contact enquiry list

About us

Function Central is the UK's leading live music booking agency: we manage over 3000 bookings a year, from intimate weddings to high-profile corporate functions.

Why use us?

Need live music for an event? Here are just a few of benefits of booking with Function Central!

The UK's best bands, vetted and road-tested
We’ve spent years scouring the internet for the best bands and musicians in the UK, so that you don’t have to. To be accepted onto our books, our acts must meet the strictest standards of quality and professionalism. Once added to our roster, we continue to monitor their performances.

No hassle
We'll handle all the admin for you – from contracts and certificates for your venue to coordinating with the act, venue or event planner, right up until your event date.

We have 5 star ratings on Trustpilot and Google Reviews
We recognise that your event may be one of the most important days of your lives, and will treat it with the attention, care and respect it deserves. In turn, our customers have rewarded us with 5/5 ratings on both Google and Trustpilot.

Your booking is secure
Bookings are secured with contracts, and acts can only cancel in exceptional circumstances. But if the worst happens, we'll be able to offer a replacement act from the hundreds of live function bands, musicians and DJs available to us, and take care of all the organising for you.

Pay no more than booking direct
Our acts offer us competitive rates in return for a high volume of work, meaning that in most cases, after adding our service charge, our prices are roughly the same as booking an act direct, and less expensive than other agencies. If an act or another agent offers you a lower price, or on better terms, we’ll try to match their offer.

    Booking is just the beginning
    We’ll stay in touch and help with any queries you have before your event. We can also put you in touch with your act before the day, so that you can talk to them directly. We're on hand to deal with any last-minute hitches, accident or illness, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our out-of-hours emergency support line is available on our contact page.


    Loading...


    Who are we?

    Our founders, Ali Lion and Mike Ausden met at music college, studying drums and trumpet respectively. They've been recording, writing and performing in their own cover bands ever since.

    During the many years they spent performing in their own bands and on the function scene, they were lucky enough to meet some fantastic musicians and DJs. But they also saw tired and bored session hacks who just went through the motions, disorganised band members who got lost on the way to gigs and DJs who were more interested in the sound of their own voices than the records they played.

    Function Central was established in 2005 to put things right, and our philosophy is simple. Unlike some entertainment booking agencies, we only use the most accomplished and professional acts: young, dedicated musicians and DJs who live and breathe music and deliver outstanding performances every time. We book live music for over 3000 events a year, and the feedback we receive from our clients is overwhelmingly positive. But don't take our word for it – read some of the thousands of reviews for our acts across our profile pages.

    Now with a small team behind them, Ali and Mike spend more time scouting for bands than actually playing in them.

    Function Central are official partners with the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, helping to provide mentoring and live performance opportunities for both students and alumni. They're also sponsors of the Abram Wilson Foundation. AWF champions underrepresented and unrecognised talent within the music industry at large.

    Meet the team

    Loading...


    What do people say?

    Loading...


    A few of our clients

    • John Lewis
    • Mini
    • Gucci
    • BBC
    • Audi
    • Waitrose
    • The Royal Bank Of Scotland
    • Barclays
    • Sky
    • Virgin
    • British Airways
    • Credit Suisse
    • RAC
    • Easyjet
    • Microsoft
    • Saatchi & Saatchi
    • Virgin
    • The Territorial Army
    • The Royal Navy
    • Ernst & Young
    • Natwest
    • Bupa
    • Habitat

    Venues we've worked with

    • The Royal Albert Hall
    • The Shard
    • The Imperial War Museum
    • The Jazz Cafe
    • Saatchi Gallery
    • The RAC Club
    • ExCel London
    • Wembley Stadium
    • The Ritz
    • The Savoy
    • The Hurlingham Club
    • The Gherkin
    • Blenheim Palace
    • Hampton Court Palace
    • The Natural History Museum
    • Denbies Vineyard
    • Cambridge University
    • Addington Palace
    • The Grand Hotel in Brighton
    • The Barbican Centre

    In addition to the above, our acts have peformed at hundreds of wedding venues nationwide, from barns (The Granary Estates, Old Kent Barn, Wharfedale Grange) to castles (Hever, Clearwell, Rowton), to pop-up weddings/tipis (Pennard Hill Farm, Peaktipis, Swinton Estate).