Q & A
Each month, MusicBizAdvice.com answers your questions about the music industry.
The Difference
Between Managers, Personal Managers, Tour Managers, and Business Managers,
and What They Do
Q. What's the difference between a manager, a personal
manager, a tour manager, and a business manager? P.K.
A. In the music industry "Manager"
and "Personal Manager" are usually interchangeable terms for the person who
plans the big picture of the artist's career ("Where do you want to be in
five years?") and manages the day-to-day responsibilities of the artist's
business life. A manager is the artist's representative and handles
relations with the label, talent agency, touring personnel, and anyone else
associated with the artist's business. A manager works closely with the
artist's publicists and stylists to create and maintain the artist's image.
Several people from one management firm may handle different
responsibilities for an artist. A manager who has a long-term contract with
the artist usually earns a commission based on a percentage of the artist's
income.
Depending on the artist's level in the music industry and how hectic the
schedule is, many managers, but not all, also manage aspects of the artist's
personal life such as hiring household staff, finding contractors, hiring
doctors, arranging theatre and concert tickets to see other artists perform,
etc.. Occasionally an artist with a huge entourage will have one manager for
business and a separate personal manager for everything else, but most
artists have a manager and a personal assistant.
The role of a tour manager varies with the level of the artist and size of
the artist's touring party, but the main function of the tour manager is to
manage the artist's day-to-day life on the road while the manager is back
home at the office, and to see that the entourage gets from place to place.
Mid-level and local-level tour managers may also run the artist's soundboard
and/or do the settlement after the show. To maintain a sense of continuity
and familiarity, when not on the road national-level artists sometimes have
the tour manager fill the role of personal assistant. Tour managers are paid
a regular salary, in addition to a per diem while on tour.
The business manager's duties are much simpler to comprehend: A business
manager handles the artist's finances and investments. Business managers for
major artists are CPAs from firms that specialize in the music industry and
are skilled in the complexities of royalty accounting. Types of fee
structures vary depending on the business manager and the level of the
artist. For a major, multimillionaire artist it's common for the business
manager to be paid a commission based on the artist's income.
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