Just How Important Is Negotiating?

     Many of you who read my blog posts, may not know, but I am currently working on my Master’s of Sciences degree in the Entertainment Business, at Full Sail University, in Winter Park, Florida.  This month, I am taking a very interesting class called “Negotiating and Deal Making”.  My assignment this week is to conduct an interview with someone in my field, who is working in the entertainment business, and negotiates deals on a regular basis.  Unlike any other industry such as retail, manufacturing and the medical field, the entertainment business to include music, radio, film, television and sports is largely dependent on revenues generated through contract negotiations.  In Wikipedia, their definition of a negotiation “is a process where each party involved in negotiating tries to gain an advantage for themselves by the end of the process.  Negotiation is intended to aim at compromise”.  In a few of my past posts, I talked about the increase of production companies coming to this state negotiating contacts to film television shows and movies throughout North Carolina.

     I decided to interview George Bishop, the owner of Star Tracks Audio/Video Productions, where I once worked for about 18 years.  We produced 10 television shows that aired on three public access channels, a channel on a college campus, and on a few local network stations throughout the state and southern Virginia.  We also had contracts for sound reinforcement and artist management.  He formed a band while in college called the “Mighty Majors”, in the late 1960’s.  They were a group of music majors, who decided to get together and play to hone their craft, and also get paid.  Personally, I think it was to get girls like most all male groups do.  Many of the contracts for the production company were from bids we made with city and county government.  Once we secured a contract to produce the live City Council Meetings, we were guaranteed contracts to produce other projects.  Many of the questions in this interview applied to negotiations he made for his band throughout the years.

     Developing strong negotiating skills is the key to obtaining success in the entertainment business. One of our class books, “Getting to Yes”, was selected by the instructor just for this purpose.  In the chapter called “Separate the People from the Problem”, it reminds us we are “dealing with human beings. They have emotions, deeply held values, and different backgrounds. When I asked Mr. Bishop about his experience in dealing with people’s feelings and emotions, he recalled a few incidents.  “As the owner and the band leader”, he says “ he can not relent to a person who signs an agreement when they become emotional.  They do not live up to their end of the deal.  He feels this is a binding document, and will take them to court”. 

     “BATNA” was the second type of negotiation we discussed.  “BATNA”, is according to Wikipedia “defined by negotiating researchers Roger Fisher and William Ury, the writers of  ‘Getting to Yes’, as the acronym for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.  It is the alternative action that will be taken if your proposed agreement with another party result in an unsatisfactory agreement or when an agreement cannot be reached”.  When I asked Mr. Bishop if he experienced this type of negotiation, he recalled an incident with a problem with specifics in his contract rider concerning inclement weather. The rider states, if there is a possibility of inclement weather, the promoter is to provide an indoor facility or risk paying the band double the price. The eight-piece band was in place and had begun playing when it began to rain.  Needless to say, the promoter refused to honor the contract, and he was taken to court.  The lesson to learn from this is, it pays to carefully read any contract you sign.  It might cost you in the long run.

     My final question was, “have you experienced in dirty trick negotiations?”  His answer was “of course”.  He recalled how many years ago, a record promoter stopped by the studio to listen to a demo.  Apparently they signed a contract and the promoter took the demo.  To make a long story short, the promoter took the songs to Europe and now they are a hit on the internet.