The words this category uses loosely.

Verified answers exactly one question: can this performer be hired without worrying? It is issued from observed evidence against published criteria, reviewed annually and immediately after any recorded incident, and it can be withdrawn.

It requires a minimum of five evidence-eligible placements, spanning at least six months, across at least two distinct event types or venue tiers, of which at least three must be observed in person.

It cannot be purchased, directly or bundled, and there is no payment path to it. A certification funded by the party being certified is advertising, and is read as advertising.

Issuance begins in 2027. The criteria are published in full now; no performer currently holds it.

This distinction is what makes any certification in live performance buildable. Whether a performance was extraordinary is a matter of taste, and a standard based on taste can never win an argument with someone who disagrees.

Whether a performer replied within a working day, arrived at call time, performed the agreed set, provided their technical requirements unprompted, and handled a difficult room without incident are all matters of record. They can be checked by someone other than the person who wrote them down.

So MAGIQ certifies the second category and says openly that it does not certify the first. The performers supply the artistry; the company makes the professional risk verifiable.

Observation in person is the stronger form and is required for a performer's first two placements, for any booking in the top budget band, and for any first engagement with a new buyer.

A structured debrief is the weaker form and is honest about being weaker: the buyer is asked a fixed set of questions within 48 hours while it is still fresh, the performer files their own report, and the venue contact confirms.

Both count as evidence and they are counted separately. A performer cannot reach assessment on remote observation alone.

The distinction matters because an unobserved booking produces no evidence. A directory never observes the transaction, which is why it can never issue a meaningful standard however large it grows.

The brief, not the performer profile, is the unit of MAGIQ's business. A directory assumes the buyer already knows what they want and can evaluate the options; a brief-first intake assumes the opposite, which is usually true.

The objective is the most valuable field in the company: why they are booking entertainment at all — impress clients, reward staff, fill an awkward hour before dinner, generate content, mark a brand moment. The recommendation is written against that rather than against the budget.

Every brief is recorded, including the ones that cannot be filled. A brief MAGIQ declines is still demand data that nobody in this industry systematically collects.

A percentage fee means the agency earns more when the buyer picks the more expensive option. That is a live conflict of interest sitting inside every shortlist, and no amount of good intent removes it, because someone still has to write the shortlist knowing what each row pays them.

A flat fee set by the brief's budget band and complexity, quoted at qualification, makes MAGIQ financially indifferent to the recommendation it gives. The advice is structurally disinterested rather than promised to be.

The performer's fee passes through whole. MAGIQ never takes a commission from a performer, and both figures appear separately on the same document, so the buyer sees exactly what the performer receives and exactly what MAGIQ receives.

It holds event type, audience, venue tier, budget band, the buyer's stated objective, the buyer's feedback, any incidents, and repeat bookings.

Performer profiles on this site are generated from it rather than from a biography the performer supplied. That is why the site's credibility compounds by operating the business rather than by writing copy, and why the public claim and the internal record cannot diverge.

It is also why there is no field for 'as seen on'. There is no such row in the schema.

The buyer's problem in live entertainment is not discovery — magicians can be found in ninety seconds and have been since 2004. The problem is that a buyer cannot tell them apart, because they lack the expertise to judge the craft.

So they rely on proxies: awards, showreels, logos, familiar names. Those reduce uncertainty without indicating quality, which is why a well-connected average performer consistently outearns an excellent unknown one.

A decision service absorbs the evaluation the buyer cannot perform, takes a position, and remains accountable for it. Two or three options with written reasoning and a stated recommendation — never one option, which is selling, and never a filtered list of twenty, which hands the decision back along with the risk.

It covers performer non-appearance and performer cancellation. It does not cover force majeure, venue failure, cancellation by the buyer, or dissatisfaction with an act that appeared and performed as briefed.

It is enforceable because MAGIQ contracts as principal rather than as an agent: the buyer contracts with MAGIQ, and MAGIQ engages the performer. An introducer cannot offer this, which is most of why the scope is published rather than described vaguely.