Music Shows

To most artists, 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 seller suit, chomping on a cheap smelly cigar while sliding a gr easy hand unceremoniously into the back pocket of a starving artist. Doubtlessly, 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 an individual 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 worth of an artist manager. Following are 8 reasons why a band or artist needs a good manager:
1. Career Guidance – It’s frequently extremely difficult for artists to step back from the day-to-day activities and see the large picture (you know – the old ‘forest-for-the-trees’ thing). A knowledgeable manager may see how everything in the large picture fits together, and may help the artist navigate through the frequently -confusing maze of activities that seem unrelated yet are all part of a massive jigsaw puzzle. The manager offers career guidance and helps to session the overall game plan for the artist and the artist s’ team to follow.
2. Cheerleading – Even though listeners are the main cheerleaders for an artist, an individual 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 person nel, venue bookers, independent retail accounts, etc., in order to keep them all engaged and enthusiastic.
3. 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 worth present. In fact, most major labels refuse to sign an artist unless they have solid team (manager, attorney and publicist) in place. An artist in the absence of management is just too much drama! Labels would rather deal with an individual who knows how the music business works and may make decisions on a non-emotional basis.
4. Buffer – A manager may act as an effective screening buffer amidst the artist and individuals that want to do business with the artist. This buffer tends to attract legitimate industry players while at the same time scaring away scam artist s. There are no scarier words to a scam artist than “please talk to my manager”.
5. Time management – There simply isn’t enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done in order to further the career of an artist. In amidst 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 artist s, updating band websites and MySpace.com profiles, getting pictures taken, shooting and editing DVD’s and YouTube videos, sending out packages and/or updating EPK’s, researching, repairing and buying 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 get togethers, harass labels for tour support, and so on. Some tasks may be delegated to the band while others may be handled by the manager.
6. Accountability – Part of a manager’s job is to hold individuals accountable. What happens when the financial tour support that has been 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 individuals honest, and that’s most appropriately the manager’s job.
7. Good Cop / Bad Cop – Need to fire the bass player but don’t want to create an enemy? Let the manager performance bad cop and do the firing. Need to re-negotiate your contract and request more of a promotion budget? Let the manager performance good cop and keep a positive spin on the proceedings. There are plenty of opening s when the artist and manager may trade off playing good cop / bad cop.
8. Sounding board – A manager, even though basic ally an “honorary member of the band”, is frequently on the outside looking in. Managers frequently see things diverse ly than the artist, and may frequently offer diverse perspectives, insights and determinations to problems the artist is encountering. Running ideas by a knowledgeable manager prior to making decisions frequently allows for good ideas to become better and bad ideas to be removed altogether from the to-do list.
So, there you’ve 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. a lot of wannabe managers think they may 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 meaningful vary s. New business models are emerging, and only those managers that stay at the leading edge of the learning curve will create successful strategies and offer meaningful counsel to their clients.