To most musicians, the enduring image of an artist manager may be a caricature of a serious-set, unkempt slob of a person, stuffed into a 2-sizes-too-little, off-the-rack department store suit, chomping on a low-cost smelly cigar whereas sliding a greasy hand unceremoniously into the back pocket of a starving artist. Surely, somewhere within the vast landscape of the music universe, such malice exists. The vast majority of artist managers, but, are a motley collection of well-meaning, hardworking, selfless people struggling to form the dreams of someone they believe in come back true.
For the legion of dedicated unbelievers out there, this will be a piece that attempts to shed lightweight on the true value of an artist manager. Following are eight reasons why a band or artist needs a sensible manager:
1. Career Guidance - It's often extremely difficult for artists to step back from the day-to-day activities and see the massive image (you recognize - the previous 'forest-for-the-trees' factor). A knowledgeable manager can see how everything in the large image fits together, and can facilitate the artist navigate through the customarily-confusing maze of activities that seem unrelated nonetheless are all half of a huge jigsaw puzzle. The manager provides career guidance and helps to set the game set up for the artist and the artists' team to follow.
2. Cheerleading - While 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, freelance retail accounts, etc., in order to stay all engaged and enthusiastic.
3. Prestige - Consistent with most record trade professionals, there is something to be said concerning an artist that options a manager. The logic is that if an artist is nice enough to draw in management, there must be something of value present. After all, most major labels refuse to sign an artist unless they need solid team (manager, attorney and publicist) in place. An artist without management is just too much drama! Labels would rather cater to someone who knows how the music business works and can build selections on a non-emotional basis.
4. Buffer - A manager can act as an efficient screening buffer between the artist and folks that want to try to to business with the artist. This buffer tends to draw in legitimate trade players whereas at the identical time scaring away scam artists. There are no scarier words to a scam artist than "please speak to my manager".
5. Time management - There simply is not enough time within the day to attempt and do everything that must be done in order to any the career of an artist. In between writing songs, conducting interviews, designing design 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, obtaining footage 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 arrange, solicit potential sponsorship partners, handle licensing requests, reach out to industry gatekeepers, attend trade networking events, harass labels for tour support, and therefore on. Some tasks can be delegated to the band whereas others can be handled by the manager.
6. Accountability - Part of a manager's job is to carry individuals accountable. What happens when the monetary 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 within the tour van vanishes? Somebody has to stay folks honest, and that is most appropriately the manager's job.
7. Smart Cop / Unhealthy Cop - Want to fireplace the bass player but do not need to create an enemy? Let the manager play dangerous cop and do the firing. Would like to re-negotiate your contract and request additional of a promotion budget? Let the manager play smart cop and keep a positive spin on the proceedings. There are plenty of occasions when the artist and manager will trade off enjoying sensible cop / dangerous cop.
8. Sounding board - A manager, although essentially an "honorary member of the band", is often on the outside looking in. Managers sometimes see things differently than the artist, and can often provide completely different perspectives, insights and solutions to issues the artist is encountering. Running ideas by a knowledgeable manager previous to creating decisions often allows for sensible ideas to become higher and unhealthy ideas to be removed altogether from the to-do list.
So, there you have it! 8 sensible reasons why an artist wants a manager. Having said all this, but, it is necessary to note that having a unhealthy manager is worse than having no manager at all. Several wannabe managers suppose they'll simply "wing-it" with an artist, and continue to operate with the "lets-record-a-three-song-demo-and-look-it-for-a-record-deal" mentality, while the music business continues to undergo important changes. New business models are emerging, and only those managers that keep at the forefront of the educational curve can create successful methods and give meaningful counsel to their clients.
Author Resource:-
Bob has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in management,you can also check out his latest website about:
Brats Dolls which reviews and lists the best
Bratz Dolls Girl
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