really not sure of what to make of that whole who is.. website!
the artist obviously doesn't come across in the best light, but the promoter is naive in the extreme! The whole thing doesnt sit right - from the artist claiming he doesnt know an agent that claims to represent him (this happens sometimes, but that agency is fairly big so i wouldnt expect it to happen in this case), to dealing with an artist directly, in the detail that they did (flights, riders etc) is practically unheard of.
As a promoter, you will maybe deal directly with the artist if you have a personal relationship with them but it is quite rare. For something like a multi venue/multi country tour you would 100% deal with the agent.
The payment - it is not unsual for the fee to be asked for in total upfront. Again, it depends on the relationships. If we have a good relationship with an agent then you can agree more favourable payment terms. What is obviously strange is being asked to pay it into an account that is neither the artists nor the agencies!
I wonder what happened - the promoter was obviously making comments about going legal with it, but i would love to know if he got his money back...?
