This site is a blog for musicians and music industry people. It is a free educational resource and it is also the way I advertise my music consulting services. I am an entertainment professional with deep roots in the music industry. Throughout my music career I have been a major label A&R representative, a music supervisor, an artist manager, a reality show producer, a bass player and the head of a digital record label.
This is the second article in a series of increasingly poorly named articles about how to get a music manager. In the first part of the article I discussed several of the suggested steps one take before looking for a music manager and how many people out there are looking for shortcuts that don’t seem to exist for most of us. If you aren’t looking for a shortcut then please, read on…
If you are beyond the blueprint phase of your career and you have a product that is ready or at least close to being ready to bring to market then it is time to begin asking yourself in very specific terms what you need a music manager to handle for you.
Now I am not looking to offend you dear reader but I’ve seen this movie before and I know how it ends. It is at this point in a conversation when I begin asking about specific management needs that the vast majority of the musicians I speak to respond with something to the effect of: “Well, I just want to make my music and the manager will handle all the business stuff”.
Upon hearing this I do my best to remain calm. Sometimes I roll my head from side to side in an effort to release the tension in my back and neck that has probably been there for a while but the pain is strangely and suddenly much more acute. I usually pause briefly and open my mouth without even thinking because what I am about to say has been said by me almost as often as my own name.
What comes out is a lengthy and well-worn sermon on the way things were in music, the way things have changed and what certain realities are. It usually takes 5-10 minutes and involves a story I heard about how Van Halen didn’t keep their eye on their business dealings and business partners during some of their most successful tours and paid a heavy price. Sometimes I go off on tangents about the pure volume of musical competition out there. All in all it boils down to a flowery and kind way of saying: “Tough shit- that’s not the way this works.”
To find and partner with the right manager is always easier once you have tried managing your career on your own for several months if not years. How the hell else would you know what qualities to look for in the person you want to trust with your career if you don’t have a first hand understanding of the job yourself? This process is the same for any number of entrepreneurial tasks that will present themselves to you when building your own business as a musician. You will be in this situation a great deal:
I am tempted to write, “Welcome to the music business” but frankly the above situation is just life on life’s terms as an entrepreneur. Solving these issues is what being in business for yourself is all about.
So what to do? Make it up as you go along like everyone else does! Be willing to fail. Be the best manager you can be and be willing to admit what you don’t know and ask for help. If you do this long enough the subsequent conversations you have with a potential manager will be much more intelligent. You won’t just say – “I want help booking better gigs and selling music” You will say something much more focused an intelligent and be able to look at an experienced manager’s technique with a knowing eye and be able to make intelligent commentary about what they have done for other artists. OR – you may go the other way. You make take a friend who is really organized, responsible and trustworthy to have them handle many of these tasks for you. There are dozens of successful managers I know who came up this way- because they were friends with the band and at all the shows and could be trusted.
Never forget that great bands make great managers. I will continue this article later in the week but for now I want to leave you with paraphrased examples of two cold emails based on the dozens I have gotten from people seeking me to manage them (a side note – I don’t manage people so bear in mind that research is an important component to all of this).
Cold Email A:
“Hey this is X and I’m a singer &nd I need a manager to take my shit to the next level. If there is money out there let’s u and i get som. I need people to here me.”
Cold Email B:
“Hey Rick,
This is X from the Group Y. I’m not sure exactly how I came by your site but I have read quite a few posts and really appreciate the information you have shared. My Group X is one of the biggest bands in (X’s hometown) and we have been playing to several shows a month usually to crowds of fifty or more people and we have started getting some of the better opening slots to be had here. I am sure you must be busy but could we speak on the phone in the upcoming weeks? I could really use some advice on breaking into a few new markets and getting more placements for our music in film and TV. The band and I feel we have done as much as we know how to do for ourselves at this point. I don’t know if you manage acts or could possibly make some recommendations on potential managers but if you have a few extra minutes I would greatly appreciate your time.
Thanks in advance,
X”
I used to answer every email… Emails of the former kind now get deleted.
I have interviewed several great music managers on this site over the past year. Please check out a list of those interviews here:
To be continued… in part 3
How do I find a music manager? How do I find a booking agent? I just need to find someone to get my music to the next level. I’ve heard these questions and statements before and fifteen or so years ago I sounded exactly like this. As it turns out I wound up on the industry side of the fence and traded in the crowded smelly van for a record company desk job but I do have some answers for you. If you showed up here via Google search chances are you won’t like what I am going to tell you but I implore you to keep reading.
Let’s start at the very beginning – do you have anything to manage?
I know – sounds like a stupid question, but is it? I’m not asking you if you have lots of work that you could use help with, nor am I making light of the pure volume of work that is the creation of both recorded and live music. What I am asking you is do you have something ready to bring to market that needs managing or are you still building out your product?
There is no shame (I’ll repeat it again) NO SHAME in being in the developmental phases of your career. We live in an instant gratification kind of world, which is why when I write articles like this I know statistically that a majority of people won’t have made it this far because they were looking for a “get famous now” button. Take your time and develop your product – this will help you rise above the MILLIONS of other people who went out to guitar center purchased their first instrument and recording gear and had the first song they ever wrote up on MySpace the next day hoping for some kind of miracle won’t ever come.
Back to management – let’s talk about what you should have together before even considering approaching someone to invest in your career. *** Notice I said invest because whether or not they spend a dime on you management is an enormous expenditure of someone’s time***
Before approaching anyone to manage you- have most of these together:
These are the building blocks and the marketing materials you will use over and over and over again. There are no words, no email sales pitch and probably not even naked photos of an executive in compromising positions that will get you taken more seriously than having the items above in place. Many of these items can get pricey so do your homework and shop around if you feel that any of these items are best done by work for hire. Having these materials will get your more gigs, will get you taken more seriously by your peers and potential fans and ultimately (if you have a product people want) will help you build a business in music.
“Okay – wait – isn’t this super basic? Does he think we are Idiots?”
No, absolutely not. But I can tell you that statistically aspiring musicians are looking at the wrong things to get ahead. Check out what people search for online for music related terms according to a Google AdWords querry in June 2010:
Term: “Get My Music Heard Online”
Global Monthly Searches: > 10
Term: “Get more people to my shows”
Global Monthly Searches: > 10
Term: “Make a Living In Music”
Global Monthly Searches: 46
Term: “Marketing My Music”
Global Monthly Searches: 110
Term: “Get a Music Manager”
Global Monthly Searches: 590
Term: “How to Get A Record Deal”
Global Monthly Searches: 18,100
Draw your own conclusions but I think too many people are looking for a shortcut to fame that barring an act of God or Justin Bieber just doesn’t exist.
I will be back with the subsequent portion(s) of this increasingly poorly named article early next week and I will actually get up to the part where you approach someone and what you should discuss.
In the meantime do a search under “manager” in the search bar at the top right of the blog – There will be lots of fun interviews with very experienced music managers.
…Or continue to part 2 now.
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