Tell us a little about yourself and your experience.

My name is Mike Tata, I'm 25 years old, and I work for The Agora Theatre & Ballroom, one of Cleveland’s premier concert venues, and BravoArtist; a talent buying and promotions agency in the Cleveland and Columbus area.

At The Agora, I work in the Booking + Marketing & Promotions department. My job is to ensure that concert-goers are aware of our shows that we put together.

One of my major roles is managing The Agora's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, which can be a lot in the customer service aspect. I work in The Agora box office where I assist our customers and opening talent with tickets and information. I am responsible for sending out our weekly newsletters to our TicketWeb subscribers and I manage our room rentals department with our General Manager, Larry Funderburk. I have been with The Agora for over two years now.

I also assist with Talent Buying and Production at BravoArtist. While I was in school, my practicum, a more extensive internship so-to-say, was with BravoArtist. This is where I started to get my foot in the door in the music industry. I started out as a Production Rep where I assisted with running shows. I made sure that our shows were successful and ran on time. As time progressed, I started working on more shows and transitioned into Talent Buying with owner, Cory Hajde. I typically book my personal shows through BravoArtist. I have been with BravoArtist for over three years now.

What drove you to choose your career path?

Well – without realizing it, my career path as a promoter started in high school. My friend Carly and I threw rave type events in her dad’s landscaping warehouse. We would mix EDM with hip-hop and a few hundred kids would show up. At this time, I didn’t even know what a promoter was, so we just kind of did it. It was a lot of fun!

When I was in high school I started playing music and going to shows was a frequent thing for me. I started meeting people with similar music interest as me and familiarizing myself with how the show process began. From 2009 to 2015 I played in a local metal band called Fallen Captive. During the course of these six years, we were playing some of Cleveland’s biggest shows; locally and nationally. When we headlined, I put together those shows and we would reach an average attendance of 400 to 750 people. Over this time period, working with BravoArtist and Peabody’s, I developed a network that kind of put me where I am today.

I attended Kent State University from 2009 to 2014 graduating with a Communications Degree and minor in Public Relations. Even though I graduated, I still had no clue with what I wanted to do with my life because my passion was music. So after I graduated, I spoke with Chris at The Agora and started in June of 2014 and still continue to work for BravoArtist.

How did you go about getting your job? What kind of education and experience did you need?

I would say that I got my jobs through working with Chris Zitterbart (owner of Peabody’s, now The Agora) and Cory Hajde (owner of BravoArtist) when I was in the band. We built a great relationship together over the years and it took me to where I am today. They both knew I was a hard worker and marketing was a strength of mine; the experience came over time. Not sure if education played too much of a role to where I am, but it certainly helped having that on my resume.

What do you actually spend the majority of your time doing?

Honestly, I spend a lot of my time working on the shows that we have, whether that’s with The Agora or BravoArtist. I’m a “workaholic” as they say, but I really do love what I do. I love making sure The Agora and BravoArtist’s calendars are full and that the city of Cleveland always has a show that they can go to. Aside from that, I just enjoy spending my free time with my wife, Kaitlyn, playing bass, doing new and adventurous things and, of course, hanging out with friends.

What misconceptions do people often have about your job?

I suppose one misconception about what we do is that concert venues (or agencies) make a ton of money. A customer can view and see what’s going into the venue, (ticket sales, bar sales, parking sales, etc.), but what they don’t see is the money going out. We spend a lot of money paying our artists that are playing, our staff and the utilities/taxes that we must pay in order to keep going; plus, general up-keep of the venue and upgrades. It’s very expensive to do what we do and a lot of people don’t really see that.

What are your average work hours?

It definitely varies on the season and the amount of shows we have. September through December is our busiest period of the year, but January, February and Summer months are typically much slower. I would say 40 – 75 hours for me is a fair average. It never feels like I’m working, so that’s always nice. I’m always looking for extra production work as well, so occasionally I’ll work festivals doing production management.

What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?

I would say the main thing is have a great network. Having a reliable network is key to working in the music industry and it really helps make things easier. There’s many aspects to promoting shows and the more ground you can cover through who you know, the better it will be for your situation. It’s also important to love what you do. If you don’t love what you do, then why do it?

What do you do differently from your coworkers or peers in the same profession?

I think the difference is our staff compared to others. Our staff has just as much fun at our shows as our guests do. While we maintain our professionalism and the rules that we have, the reason we are all here is because of the music that we enjoy. The music brings our community together and that will always be the most important aspect of our shows. It’s my personal goal to have a fun and friendly environment for all concert-goers at all times.

Do you have any advice for people who need to enlist your services?

For the local bands that I work with, I always make sure they understand the importance of ticket sales, making sure they don’t overplay the city and that they shouldn’t be afraid to turn down shows to ensure their draw is strong each time. Cliché as it is, if you work hard enough, you’ll get more and greater opportunities. We work together on our shows and we both need each other in order to keep being successful.

What's the worst part of the job and how do you deal with it?

There really isn’t a “worse” part of my job. I guess one thing I dislike is seeing a really good show/tour go to a different venue or skip the Cleveland market. I just want to see great shows come to our venue/area.

What's the most enjoyable part of the job?

The most enjoyable part about my job is bringing people together at our shows. Of course, music is the reason we are all gathered, but what really makes it a great show is the people around us; we’re all here for the same reason and that’s to enjoy ourselves. That’s easily the best part of my job! It’s really awesome to be a part of such a great team and to have all the cool bands/artists we do at our shows.

How do you move up in your field?

Keep expanding your network and keep learning more than just one trade. Obviously, the more well-rounded you are in the music industry the better. Ultimately, your work relationships can be just the lift you need to take you to bigger and newer heights. I’m always learning new things and don’t limit myself to just one job.  

What advice would you give to those aspiring to join your profession?

Go to shows, create a network and find something specific you like to do. The key is to just get involved and over time if you love what you do and work hard at it, you will find out where you belong.