As an Artist, one of the most difficult decisions to make
are whether or not to self manage, or go out and find a manager. Do you look to family and friends, do you reach
out to your network and find someone you don’t know in the industry and put
your career in their hands? Before you freak out and buckle under the stress of
making these choices, make sure that you are in fact ready for management at
all.
The purpose of a manager is to help guide a career that is
already in motion. Key phrase: “that is already in motion”. Do not expect a
manager to share their connections and help market and promote an artist that
isn’t doing anything for themself. An artist’s first job is to perfect their
craft. Of course you are always evolving and changing, however you must already
be putting in the work. Your time should be spent practicing, writing music, in
voice lessons, creating a stage show, and rehearsing with your band (if you’re
a solo artist). The second portion of your time should be spent getting your
music out to your circle of friends and building a fan base through your social media connections,
going out to local events, networking. You should live and breathe your craft. Not sit back waiting for something to happen.
Case in point: ( This story is true. Names and places have
been changed to protect the innocent)
Ken is a singer songwriter from the Deep South. He has been
writing since he was small and went to a well-known university for music and
proudly graduated with a bachelors in music business. He felt that he needed a
change of scene in order to make it big in the industry, so he packed up all of
his worldly goods into his car and moved to Nashville, a place where he thought
the music industry would have a door wide open waiting for him.
After he arrived in Nashville, he thought, “ here’s my
chance, I will get tons of gigs, and people will see me and I will get
discovered because of my untrained, but tremendous talent.” Weeks went by and
nothing. No gigs, no friends, no stardom. The only singing he did was in the
shower and in the car on the way to his restaurant job.
One day Ken lucked out. At a local bar one night he started
talking to Barbie. Barbie was a self-made local celebrity. She hosted parties
all over Nashville, was an singer herself and had a good friend who was a
songwriter who was looking for a front man for her band in order to shop her
music to labels. After a quick conversation, it was decided, Ken would meet
Jenny the songwriter and they would take it from there.
Jenny and Ken hit it off at first and it was quickly decided
that Ken would join the band. Barbie needed live music for her parties so the
band was immediately booked at most of Barbie’s monthly events. Jenny and Ken
sat down and collaborated on many of the songs for the band. Barbie helped Ken
create a fan base via social media and continued to connect Ken with everyone
she knew in the industry. She also personally took Ken under her wing and styled
him for performances. Basically Barbie took on the role of Ken’s temporary
manager. For a while everything was good, until things changed.
Ken asked for styling advice from Barbie, but always ended
up wearing anything he wanted on stage regardless of whether or not it was
effective. Ken was grateful for Barbie’s help with social media, but never
maintained the sites. He updated rarely, but when he did, it was always about
what he had for lunch, where he got his hair cut, and other ordinary things. Even
though he was working with great artists and getting booked at Barbie’s events,
he never shared that with his social network and his fan base became stagnant.
He stayed out late, drank a lot and never practiced, and never sought out vocal
training. He begged his band mates to help him write accompaniment for his newly
written lyrics and melodies, but criticized their every note. He also refused
to learn how to read music, how to play enough guitar or piano to be able to
write for himself even though they offered to teach him for free. He was
consistently late for rehearsals and made every other portion of his life more
important than the band. He was never “in the mood” to sing Jenny’s music, he
was only fully engaged when the band played Kens music and Ken’s alone.
Soon Barbie stopped helping Ken because Ken wouldn’t help
himself. Tension grew within the band and the band took a private vote and
decided to look for a new front man who was as dedicated to music as they were.
Ken was left out in the cold, removed from Nashville’s inner circle and left to
fend for himself, having now burned bridges with all of the connections that he
had made through Barbie, but never maintained.
Ken was not ready for a manager of any kind. Ken was caught
up in the “idea” of being a full time musician, but not the “reality” of the
work involved. Managers want to see that you have put in all the work yourself
in order to get where you are. The manager’s job is to lighten a load that has
become unbearable as well as take you to the next level. They are not there to
create a career from nothing; they are not there to work for someone who is
doing nothing on their own. Moral of the story is: work hard. Study your craft. Research your industry and have a realistic goal in mind and
at least an idea of a reasonable way to get there. The manager should help get
you to the next level. When you have proven that you have taken yourself s far
as it is possible to go through hard work and dedication, then you are ready
for management. A manager will only work as hard for you as you will for
yourself.
