Music Business Lessons (Courtesy
Berklee Press)
Management: Finding It and Making It Work for You
By George Howard
Finding the Right Manager
The roles of the manager are varied. The manager needs to be a cheerleader,
a liaison, and a bank. Often, managers also take on the role of creative
consultant, accountant, babysitter, driver, and on and on. Clearly, it is a
good thing to have someone like this on your team. While you may have people
approaching you and offering their services, of course, you may also need to
do some legwork of your own in order to find a manager. Again, do all of the
things you would do to find a compatible record label. Identify who is
managing artists that you admire creatively and whose careers are going in a
direction you would like yours to go in. Solicit opinions from others in
your community. For instance, ask the person who books the club you play at
which managers they would recommend you speak to. People who book clubs, as
well as journalists, DJs, and others in the industry typically have
extensive contact with managers, and may have a very pragmatic opinion on
their on their efficacy.
Labels and Artist Managers
Simply put, an artist who has strong management is often going to be signed
before an artist who doesn't, all other things being equal. Labels rely on
managers to help them create and execute marketing strategy. Additionally,
labels often need a buffer between themselves and the artist. The manager
plays this role. Of course, there are many artists who prefer to deal
directly with the label, whether they have management or not. In most cases,
though, the manager allows the artist to focus on being creative, while the
manager works out the more nuts-and-bolts aspects of releasing records with
the label. This is not to say that the manager should not be keeping the
artist informed of all that is going on. They should. But the label relies
on the manager to communicate details to the artist in the right manner, and
at the right time.
Getting Good Management Before the Deal
Labels also prefer artists with good management because they know that once
the artist is signed to the label, unless the artist decides to part ways
with the manager, they're stuck with the manager for the duration. It is
illegal for a record company to meddle with artist/manager relations. Doing
so would fall loosely under the term "tortious interference" --a fancy
lawyer-boy term for, "Keep your stinking nose out of my business, you
jackass." So, if you come to a label with a manager who is a bozo, the label
is going to know that they are going to have to work with said bozo until he
either gets his act together or the artist wakes up and fires him. Artists
are usually reluctant to take this step, out of loyalty, and so, yes, the
label gets stuck with the bozo. Of course, the label doesn't have to choose
this option. It can just not sign the band. This happens more than you might
think. One of the first questions record execs ask when presented with a
possible signing, is, "Who is the manager?" If it's a manager who has a bad
reputation or is inordinately difficult to work with, or just plan
ineffective, the label will frequently pass on the artist.
Summary
In my opinion, it is better to have a manager who is passionate -- and not a
bozo -- then one who is connected or financed but lacks passion, vision, or
understanding of what your goals are as an artist. You will be working very
closely with this person, and you need to be able to communicate easily and
effectively together. Additionally, you need to trust that they will
represent your artistic vision in a way that you are comfortable with. They
will be your mouthpiece in many situations. Lastly, you need to really
understand what your objectives are and choose a manager who will help you
get there, and then set new objectives with you and help you achieve those.
Good managers aren't easy to find, so you must look long and hard and
carefully. In many ways, the manager becomes another member of the band.
Excerpt from
The Self-Promoting Musician Strategies for Independent Music Success
©2000
Berklee Press Used by Permission
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