What Makes a Good Manager in the Music Industry – do not publish
When it comes to music, following the artist is an important area. We follow the song to begin with. We follow the money of the song. And now we’re going to follow the artist. And what is there to follow, you may ask?
I can’t tell you the number of times an artist comes into my office, comes to talk to me about management or comes in looking for an opportunity and they’re talking about their team. They’ve got their lawyer, their manager, their agent, their publicist, their digital marketing, all of these things. And what I’ll say is, “That’s great. Now, where’s the music?”
We’re going to talk about the right time to find those people to help you out in your career. And we’re also going to talk about what those people do and how they surround the artist. I like to call the artist the orbit because if you think about the globe, and you think about the artists in the middle of that globe, all of the people that are satellites around that globe are the people in the artist’s orbit and the people who are responsible for different areas of the artist’s career. Hopefully, you add those people at the time when you actually need them, as opposed to collecting people’s work for you when there really isn’t anything to do.
First and foremost, the most important member of that team is ultimately the artist’s manager. Now a lot of you are probably wondering how you can know when you’re supposed to get a manager. The answer is you get a manager when you realize that you no longer have time to manage all of the things that are happening in your career. That’s the time to get a manager and not before. If you can do it yourself, then you should do it yourself. If you can’t do it yourself, it’s time to get a manager.
That means when you’re generating income, when you have shows, you have opportunities, when income is coming in and you actually have something to manage. Many artists make the mistake of putting the cart before the horse and getting a manager when there’s nothing really to manage. Once you know you need a manager, the next question is how do you know who the right manager is for you?
In my estimation, the right manager is the most experienced person, and the one who’s the most excited about what you can do and get. In a nutshell, when you have something going on, managers will come to you. When you have nothing going on and there’s nothing to manage, you’ll have a very difficult time getting a manager.
Ultimately, the most important person in your deal is your manager. This is because he or she is the go-between for you and the label. It needs to be a manager who really understands the music business. The manager is the person who wants to turn the artist’s career into ten times more than what they actually have seen. The manager is the one who’s going to be the go-between, the liaison who makes everything run smoothly between the artist and the label, or the artist and Spotify, or the artist and title, or just the artist and everybody.
The artist should be truly focused on making great music. The manager should never want to do that. The manager should just be thinking that they want this artist to be the biggest thing going on in the world and that they’re going to do whatever they can to make that happen. If, as the artist, you don’t believe that someone is going to be that person for you, then that means it’s time to find a new manager. What it ultimately comes down to is that the manager needs to believe in the artist. If they don’t, then they’re just somebody looking for money, and as the artist, you’re going to get screwed.
Online music education is a wonderful way to learn more about what makes a good manager, how to find one, and many more great lessons on finding success in the music industry. And what could be better than a quality music education from the comfort of your own home?