I have spoken a lot about how important a manger is for an artist’s career. How the right manger can be the difference between succeeding or failing as an artist. (by failing I mean not reaching the height you possibly could have) As I have said many times before, top level A&Rs and label personnel have stated that if a specific manager is working with or representing an artist, it doesn’t matter how good the artist is, it doesn’t matter the potential the artist has, it doesn’t matter how good the music is, the A&R and/or label will not work with (or sometimes even speak with) the artist due to the manger. The manger is supposed to be a benefit to the artist not a hinderance.
So, what constitutes a good manager? As I have stated during past articles, and especially in the series, “The process of becoming an artist,” a manger is responsible for many different aspects of the artists career, and a “good” manager is a relative term, as each artist will have different criteria to what they consider a good manager form a bad manger. (however for the most part it is easy to distinguish between a good and a bad manager) Just as I touched on in my last article, “How to be a good A&R,” some of the same principles apply to begin a good manager, just in different aspects of the artist’s career. Where an A&R is the lifeline of the artist as it pertains to their music and the middle man between them and the label, the manager is responsible for everything else. As a manger you should be assisting the artist in scheduling shows, obtaining brand associations, booking tv/film appearances, booking media appearances, and booking different promotional events. (among many other things)
With all that being said, let’s begin at the very beginning of the artist’s career. (at this point more than likely the artist will have a manager but not necessarily an A&R) At this point the manager is going to act as both the manager and the A&R. As the manager (at this point in the artist’s career) you are responsible for marketing and promoting the artist. Most of this work will come on social media platforms (take a look at some of my previous articles and how to effectively promote music and artists on social media to get a better sense on the different techniques that work on the different social media platforms) however at the same time you will need to do street promotion as well. (although to some extent street promotion is not as important until you begin doing live shows and public events) Starting with social media, you as the manger will be the one assisting the artist in how, what and when to post. Pertaining to Instagram, you should have your artist create story posts promoting them working in the studio, showing their daily activities, and promoting their music. The artist feed should only show pictures and videos that pertain to the artist brand and image. Their feed should tell a story and show a narrative. Who the artist is and what they are trying to portray in their music and brand should be incredibly clear on their feed. As soon as you open their page, the audience should immediately know who the artist is, what their brand is and the story and narrative behind the artist. As it pertains to street marketing and promotion, you as the manger should be having the artist appear at local gatherings, events and shows that contain an audience you are trying to capture with the artists’ brand and music. Clubs, bars, smaller shows, local festivals, music events, conferences are all different places you should be taking your artist to gain exposure and make connections. I will say that for certain conferences, you as the manger should attend, but it may not always be necessary for the artist to come with you. It can never hurt for the artist to be at as many places as possible to make as many connections as possible, but in some cases there are places more fit for a manager than an artist. Lastly, for this point in the artists’ career, you as the manger should be booking them live local shows and radio appearances if possible. For live shows, you may not always be able to get paying gigs, but showcases, open mics, openers and talent shows are never a bad idea. For one, they can be great experience and practice to construct a cohesive live show. (although the artist and who they are performing with should be rehearsing before doing any live performances, read my article on rehearsing to understand why) Second, it is a great way to gain local exposure, and a good performance could come further opportunities to perform and pave the way to paying gigs. As for radio, it may not be easy to get your artist’s songs played on radio and/or make appearances on radio. However, there are a vast amount of internet radio stations, college radio stations and small local radio broadcasts that you maybe able to get your artist featured on. (even if it is for a small fee, any promotion is good promotion)
Moving to the next phase of the artist career, as the artist begins to become more established, your job as a manger expands. With more popular songs (coming form the above mentioned promotion) you can now reach out to Spotify playlists. (you can do this as soon as any song is released, but in most cases, if the artist has no following or a small one with little to no traction on the songs you are pitching, you will have to pay for playlist placement) With a buzz around certain songs, playlist curators will be more willing to place your song on their playlist and as the song generates plays on the playlist the song will move up in the placement of the playlist. (again you can also pay for placements and positioning, but depending on the popularity of the playlist and which position you would like your song to be at along with how long you would like your song to be featured on the playlist, will depend on the price you have to pay, the more popular the playlist and the higher placement you want on the playlist, the higher the price point) At this time, you as the manger should be attempting to book more regular and consistent shows for your artist. Have them on a “touring” scheduling, meaning that you have set times and dates that they are performing. (this doesn’t mean that the shows have to regional, national or international, as all of these will come later on down the road, but for local or sate wide shows, you should have your artist perform on some sort of schedule, remember to always be promoting when and where your artist is performing or are going to be, so their fans can attend) Be sure the artist is rehearsing for these live shows, as the better the performance the more notice they will attract, simply because a new act with a great live show will captivate the audience, possibly turning a non-fan into a fan of the artist. With a larger catalog of music, you can now begin reaching out to A&Rs and sync houses to get your artist’s songs placed either with major artists as a writer, (that will then appear on that artists album) or in tv/film. I will tell you now, from personal experience, be prepared to get a lot of rejection. (or sometimes no answer at all) You will send songs to hundreds of people and most of them will not respond, some of them will let you know they received the songs but you will never hear back, and in rare cases you will get feed back on the songs you sent. Don’t get discouraged, it is going to take time to establish your name as a manager and your artist’s name, but all it takes is one placement, and you are off to the races.
Now that you have got your artist a local following, and the artist has a strong online following, it is time to reach out and partner with different brands. This is similar to sending music to A&Rs and sync houses. It is a lot of non-responses and/or rejection, but if you have got your artist popularity to a certain point, (meaning at least 50,000 followers, but generally more around the 75,000-100,000 mark) at least one brand will say yes. For me, it took months of contacting numerous brands before getting one to agree to sponsor one of the artists I work with, and even more months after that to get them a paid sponsorship. Make sure that the brands you are reaching out to are the right image and on brand with who your artist is and the look you are going for. There is no point in partnering with a brand that has nothing to do with your artist. Why would you try and partner with a liquor company if your artist doesn’t drink? This will not only hurt the integrity of your artist and their brand, but will confuse the audience when they look at the artist page and see them partnering and sponsoring a brand that is completely different from everything else they are doing. You wouldn’t see Eminem or Dr.Dre doing a partnership with Bose headphones would you? Branding is extremely important. Every single major popular artist you see has a distinct brand that is easily identifiable. For Snoop and Wiz it’s smoking and weed. Chris Brown is graffiti and colorful. Rick Ross is the beard, no shirt, being a boss. Jay-Z is iconic, business man. Each of these (along with every other) you know right off the bat, as soon as you see them or a picture of them. There is no doubt what their brand is and who they are. Create this same type of narrative for your artist. It is your job as the manager to ensure your artist looks like a star. The artist should tell you what their style is and what they feel comfortable in, but in the end it is your job to make sure you create a brand and image for them that cohesively fits with their personality and music style. They are creating the music, but you are creating the brand. This means sonically, image and ethics all have to be one in the same to tell the complete narrative of them as an artist. Every great manager has been the mastermind behind the style and image of a popular artist. Not one popular artist, (with the exception of very few) came out of the gate with their branding and image the way you see them now. It took months and sometimes years of development between the A&R, manager and artist to create the look, image, brand, music style, and music sound you hear and see today.
As a manager it is your responsibility to cultivate the relationships both for yourself and your artist that are or will become mutually beneficial. Creating relationships with industry personnel, brands, radio DJs, social media influencers, show and club promoters, playlist curators and blog writers are all essential in the cultivation of your artist’s career. Industry personnel (sync houses, A&Rs, labels, etc.) are obviously important, but why? Other than because these are the people responsible for signing your artist down the road, these relationships can introduce you to the right people and put in you meetings with the correct people to further you and your artists career before the deal signing happens. They can link you up with producers, writers, studios, promoters, radio stations, and much more that you would not have access to otherwise. (at least at this point, it would take exponentially longer to cultivate these relationships on your own) Playlist curators, as I mentioned above will get your song more plays on streaming platforms, where blog writers will promote those playlist plays, write reviews and conduct interviews of your artist at different points in their career. Social media influencers will promote the artists music to their hundreds of thousands or millions of followers, telling them to check out this artist and listen to this song. Promoters hold the keys for your artist to get booked for live performances. These promoters can get your artist into different clubs and sections that normally wouldn’t be accessible, because to the mass majority of the public, your artist isn’t popular enough yet to warrant this type of attention and treatment. The show promoters can place you in a better performance position (sometimes even as the headliner) meaning that your artist can get paid for doing the show (instead of paying to perform) and have a larger crowd to perform to. Cultivating these types of relationships is tantamount to your artist succeeding in their career. As much of a cliche as it is, the music business is, “All about who you know, not what you know.” The more connections you have, and the better relationship you have with these connections, the more avenues you can open to your artist. LinkedIn is your best friend. This platform gives you the opportunity to connect with any and all types of industry personnel that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to contact and/or speak to. Everyone from independent A&Rs to label heads and Vice Presidents, are all at your disposal by the push of a button. Speaking with an A&R or manager to the point where they will accept your artist’s music is what you are striving for. All it takes is one persons to take an interest in your artist and like their music to get you and your artist in the right room with the right people. This relationship could make the difference in your artist getting, “Their big break,” as opposed to staying as an underground unknown act.
Lastly, keep your artist on point. Don’t be a yes man, be the person that is going to tell them what they need to do and guide them in the right direction. As they grow as an artist, and grow in popularity, trust me, there will be more than enough yes men around them just so they can reap the benefits of the artists’ fame and fortune. You as the manager need to be the voice of reason. Keep them on track, on schedule and keep them working to their goal and beyond. Is there a studio session set up for 8pm on Tuesday, then make sure the artist is at that studio at 7:45. Do they have a show an hour away at 7pm on Friday, then you better leave at 3 in the afternoon to beat rush hour traffic and get to the venue on time. Is there a deadline for the artist to turn in music, release music or create and post something for a sponsor? You better ensure that that song is done, everything promotional aspect of that song is in place, all the graphics are done, and that sponsored post is done and ready to go and be posted. Any tiny slip up can be the difference between establishing a lasting relationship and having the company cut ties before it even begins. An example I have used many times in previous articles but will continue to use because of the significance it has is, Big Pun got his record deal without ever playing a single note of a track in his label meeting. Why? Because he showed up early to the meeting. Being a manager goes well past being able to assist the artist in their music. Being a manger means that you are held responsible for the artist, how the artist behaves, how the artist acts and how they are presented to the public. Granted, they are their own person and you can only do so much because any individual will do what they want, but at least as it pertains to them as an artist, it is your responsibility to take care of them in every way possible. This doesn’t mean coddle them, this doesn’t mean make excuses for them, you are not their parent and if they fuck up you have to tell them so. However, at the same time, you have to make sure physically, mentally, musically, and emotionally they are consistent and prepared for any and everything that comes with being an artist. Remember the artist is the front person, the main attraction, they will for the most part always get the benefit of the doubt. If something in their career isn’t working, the first person they (and possibly the label) will look at as the problem is you as the manager. In the same token, if the artist is always on point, on time, and soaring to new heights (where they will again get all of the recognition because they are the artist) the manager will be looked as always putting them in the right places and the right positions to succeed.
Being a manger for an artist isn’t easy, but being a good manager is. Yes, it will be difficult at times to deal with your artist and their demands, because we all know sometimes their expectations are unrealistic, but staying the course and getting your artist in the right places with the right people is all that matters. You as the manger have to keep the expectations of the artist at a level that makes sense. Keep them level headed and keep them on the right road. Set achievable goals for them, create relationships that are beneficial, guide them in their career and keep them away from destruction and destructive people and your job as a manager will be achieved.
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