Anyway, depending on how you count that's either one third or one half of the canon examples which don't fit the model you propose for all Sponsored Magic

Depending on how I count Place of Power is one or none. I count it as none, because external source with an agenda even if its not sentient (ley lines).

And yeah, you've provided other methods. But not a "better" method, one which would make self-sponsored magic unnecessary.

"Better" is entirely subjective. Frankly, I think I have given examples of methods that are mechanically and fictively superior to "self-sponsored" magic. Meanwhile, you haven't given me any reasons at all why "self-sponsored" magic is necessary at all.

I'm just guessing here, but if your objective here is to give the players a sense of tension then attempting to mechanize "fear" is going to have the opposite effect. A critical element of fear is a lack of control. So, maybe crank some spooky music (chanting in Latin can work well), but really just keep them responding verbally. Keep the pressure on in an indirect way so that the players are so busy trying to figure out how to deal with the situation that they never think of picking up the dice. It's worked well for me on the few occasions I've needed it.

Method 1 [min -2]: Ritual: Animancy (you gain the Ritual power for all thaumaturgy related to spirits where spirits are a class of non-physical Nevernever entity similar to demons or ghosts.) Optionally Refinements in Foci allowing for off-the-cuff spells up to twice your Lore rating. Optionally Evothaum if your GM is a stickler and you want to be able to cast Animancy rituals quickly.

Method 2 [min -3]: Thaumaturgy with a specialization in Animancy. Optionally Refinements for specializations and/or Foci. Specializations may take bonuses above twice Lore but require a more well-rounded character. Optionally Evothaum, as above.

Method 3 [min -3?]: Ghost Speaker. Spirited Negotiator. This isn't as powerful, overall, as using spells would be but it does not cause the character to take mental stress which is a huge bonus if your character specializes in dealing with spirits. Optionally, many characters built with this will likely have some sort of House Spirit. Optionally, you may take Stunts since Stunts stack with the bonuses provided below. (eg: +2 to Conviction when containing a spirit or ghost. +4 to Rapport when dealing with a specific wind spirit).

Spirited Negotiator [-2?]
Musts: You must have Ghost Speaker.
Ghost Sense. You may use Contacts or Lore to find a specific ghost or spirit, or one who meets your needs. This will not FORCE a spirit to come to you, so you may need to go "out and about" (per the Contacts skill). You might try sending another spirit to do this on your behalf, of course, but who knows how that might work out.
Ghostbuster. Once per scene (or 15 minutes, where more appropriate), you may use Lore or Conviction to create a Ward to contain a hostile ghost or spirit. You gain a +2 bonus on this roll if the conflict takes place in a location specifically prepared for containment (such as your laboratory or sanctum).
Abjuration. Once per session (or day, where more appropriate), you may use Lore or Conviction to strengthen the barrier to the Nevernever as an action. If your roll is higher, your result becomes the new barrier rating in this location until sunrise.
Cold Read. Due to your experience dealing with non-corporeal entities from the other side you have become very good at determining what they want. +2 to all social rolls involving spirits or ghosts, as long as you are trying to come to an agreement.

House Spirit [-1]
Sometimes a spirit will develop an attachment to a particular location; often a house. It is also possible to create this attachment intentionally (through True Magic) although doing so without the spirit's permission will often provide more curse than blessing. Such spirits are attached to the threshold of a location and (in fact) feed off of it.
Musts: You must take an aspect relating to the spirit and its location of residence. You must either be a resident of this location or it must have no residents.
Loyalty. House Spirits first dedication are always to the place they inhabit and the "family" who lives there. The spirit cannot take any hostile action except against invading spirits or overtly hostile forces.
Symbiotic Spirit. A House Spirit feeds on the threshold of a location, however as long as the spirit resides there, the threshold can never fully decay. The threshold is considered to be +1 (min 1).
Spirit Buddy. A typical House Spirit is often little more than a mote of light or gust of wind, serving small tasks around the house; such as lighting candles or sweeping up dust. These effects are little more than scenery pieces. They are also able to go anywhere outside their residence on (though they usually don't have any reason to) but must return by sunrise.
Tied to the Threshold. The House Spirit can also be more firmly tied to the threshold. When taking this power, you may voluntarily reduce the threshold of the residence (min 1) to increase the power of the spirit. Doing this should severely limit the spirit's ability to leave the threshold. How exactly this works is up to you and the GM, though a point of threshold being worth a skill point or two seems reasonable.

A 'default' house spirit has a single mild consequence and 3 skill points which do not need to follow normal spending rules. However, the spirit only has access to the skills it has points in.

I tried to make this also be a reasonable way to stat out Bob, although if we're using these rules Bob's skull is probably an Item of Power who's only effect is to create a very large threshold. I also didn't want to add a whole bunch of twitchy mechanics to a rules-light game for the 'minion' NPC so apologies if it seems a little vague.

Normal Compels. It's explained in the Power writeup.

Part of the inherent drawback of Sponsored Magic (as I understand it) is the threat of being forced to obey someone else's agenda so that doesn't really work for me. What I'm getting at is that there are better ways to represent specialization than Sponsored Magic without an agenda.

Either way, the OP now has my perspective and my reasoning and can decide if that's useful to them or not. Really, that's the only point of posting after all.

Well, if I read it correctly, it does that. But it also costs you an enchanted item slot for EVERY exchange. So (considering you need Superb Discipline to safely draw 1 power at a time) you can build a safe custom item on-the-fly for a lot more than it would have cost you at character creation, or you can risk setting off a small nuclear detonation by pulling your average every exchange.

Disclaimer: The whole self-sponsored thing rubs me the wrong way. It tends to just represent a magical specialization which is achievable with refinements. A lot of it seems to be based on Kemmlarian Necromancy but as I understand the article, it's not "self-sponsored" (nor is it actually sponsored by Kemmlar) but rather by death itself (or at least spirits of death) who are pretty willing to let anyone who can figure out how use their power.

What's the idea behind it, though? That tends to have a pretty big effect on what makes sense.

For instance, if you're looking to create a someone who uses spirits to power their magic in the Dresden Universe, you're probably looking at standard sponsored magic with a particular spirit as your sponsor. At the GMs discretion, you might even be able to contract with multiple spirits by taking Refinement.

If you're looking at someone who (like Harry) specializes in contracting with Spirits, you might just be looking at a specialized power (like Worldwalker or True Shapeshifting) that gives bonuses to ward/summoning/binding and negotiations. Or, alternatively, just using a collection of stunts and Refinements. Then any cost to the spirits' help is a function of the narrative rather than an arbitrary agenda.

Two points:

I'm pretty sure the Laws of Hospitality only apply if an invitation was issued. You are not REQUIRED to invite a supernatural entity into your home to parley with them; but if you do, guest rights probably apply.

I'm also pretty sure the Laws of Hospitality aren't actually part of the Accords, but rather old traditions. I realize for many people Grave Perils is going to be a sticking point for this, but as I interpreted it; Bianca's invitation was binding because of the loss of face; not the Accords. Any interaction with the Accords would be because she gave her oath to it in the invitation. Harry, on the other hand, didn't start a war by violating the Laws of Hospitality but rather because he initiated an 'unprovoked' attack on the Red Court (because Susan is not one of the White Council's charges).