I would like to start booking musical acts in my area. Do I just need a business license to get started as I would be charging a commission or are there other logistics to deal with.

I'm sure that there are other things with which you must deal. Do you have a business plan yet? If not, the following two sites contain tons of information that may be of value to you: http://www.sba.gov/ and http://www.score.org/ There is also licensing information available on those two sites concerning different occupations and the localities in which they are located. There are also some links to questions on the bottom of this page to questions that have been similar to yours. You might want to click on them and see what the answers have been.

Are you going to be operating out of your home or like some kind of store front with a sign advertising your services that is visible to anyone who happens to pass by? That will make a difference as to the rules that you need to follow in order to be in business in a certain location. For full information as to what you need to do in order to be in business where your business will be located, it would be best to be speaking with the city officials there.