It is so unfortunate to discover that lots of musical artists embark on handling every affair of their musical career, even when they know they lack the needed experience and connections that will propel them to become successful.
And suddenly, when their musical career begins to head in the right direction, they lose lots of opportunities that would have triggered their landmark success.
In this article, therefore, I want to take the time to show you why music artists need managers, and if you are one of those musical artists that always frown upon the idea of getting a music manager, you are definitely going to have a change of mind after learning the facts am going to teach here.
So without much waste of time, let us dive straight into this article.
Why do music artists need managers?
Music artists need managers to oversee the business aspect of their musical career and in so doing allow them to focus on being more creative by way of composing and recording good musical tracks that will make them relevant in the music industry.
I always like to remind musical artists that music is business and if you don’t have a business mindset, it is going to be very difficult to succeed in the music industry.
Even if your goal is to join a record label or sign a record deal, you need to prove to record label executives that they will never run into any issues, like the bridging of a contract; after they let you in their circle.
As a matter of fact, record labels are smart enough to spot musical artists who are not business minded when it comes to their music.
Now, there are so many activities that are expected to go in your musical career and some of them are:
- Music Composition
- Studio sessions for recording.
- Shooting musical videos
- Music promotion, distribution, and marketing.
- Shows.
- Tours.
- Record deal/contract.
- Endorsement by brands etc.
Now considering the fact that all these activities need expertise and experience and there is no way you can be vested in them all, you need to therefore look for someone who is going to stand in for you, and in music, we call that person a music manager.
Now let’s move on from here to see when you can hire a music manager as an artist.
When does an artist need a music manager?
An artist needs a music manager at the very start of their musical career because while starting out they lack the connections and experience that will enable them to make the right move toward achieving rapid success in the music industry.
For instance, when I started my own musical career, the very first step to failure was the recording studio that spoiled my song. And even the second studio I also went to re-record the track was still unable to give me that high-quality music recording that every artist is expected to have.
And today I realized that if I had a music manager, he would have helped me to secure the best recording studio that would have produced, mixed, and mastered my music appropriately.
This is why I disagree with music advisers who advise artists not to hire music managers at the start-up phase of their musical career but instead put more effort into ensuring their musical career is becoming partly successful and greater opportunities are beginning to open up for them.
So based on my own personal experience, I recommendartists to get music managers at the very start of their career.
The only challenge is that lots of music managers are unwilling to work with artists who are just starting out. But if you can prove how talented and business conscious you are, there is no music manager that will let you slip by.
The duties of a music manager.
Generally speaking, the duty of a music manager is to stand in for the artists in several aspects and considering the fact that we have different types of music managers and an artists can choose to hire them based on that, below is the breakdown of certain duties of a music manager:
- A financial music manager will help an artists on budgeting, spending as well as investing the money he is making from his music career.
- A production and technical music manager will assist in the studio recording and perfecting of every track recorded ny an artists.
- It is the duty of the public relations and marketing music manager to publicize an artists and make his music available everywhere for consumption.
- The music distribution and licensing manager will ensure every song released by an artists is available on streaming stores and the revenues are being collected appropriately anywhere the music is being streamed.
- The bookings and tours manager will oversee arrangement of live performances and tours for the musical artists.
- In this digital age where artists are getting endorsements by companies and brands, it is also the duties of a music manager to arrange as well as help the artists sign every endorsement deals.
- In the case where an artist is signed to a record label, it is also the duty of a music manager to negotiate, collect and legalize every contracts and entitlements paid by the record label to the artists.
The relationship between a music artist and manager.
The relationship between a music artist and manager is strictly business considering the fact that a music manager stands to gain from every proceeds or cashflow coming in for the artists.
As a matter of fact, music managers charge artists around 15% to 20% of every income that comes in from every deal they were able to initiate and negotiate successfully.
So while working with an artists, a music manager is expected to devise every strategies that will keep the artists well paid in the hope that he will go home with his percentage cut at the end of the day.
And to this end, if the music manager fails to go out there and bring the deals, shows, endorsements etc that will keep the artist getting paid, he himself is also going to end up very broke.
