Entertainment Business Negotiations

            For my Negotiation and Deal-Making class, I was required to watch three videos based around topics under negotiation.  The first video I watched, titled “Negotiating Strategies and Tactics,” the one topic that stuck out the most to me was when the narrator stated that emotions can help or hurt you.  He also said “nobody can negotiate for something that is important to them without becoming emotionally involved.” This can relate to negotiations in the entertainment business because the outcome of the negotiation could decide how someone’s business could turn out.  If you’re the owner of a business and your really passionate about it, then your going to sometimes let your emotions talk in order to get the right deal. The second video titled “Stan Christensen-The Art of Negotiation [Entire Talk],” Stan talked about how negotiating is an art form and if you expect to succeed you need to know the tricks.  One topic he talked about that related to what we talked about in class was using objective criteria to gain an advantage.  During the video, someone in the audience stated that he went to a mechanic and felt like he was cheated.  Stan stated that you need to research prices beforehand so that you know the average prices and know when you are being tricked out.  This is useful in entertainment business because in order to get fair deals you need to know what to expect before you start negotiating.  If you know what to negotiate then your chances of receiving a good deal increases.  The last video titled “Entrepreneurship - Part 7: Negotiation,” the narrator talks about tips and tricks for entrepreneurs in negotiations.  In my opinion, the most important thing he talked about was knowing what your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is.  One should always have a plan in place in case negotiations fall through, but you should use your BATNA as an absolute last choice.  The idea of negotiation is to improve upon things, not having to fall back to your alternative plan.  Just like in entertainment business, if something goes wrong, then having a BATNA would be wise to have.  Therefore, in conclusion, emotions can hurt or help you, know your objective criteria and your BATNA.