How A Music Artist Manager Can Help You, The Artist
If you're an independent music artist and you're looking to progress your career to the next level, then you may be seriously considering working with an artist manager to help you achieve this.
If this is the case, then it's not something I would rush into because it's really important to find a manager that you have a good rapport with and that is genuinely passionate about your music. It would be wise to work with a manager that has got a good reputation and relevant experience as you want to feel secure in the fact that they've got your best interests at heart and know what they're doing!
In this blog we're going to be looking at how a music artist manager can help you, the artist, and talk about some specific areas of a manager's job role which can really help you progress as a music artist.
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Music Industry Contacts:
One of the most important things a good music manager will possess is a contact book of music industry professionals. Having this resource at your disposal can be an instant game changer. You might be an amazing new music artist but struggle to get heard in the current oversaturated music market without any industry contacts. Of course, you can start networking at industry events but it takes time to build relationships and trust with these professionals. If you start working with a good artist manager, they will already have relationships and trust established in the industry which can save you a lot of time and let you focus on what you do best, making music!
They might have contacts in record labels, live music venues and know certain promoters and producers to name a few. Naturally, this depends on their level of experience which is why working with a more established music manager will usually be more lucrative.
They Succeed If You Succeed:
The standard way you will pay a manager for their services is through a percentage of your earnings. Of course, the percentage you share with them will differ depending on the manager but the most common split is 15-20% to the manager.
Therefore, if you create a deal with an artist manager the amount of money they receive will be based on how much you get as the artist. So, it is in their best interest to make you as successful as possible because in turn, their reputation and financial situation will get better with yours.
A Good Artist Manager Will Negotiate Better Record Deals For You:
If you're looking to get signed to a record label, a good artist manager can be priceless because they will negotiate the best deal possible for you.
To explain exactly what I mean, I'm going to talk through a 'real world' example.
A few years ago, I was talking to a very successful artist manager who talked about his experience in negotiating a record deal for some new artists. The way he explained it always stuck with me and helped understand the process a lot better.
The new artists he was representing were quite inexperienced in the music business, but they had created a piece of music that this manager knew would be a hit. Due to their inexperience, they jumped at the chance of signing the record deal without really understanding the terms. This is where the manager stepped in and helped them out greatly.
He basically told the record label to get lost, but in less polite terms. He said although he may have appeared rude, he knew that the record label would come back with something better because the song was a hit.
After the negotiations, he came back to the artists with a much better deal. Instead of the label owning the rights to the music outright, they would lease them for a period of ten years and if the label wanted to renew that lease after that time, they would have to pay a very large amount of money.
This is a great example of where good and experienced managers can really help the artists they represent, especially if the artists don't have much experience of the industry.
They Will Take Care Of The Logistics So You Can Focus On Your Music:
As I mentioned before, a great reason for having an artist manager is so that you can focus on making music, whilst they deal with the business side of things.
Apart from negotiating record deals, they will work to find you shows to play at, potential sponsors and many other aspects of the music business to help further your career as a music artist.
Conclusion:
The more your career as a music artist progresses, the more likely that you'll benefit from having an artist manager to boost your career even further.
Like I said before, it's best to take your time finding the most suitable manager for you as an individual and assessing the pros and cons of having a manager and whether you feel it's the right time to get one. Like with anything, it's about finding the right balance!
