My #musicbusiness class today is about artist management. I wrote about finding a manager for @djbooth: bit.ly/2SdEtGB
It's also important to understand a manager's role, and in my class I talk about seven things that managers do:
First, the big picture stuff: identifying the artist's goals and vision; developing and implementing strategies based on that, and coaching the artist and helping their decision-making throughout the process.
To do this, the manager must help define the artist's brand, own the schedule, assemble and lead a team of people to do the work, and create business opportunities and partnerships along the way.
While the artist is in charge of the actual art, the manager takes on content management duties, ensuring that music, video, imaging and products are all being created and exploited properly. They also oversee the storage, archiving and inventory management involved.
Their role isn't necessarily creative (though sometimes they can inspire that creativity), but they should give the artist the tools they need to be creative, while at the same time help develop that art in ways that work with the strategy they are executing.
To implement those strategies, the manager oversees branding, marketing, and sales: each a separate task but very closely related and flowing from one into the next.
(They are often confused as a result.)
Branding is the promise the artist makes; it's who they represent and what fans want from them.
Marketing is the message the artist sends; it's about communicating their brand to an audience (of both followers and fans).
Sales is leveraging the artist's branding and marketing efforts in a way that converts those followers into fans.
Then comes the business of financial management. Managers create structure and organization; they manage the artist's money through budgeting and oversight, business and P&L analysis, and oversee bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, and tax.
There's also administration: licensing, clearance, royalty reporting and sometimes even publishing admin.
And when the artist is on the road, tour management, including developing and implementing strategy (with an agent), negotiating with promoters, presenters and venues, advancing those dates so they are properly promoted, and handling the production management and logistics.
And lastly, communication that ties all of these together, by managing expectations, but then managing all the relationships that are required to make the enterprise work.
That means being a buffer between the artist and everybody else, and protecting them by being the bad cop or sometimes even taking the fall.
Now can one manager do all of these things? No, not by themselves, so they need to help figure out who is going to do this work and then keep everybody moving in the right direction.
