Who is a Music Manager?
A ‘manager’ should be an individual or company that will
take you under their protective wing and develop you as the best artist you can
possibly be. A ‘manager’ should make the right introductions to Co-writers,
Producers, Stylist’s, Record companies and Music Publishers and negotiate the
best ‘deal’ for you in each area.
A ‘manager’ should negotiate the terms of your Recording
Agreement so that they pay the best possible return on Mechanical Royalties.
The ‘manager’ should have a clear understanding of the Music Industry and
should have contacts that will enhance you through your journey in the Music
Industry. Some ‘managers’ are specific in their knowledge and skills and may
from time to time bring in third party contacts to handle specific areas of the
artists career. For example a ‘Tour Manager’, someone who specialises in your
protection and scheduling for any ‘live’ work you are hired to perform. This
could be International as well as domestic, so a good ‘Tour Manager’ will have
knowledge and experience in travel requirements; VISA’s, Plane Tickets, Hotel
Reservations, Transport, Security. Successful ‘managers’ will quite often have
numerous clients and cannot attend every event their individual clients are
booked for.
An integral part of the music ‘managers’ role is to
remain ahead of the client’s needs when dealing with labels, publishers,
promoters, advertising etc. You as the artist may be signed to a Major record
company and therefore may not always be their main focus of attention.
It is the ‘managers’ role to chase record company
executives to promote their artists internally to key markets across the globe.
A ‘manager’ must make its client the single most important artist in existence
to the record company, to its A+R department, its Promotions department, its
Distribution department. All these areas must be monitored if the artists
release is to be a success. The ‘manager’ must deal with the music publishers
ensuring that songs are being tracked for airplay, licensing for compilations,
synchronisation rights, which territories are broadcasting the song? The
‘manager’ must negotiate publishing advances (monies given to the composer in
advance of royalties generated from airplay, licensing, sync licenses).
A successful ‘manager’ will negotiate the best terms for
its artist/composer ensuring that the terms of the agreement are in the best
possible favour of the composer regarding copyright retention, composer/publisher
percentages, exploitation of copyrights, indeed to make sure that every
possible avenue of potential royalty earnings is exploited.
A successful ‘manager’ will protect the rights of its
artist/composer at all times and in all areas of exploitation, from signing the
artist to their management company, to negotiating the best possible terms and
conditions for recording and publishing deals. They will also build a team of
people around the artist who will each use their skills in each of their
specialist areas to enhance the image and reputation of the client.
