My daughter has just started out in the business. Her agent now wants her to sign a exclusive contact. Is this a good thing?

I wouldn't want to sign an exclusive contract until they got her some work. My daughter is fairly new to all of this so I could be wrong....but what if you find they aren't sending you on enough and you would like to try someone else.

Well, most contracts give you an out after a few months if they haven't booked you any auditions. Its not necessarily a bad thing. See how long the contract is for. If its two years, its not that bad, but if they want 3-5 years exclusive, thats a little crazy. There's give and take with being exclusive and non-exclusive. Being exclusive an agent would only take 10% and being non exclusive they can take more...they know you can get paid elsewhere so they would take a higher percentage when they book you work.

That is good news to know, thanks for posting.

Having an agent is good but can also be a curse too. I agree with CHMom yuou can get signed and be shelved. Most actors kind of freelance with multiple agents, because their chances of getter more work it greater. As oppose to having one agent. You'll be surprised sometimes to know that you can find more work on your own with out an agent. But yes having an agent is good because they can get you in to the hard to get into auditions. So my advice to you is chose wisely, keep your daughter grounded, humble, and focused. Knock em' died !!!