with the agent. So if you are booked until 12AM and are asked to go onto 1AM then okay it with the agent first, and agree the additional fee, and any extra commission due. Keep your agents' contact number with you at all times to enable you to discuss any changes the client has requested or any problems which you may have.

(4) Any agent worth his / her reputation will at least give you a mobile after-hours phone number and be contactable in emergencies or where any change to the agreed contract should be required.

(5) Avoid agents of 'no fixed abode' - ie who operate solely from mobile numbers and hotmail addresses.

(6) There should be no reason to have to pay a joining fee or a subscription to join an agency, most agents happily operate on a commission only basis, which means if he / she isn't getting you work then they aren't getting paid!  and if they are confident in their own ability to being able to get you plenty of work, then they shouldn't require any upfront fees!. If you do find an agency who does charge fees in advance then make sure that you establish in writing exactly what the fee is for and that there is some form of service agreement and that they will get you at least a minimum amount of work which should at least cover any initial fee!.

(7) If you join an agency, the work should be fairly consistant, you may like to shop around for a better agent if your existing one only gets you very casual work, since this usaully indicates that they are cherry picking and only using you for the jobs that their "best" DJ's don't want or refuse to do - i.e awkward access / rough venues and poor working conditions, sound limiters etc etc.

(8) Remember that some agencies insist that you offer to cover eleventh hour and emergency bookings etc at only limited (sometimes hours) notice, and within reason this is a fairly acceptable request. So if you tell your agent that you are not out on a certain date, then be prepared to get a phone call at the last minute on that day, just in case some last minute work comes in. If you are already booked, have family committments or are taking time off then tell your agent accordingly.

(9) Be honest with your agent, if you only have a small roadshow, don't tell him you've got a 6k sound system! - otherwise you may get gigs which you have no hope of covering, or that will cost you more in hire fees than your own booking fee!. Equally if you have any particular speciality then make that clear too, it'll be in your interests in the long run!

(10) Most agents require a minium level of experience for their DJ's and this is usually 2 to 5 years although some will make exceptions in certain circumstances. A lot of agents will insist on references or seeing you work first and others may give you work on a probation period to gauge their clients reponse. This is pretty common and doesn't mean your agent is out to get you

(11) Sadly you need to be 18+ to legally sign a contract in the UK in any business capacity, which means that a lot of agents will not take on Dj's under 18 even with parent / guardian approval. Most licensed premises who utilise the agents services will possibly also have similar restrictions.

(12) When working for an agent, always find out whose name you are working under. Most agents will supply you with cards, brochures and sometimes even corporate clothing which carries their own logos and details. It is bad practice and bad business to hand out your own cards, or try and cut the agent out of the equation when asked for a card at gig the agent has got you!. Often I write my name on the back of the agencies card, and ask the person to ask the agent to supply me at the time of booking, and most agents are more than happy to work on this basis, as they still retain the commission, you get rebooked, and the client gets the DJ they saw!.

(13) Ask other DJs within your area before joining an agency, like DJ's, agents rely on word of mouth reputation and the chances are that somebody will be able to give you relevant feedback.

(14) Trust your instincts if something is not right, then look elsewhere. Avoid get rich quick agents who promise you the earth as they rarely deliver, and if something looks too good to be true then it probably is!.