Tips on getting a good manager.

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Ok, so you've made a great demo and it's ideally marketed with your press pack and website. Now who is going to look after your interests? Do you have someone with the contacts and the industry savvy who will fight your corner?

GETTING A MANAGER

Getting a manager can be a tricky business. Many successful artists will tell you to manage yourself and get a good lawyer. But for the developing artist without any industry contacts, that's not much help, so you need to make an informed decision about who is best to represent you.

1. Who Should Represent Me?

Your manager should be someone you like & trust. If you're going to let this person guide your career and give them 20% of your earnings, then they have to be like a father or mother to you. It should be someone with experience, who has industry contacts and can make things happen for you in real terms. There are plenty of people around who will promise you the moon, but you need to see actual results. Your manager should talk in real terms about money. He should NOT also be your accountant. Record contracts and advances sound glamorous but often times once costs are deducted, they simply amount to nothing more than a loan of a working class annual wage (as you will have to recoup the advance before you start earning). So your manager should have budgets and a clear idea of goals, salaries and percentages.

As always, it's a careful balancing act, and there are always exceptions. Don't be too brutal with a loyal manager if things aren't happening right away, and equally, don't go for some fat cat who cares very little about you simply because he has the contacts - especially if you have some hungry, fast-talking kid who loves your music, biting at your heels to work for you.

Most importantly, your manager should not be connected with your record label. He is your champion. The label won't talk to you, you are the creative. Your manager must be independent (or biased towards you!) if he is to fight your corner. If the label recommends a manager for you, then he's likely to be in their pocket, and hardly likely to hunt out dodgy clauses and battle to keep you from being shelved if you only sell 500 copies of your first single.

2. How Do I Get This Manager?

Now that's a tough one. There are no hard and fast rules. Bear in mind that this is an industry where you have to submit material to lawyers before it can be solicited to someone who might benefit from managing you! So if you can get five minutes with a manager, or get a CD on someone's desk, then go for it! But ACTUALLY DO IT. Don't just talk about it like everyone else. Inaction will reap zero results. If you have a lawyer who can shop materials to labels and managers for you, then great. If not, then look through your CD collection. Find out who manages the bands you like, or bands that have followed a path of success you admire. Get the contact information on the internet or from an Unsigned Guide (see the link here) and ask if it's ok for you to send your fantastic press pack.

If the whole package is good enough, then who knows? If they're not interested, keep following up and try to get advice from them on what they're looking for and why you're not suitable. Don't change your art to meet their guidelines. As soon as you do that, the goalposts will change and you'll be out in the cold. Be true to yourself, but glean any useful advice you can.

3. Other People?

You'll need an accountant (again, someone you trust 100%), and a lawyer (preferably a music business lawyer who is familiar with the music biz terminology and the usual rip off clauses). Try to build up a network of good people around you. You'll need their support during the hard times.

4. Conclusion

The true key to success in the Music Industry is perserverance. Building a reputation and achieving respect in the music industry is like losing weight: there are no shortcuts. It's a hard-won art, born of hard work. You have to take countless rejections. You have to be able to take and use criticism, and also rise above a sea of bitter, axe-grinders who will try to bring you down at every opportunity. Think of it this way, the only people who never make it, are the ones who give up.

So don't give up.


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