by Maria & Michal Parzuchowski

ARTIST MANAGEMENT – 8 Reasons Why a Band or Artist Needs a Manager

Article by Jeremy W Rwakaara

To most musicians, the enduring image of an artist manager is a caricature of a heavy-set, unkempt slob of a man, stuffed into a 2-sizes-too-small, off-the-rack department store suit, chomping on a cheap smelly cigar while sliding a greasy hand unceremoniously into the back pocket of a starving artist. Surely, somewhere in the vast landscape of the music universe, such malice exists. The vast majority of artist managers, however, are a motley collection of well-meaning, hardworking, selfless individuals struggling to make the dreams of someone they believe in come true.For the legion of dedicated unbelievers out there, this is an article that attempts to shed light on the true value of an artist manager. Following are 8 reasons why a band or artist needs a good manager:

Career Guidance – It’s often extremely difficult for artists to step back from the day-to-day activities and see the big picture (you know – the old ‘forest-for-the-trees’ thing). A knowledgeable manager can see how everything in the big picture fits together, and can help the artist navigate through the often-confusing maze of activities that seem unrelated yet are all part of a massive jigsaw puzzle. The manager provides career guidance and helps to set the overall game plan for the artist and the artists’ team to follow.Cheerleading – Even though fans are the main cheerleaders for an artist, someone has to communicate the same enthusiasm to the music business community. An artist manager will trumpet the artist’s message to record labels, booking agents, promoters, media personnel, club bookers, independent retail accounts, etc., in order to keep them all engaged and enthusiastic.Prestige – According to most record industry professionals, there is something to be said about an artist that has a manager. The logic is that if an artist is good enough to attract management, there must be something of value present. In fact, most major labels refuse to sign an artist unless they have solid team (manager, attorney and publicist) in place. An artist without management is just too much drama! Labels would rather deal with someone who knows how the music business works and can make decisions on a non-emotional basis.Buffer – A manager can act as an effective screening buffer between the artist and people that want to do business with the artist. This buffer tends to attract legitimate industry players while at the same time scaring away scam artists. There are no scarier words to a scam artist than “please talk to my manager”.Time management – There simply is not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done in order to further the career of an artist. In between writing songs, conducting interviews, designing artwork for CD’s and merchandise, managing a mailing list, filling out copyright paperwork, rehearsing with the band, hiring and firing musicians, updating band websites and MySpace profiles, getting pictures taken, shooting and editing DVD’s and YouTube videos, sending out packages and/or updating EPK’s, researching, repairing and purchasing equipment, etc., there isn’t time to also craft a master game plan, solicit potential sponsorship partners, handle licensing requests, reach out to industry gatekeepers, attend industry networking events, harass labels for tour support, and so on. Some tasks can be delegated to the band while others can be handled by the manager.Accountability – Part of a manager’s job is to hold people accountable. What happens when the financial tour support that was promised by the label fails to materialize? Or the check from the booking agent bounces? Or the FOH engineer at the show is MIA? Or the licensee fails to sign and return the contract but is using the artist’s songs anyway? Or the beer in the tour van vanishes? Somebody has to keep people honest, and that is most appropriately the manager’s job.Good Cop / Bad Cop – Need to fire the bass player but don’t want to create an enemy? Let the manager play bad cop and do the firing. Need to re-negotiate your contract and request more of a promotion budget? Let the manager play good cop and keep a positive spin on the proceedings. There are plenty of occasions when the artist and manager can trade off playing good cop / bad cop.Sounding board – A manager, even though basically an “honorary member of the band”, is frequently on the outside looking in. Managers usually see things differently than the artist, and can often provide different perspectives, insights and solutions to problems the artist is encountering. Running ideas by a knowledgeable manager prior to making decisions often allows for good ideas to become better and bad ideas to be removed altogether from the to-do list.So, there you have it! 8 good reasons why an artist needs a manager. Having said all this, however, it is important to note that having a bad manager is worse than having no manager at all. Many wannabe managers think they can just “wing-it” with an artist, and continue to operate with the “lets-record-a-3-song-demo-and-shop-it-for-a-record-deal” mentality, even though the music industry continues to undergo significant changes. New business models are emerging, and only those managers that stay at the leading edge of the learning curve will create successful strategies and provide meaningful counsel to their clients.Copyright 2007 Jeremy RwakaaraNeed access to music business articles, insider interviews from industry players, informative music articles and an artist management directory? The Artist Management Resource serves as a central point of information and resources for both Artist Managers and Self-Managed Artists.About the Author

Jeremy Rwakaara is a music industry veteran with extensive experience in the capacity of artist manager, record label executive, record producer, recording engineer, publisher, song writer, and musician.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

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The Artist Manager – Finding Representation From Artist Supervisor For Your Music

I just watched ten minutes of an 18 minute video clip blog from an artist who is searching for a personal (music) manager. He says he hasn’t gotten ahead like he really should because he has not had a supervisor- and this long term manager wants to make him a precedence consumer, yet he doesn’t say something about his very own achievement or what he is undertaking that requirements management.  I turned it off. I had heard it all before.

Weekly, I get up to twenty myspace buddy add-requests from artists who say “I want a supervisor. Pay attention to my music.

” I hit “deny” practically each time. I meet artists all the time who want a manager, simply because they want the manager to “take us to the next level” or “hook me up with labels” or “get me shows.” They all are singing the exact same tune.

Artists – if you look for a manager and don’t totally comprehend artist management, are not sure what your wants are and don’t know how to go about correctly introducing yourself to a potential manager, this write-up is for you.

ARTIST MANAGEMENT

Unbelievably, many artists who look for management actually have no idea what it is. They just know that the supervisor is their ticket to larger success. Managers guild the artist in the direction of accomplishing their established ambitions. Managers are an integral component in obtaining new ways for an artist to successfully compete in the marketplace. The artist supervisor is involved in establishing, marketing and sustaining the artist’s occupation in conjunction with the efforts of the artist. But managers do this their own way – there is no marketplace standard.

QUALIFYING

The 1st step is qualifying oneself (the artist). Qualifying by yourself implies sizing your (music artist) self up. What are your accomplishments? Have you finished a demo, which includes mixing and mastering and manufacturing it or are you in the first levels of recording? Have you been executing well? Have you sold songs on iTunes or had radio play? Do you have a buzz with press? What is noteworthy about you?

Do not begin bragging you are the hottest, best so&so to hit the streets… To managers that signifies practically nothing, if you have practically nothing concrete to back again it up with. You require actual, measurable progress that we can back up. There really should be some momentum to your profession, before you seek out management. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be wildly profitable , but you need to be ready to articulate what you have accomplished in your occupation so far and also be ready to state what ambitions you have for your occupation development and advancement.

 Right after you qualify by yourself, you also need to qualify the manager you seek out. Just obtaining “a manager” really should not be the objective. Managers tend to be better in specific regions, and most operate inside a particular genre.

Check out who fellow artists are represented by. Study these managers. Do they have excellent reputations? If so, ask for a meeting with them explaining your achievement and why you look for representation from this specific manager. There are several excellent managers out there, but there are unqualified, unprofessional managers as well. Figuring out who you are pursuing is a crucial 1st step.

Desires

When you did your self-analyzation, you ought to have recognized your strengths and your weaknesses. It will be essential for you to be ready to articulate what demands you have beyond your wish to get to “the following level.”

Managers have diverse strengths (some have wonderful expertise establishing an act, some have marketplace “ears” and can help you choose a tune, and some have strengths in touring, etc.) By identifying what you need to have, you can get nearer to obtaining a supervisor who is the proper fit.

Quite a few hungry artists feel their accomplishment rests in some manager’s rolodex and they seek out this man or woman out for one reason only- to get access to the manager’s connections in the organization. A great manager will, in truth, have a massive checklist of qualified experts. But as managers, we guard these contacts like treasured gems. The manager need to have a powerful belief in the artist’s long run achievement prior to he/she setting up conferences and engage their colleagues about you.

A much better focus for you is to get started with self-management or have a pal assist you in the company parts of your profession. Operate on your artistry and your recognition (followers on the net and offline). Seasoned managers have their eyes and ears open to who’s up and coming and if you are producing a lot of buzz (selling out shows, selling CDs independently, 1000’s of hits on YouTube, and many others signs). That supervisor will locate you.

Another option is to seek out a management consultation which will allow you to tip-toe into a working relationship with the manager. Sometimes managers will be prepared to talk to you on a challenge-by-undertaking basis and that way you have some organization help why you audition for the supervisor and they audition for you to see if it’s a correct match.

RECIPROCAL

The best management – business relationship is built on trust and respect. If the manager truly believes in the artist’s talent and the artist totally trusts the advice of the manager, it can be a really gratifying business relationship. The two parties ought to function equally well.

Recall, managers are paid a commission of the artist’s income. So, if you have no earnings coming in consider this option, spend for the manager’s time in a another way (like hourly or by the mission), until eventually some earnings are produced. Make that be the initial benchmark, for you each to obtain together, to discover earnings streams for the artist and their music.

So to recap:

• Determine your strengths & weaknesses and qualify your self.
• Be able to articulate who you are and what good results you have had.
• Discover what artist managers do.
• Think about self-management whilst you construct your fan base.
• Have something to handle just before approaching a manager! Determine what your requirements are.
• Study managers and find those that perform in your genre of music and have great reputations.
• Build trust and respect with the manager before demanding they open their rolodex, and sey up with a honest way to pay the supervisor for their work.

These handful of factors will set you apart from the zillion other artists out there aimlessly reaching out to “a manager” in cyberspace. And hopefully aid you in finding a mutually gratifying relationship to build your profession. More info of Music Artist Management

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