Talent Manager vs Agent: What Influencers Should Know

Creators use "manager" and "agent" as if they mean the same thing, and on a lot of brand deals the work overlaps. The 2 roles differ in focus, though, and so do the contracts and the fees.

Here's what each one does, how each gets paid, how their contracts differ, and how to decide which you need first. For the full picture of the manager's side, see what a talent manager does.

What's the difference between a talent manager and an agent?

A manager runs the business of your career across every income line. An agent focuses on landing and negotiating bookings, mostly in film, TV, publishing, voice, speaking and commercial work.

On brand deals the roles blur, since both may negotiate terms with a brand. The day-to-day differs more: you'll hear from a manager often, about every part of the business, and from an agent mostly about offers and bookings.

How do managers and agents get paid?

Both usually take a commission on the income they handle, and if you have both, the 2 percentages stack.

Pfeiffer Law put the norm for influencer managers at 15% to 20% in 2023, and our own commission runs 10% to 30%. For agents, SAG-AFTRA's November 2024 bulletin caps franchised agents at 10% on union and non-union work in the areas the union covers.

On a $10,000 deal with a 20% manager and a 10% agent, $3,000 goes to representation and you keep $7,000 before costs and tax. How the 2 commissions interact is negotiable, so agree up front which deals each person commissions. We break down the full math in how much influencer managers take.

How do manager and agent contracts differ?

They cover different work, and their commission terms differ too. A management contract reaches across your income lines, from brand deals to platforms and products, while an agent's centers on the offers and bookings the agent works on.

Start with the commission clause. SAG-AFTRA's cap covers its franchised agents in the union's areas of work, so for any other agent, read that clause as closely as you'd read a manager's and check which deals it applies to.

If you have both, read the 2 contracts side by side before you sign the second one. Your own entertainment lawyer should review both, since they advise you alone on what you're signing.

Do you need a manager, an agent or both?

If your income is mostly brand deals and platform payouts, start with a manager. Add an agent when traditional media offers start arriving, like a TV appearance, a book deal or paid speaking.

The signals tend to be specific: a production company asks about your availability for a show, a publisher wants a book proposal, or event organizers start asking for your speaking fee. A TV offer is agent territory, so an agent belongs in the room, and book and speaking offers have specialists of their own, such as literary agents and speakers bureaus.

If you bring in both, settle who negotiates which deal types, who invoices and whether both commissions apply to the same deal, and do it before the first shared deal closes. Before you sign with anyone, run through our 15 questions to ask a talent manager.

How a shared deal can split

Say a brand wants you for a national TV commercial plus 3 Instagram posts. Here's 1 way the work could divide when you have both a manager and an agent:

If you're weighing management, you can apply for representation with 1DS, and our services page lists the 10 disciplines we cover.