Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
Represent and promote artists, performers, and athletes in dealings with current or prospective employers. May handle contract negotiation and other business matters for clients.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Persuasion
- Negotiation
- Social Perceptiveness
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sales and Marketing
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Fine Arts
- Communications and Media
- Administrative
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- Collect fees, commissions, or other payments, according to contract terms.
- Confer with clients to develop strategies for their careers, and to explain actions taken on their behalf.
- Develop contacts with individuals and organizations, and apply effective strategies and techniques to ensure their clients' success.
- Schedule promotional or performance engagements for clients.
- Negotiate with managers, promoters, union officials, and other persons regarding clients' contractual rights and obligations.
- Keep informed of industry trends and deals.
- Conduct auditions or interviews to evaluate potential clients.
- Arrange meetings concerning issues involving their clients.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Social, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (41.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (36.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (34.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 91% of occupations compared | 94% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 69% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 58% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 59% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 95% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 80% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 64% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 60% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 1.31%
- Occasional contact with others: 1.31%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 3.09%
- Constant contact with others: 94.29%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 40.73%
- Fairly important: 1.94%
- Important: 17.01%
- Very important: 5.87%
- Extremely important: 34.45%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9.54%
- Important: 12.38%
- Very important: 29.72%
- Extremely important: 48.37%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.78%
- Limited freedom: 11.25%
- Some freedom: 53.55%
- A lot of freedom: 34.42%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.64%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.17%
- Every day: 66.19%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 4.56%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 12.59%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36.01%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.3%
- Every day: 7.54%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 4.65%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.44%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 35.72%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.21%
- Every day: 5.99%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 16.67%
- Fairly serious: 23.29%
- Serious: 35.76%
- Very serious: 14.34%
- Extremely serious: 9.94%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 13-1011.00 · SOC 13-1011 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8