What does a manager do?
In 2007, I wrote a blog entitled “What is a manager?” What I wrote then still holds true now and is worth reading. That said, management evolves as the industry does. Artists continue to ask at conferences, in classrooms, and in meetings - what does an artist manager do? I learn more about the job every day. Here goes.
The artist manager is involved in all aspects of an artist’s career. The extent of that involvement, and approaches taken to make positive impact, differs manager-to-manager and artist-to-artist. While a manager minds EVERYTHING, they are not expected to know everything, do everything, make everything, control everything. The role is as much about supporting the artist’s work by finding, securing, and organizing resources as it is about being a resource individually.
A manager’s primary focus is to represent the artist in the music industry. They advise the artist how to navigate structures and systems in place, and the people involved. They build support for the artist throughout the industry community - but especially among key players and partners. They assemble a team, and then ensure that team does the very best work possible to build, maintain, preserve, expand, and facilitate the artist’s career. Great managers don’t fake expertise - they are resourceful and will find people with answers for things they don’t know. As such, it requires someone who is a “people person” - because there are so many people they need to know! For example:
Booking Agents, Presenters, Promoters, Venue Managers and Marketing Managers
Record Label Heads, A&R, Product Managers, Marketing Managers, Publicists, Radio Promoters, Purchasing Managers
Publishing Heads, Co-Write Schedulers, Sync Pitchers, Licensing Staff, Royalty Administrators, Accounting Managers
Recording Producers, Studios, Tracking Mixing and Mastering Engineers, Musicians, Catering Staff
Distributors
Manufacturers, Printers, Merchandising Company Representatives
Digital Music Platform Label Representatives (DSPs), Advertising Representatives, Playlist Curators and Influencers
Genre Music Service Organization Teams, Conference and Industry Event Representatives
Other Managers and Artists
Many more people!
The artist inspires the team while the manager informs and encourages the team. As much as the manager needs to know the humans who do these jobs, the manager also has to be knowledgeable about how all these jobs are done, how the industry functions, and see the opportunities and challenges their artists face as a result of how things are organized, and what everything costs. A manager balances their work between being outward-facing, promoting the artist in the industry, and inward-facing, helping the artist and the team set goals, plan, prepare, motivate, engage, and execute the work.
The music industry is competitive even though it is collegial. Managers are right in the middle of all the mess. We are constantly competing, collaborating, and competing again. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which is happening when, it happens so quickly and constantly. One moment we are talking about our artists recording and touring together, the next we are both vying for the same opportunity. We wish well for one another while always knowing our primary responsibility is the welfare of the artists we represent.
For example, two artists who are friends might both seek:
the last showcase slot at an industry event
the ideal release date with a label that spreads out releases strategically
the same stage, slot or billing at a festival
the same manager, publicist or radio promoter, who have limited bandwidth
to get to open the same tour
any opportunity you can imagine
In one market our artist has leverage. In another market they are unknown. Position is constantly shifting, and the manager must shift with it, maintain professionalism at all times, building mutual respect with other managers and artists they represent. The manager has to manage conflicts of interest, and help artists see and navigate conflicts of others.
The manager must see the big picture and also sweat the “small stuff” - keeping to do lists, organizing tasks, contacts, and priorities. Effective managers are strategic thinkers with vision, who are also problem solvers who know the tactical steps needed to execute that vision. Great managers are motivators. Even though the music industry is made of self-starters, dreamer, and entrepreneurs, the nature and particulars of the music business can also get you down. Great managers know how to help team members feel part of something bigger than themselves. They do what’s needed to keep projects on track. It can be a difficult balance!
There are fewer managers than artists who deserve management. The manager is constantly in-demand. They must ascertain if artists who approach them are ready for management., and if they have immediate growth potential. The number of artists seeking management services can create a false sense of job security for managers, or inflated ego/attitude of superiority, if ego goes unchecked. It’s important that managers always remember they are hired by artists to support and guide - to provide a service to artists - not the other way around. A manager must not work in fear or give in to paranoia, but they also should never get complacent. A manager wins the artist’s business again and again during the course of a relationship - by making sound recommendations and supporting their artist with loyalty and respect. If that slides, the relationship can become unbalanced and in peril over time.
An artist looks for a manager who believes - in their mission and work. They want someone organized, good at prioritizing, flexible and nimble, proactive and motivated. They want a manager who is honest and straightforward - a clear and effective communicator - concise but still personable. They want a manager with a good reputation, and a large, targeted network of relationships that can be leveraged to help the artist’s unique career path.
A manager must share the artist’s long term vision. That does not mean the manager creates the vision and tells the artist what to do or who to be. The manager and artist build the vision together, expanding on the artist’s vision. Then, the manager makes recommendations to the artist based on how they can make that vision a reality. (Note: If the team’s aim is to maximize artist career satisfaction and happiness in life, the artist’s vision of their own future takes precedent over what the manager thinks the artist should want.)
Managers develop process in some areas so they can be spontaneous in others. Templates, lists of tasks always done when onboarding a new client, when releasing an album, in order to assess progress, to handle billing, etc, are not uncommon - no matter how large or small the management team. Establishing processes for work that happens regularly enables the manager to hire staff, delegate tasks, and maintain a high level of quality in their team’s work. It also helps the manager be flexible when there is no established process, or where process is different for each client. By having some consistent systems, it frees the manager to be flexible and spontaneous coming up with ideas for the artists and offering custom solutions beyond basic service. So if a manager ever seems to be “set in their ways” about a process, it may not mean they are inflexible. Sometimes it’s what they need to be flexible when it matters most!
Artists want someone in their corner to help them achieve more than they can do on their own. Artists aren’t usually looking for a boss, or someone who thinks certain types of work is beneath them. Many times I’ve heard artists say to me “you shouldn’t have to do that” and I beg to differ. The manager is like the artist’s COO (Chief Operating Officer) or Chief of Staff. Nothing is beneath us if it needs to get done. A manager should always be ready to roll sleeves up and do what it takes to get whatever’s happening across the finish line.
Artists aren’t always looking for creative input. They are more open to it when “all the other work” is done well. Artists do not ask always managers for creative involvement - and determining when input is needed is not a simple thing. Artists are usually open to business ideas - but in contemporary culture, the manager often has to earn initial trust and respect before getting an invitation to make creative suggestions when it comes to music creation, recording and performance. That trust is not a given. This is understandable, given the art is the artist’s primary role and livelihood. It is the area in which management as a field has most opportunity to evolve - from a historical identity of authority, to a more contemporary role of colleague, companion, witness, and guide.
It is critical to remedy devaluation of the manager’s creativity given they are a key player in the music industry today. Every day managers are asked to come up with new and innovative ideas. We’re asked to solve financial problems that have never been solved before. Evaluate skills of creatives from across the audio visual landscape. In the course of a manager’s career, they will collaborate with cumulatively more artists, producers, engineers, musicians, studios, songwriters, photographers, designers, illustrators, animators, copywriters, artisans, web developers, and other creative professionals than any individual artist will on their own. And yet, too often these relationships are devalued, siloed, or seen as incidental to the work, when they really are quite an achievement if you consider the investments required to build such relationships. They ARE the work, in some ways.
Artists’ perspectives are heavily informed by the post-indie music industry, as it has operated since the rise of the singer-songwriter and bands that perform original music. Most acts today have never experienced a label relationship with aggressive A&R sourcing and choosing songs for them - developing arrangements - or managers who arrange collaborations and designate producers. As a result, many artists today have not developed the skills needed to collaborate around repertoire in that way. They often do not see a connection between the manager and the creative work of making the music, as many artists today see that as the work of the artist, not the manager. They see managers as business people, not creators. But the best business people are creative!
This what must change - and it’s where YOU come in. The beauty of the music industry is that it is always changing and evolving. Attitudes about what managers should do will continue to change, based on the great work managers accomplish with and for their artists. The more good we do, the more the path is carved to do more good.
If you are a manager, I hope you seize the challenge! If you are an artist seeking management or already working with a manager, perhaps some of these notes will help you communicate about your expectations. For me, writing something like this is like a letter to myself, to not forget the tenets of the commitments I mean to make to artists and the community.
Together, I know we will manage.