Music Management
In order to manage an artist, experience is more important than qualifications because a manager must have an understanding and a strong network in the music industry. A manager’s job heavily relies on the size and quality of this network because they have to grow an artist’s business within the context of their vision, creating ‘live and release strategies’ for the artist’s repertoire. These jobs often require a team of industry professionals (booking agents, record labels, publishing companies, accountants and lawyers) that a manager has to create and organise. “There is a creative aspect to being a manager that involves choosing the right people to be involved in each stage of a project” (Shaw, 2024)
However, some qualifications are helpful for managers. A music manager must know how to deal with the types, duration and rights granted by copyright; ownership of and revenue from the master recordings; and ownership of and contracts for recorded and live music (Lawdit Music, 2023). Therefore, a manager with training in maths, business or economics may find the financial aspects of their jobs easier to cope with.
The role of managers has adapted to the ever-changing state of the music industry. In previous years, “managers often played a more hands-on role” in an artist’s choices and sometimes acted as producers. Recently, however, managers have “transitioned from simply overseeing an artist’s career to actively shaping it” (ICMP, 2023). It is a manager’s job to find out where an artist’s money will come from (whether that be from a pre-existing budget or from a label or sponsor).
Most managers tend to have around 4 clients at a time because they can only make money if their clients are making money, but they have to keep a sustainable workload. Working with an artist requires a lot of flexibility because the workload and type of work will vary from artist to artist. This is especially true for the involvement a manager has in an artist’s creative choices. A manager is involved with finding and hiring personnel for every aspect of live shows. This is mostly the same for recording, unless the artist has specific people they want to bring in like producers or session musicians. In terms of marketing, a manager has full involvement, whether that be assembling a team of people or doing the work themselves. “Marketing used to be putting up posters et cetera, but it’s now more creating a narrative and a story around an artist in order for people to feel connected to them. We have a team in LA who use a part of my commission to handle social media content, tour marketing and that kind of thing” (Shaw, 2024). The role of a modern manager varies between genres. For example, managers of pop artists are likely to be heavily involved in shaping an artist’s image and marketing strategy whereas, a folk artist’s manager is likely to focus more on booking gigs and negotiating contracts to leave the artists as much creative control as possible over their projects. (ICMP, 2023)
Unless they have support staff in other countries, managers have to sort out travelling for work themselves. Some costs for this can be charged to an artist if the manager has to be present for deals or meetings abroad (direct costs). Costs derived from less important travel and the cost of staff come out of a manager’s pocket. There’s a certain amount in a manager’s contract they can spend on work without having to justify it but once that amount is exceeded, the payments must be cleared as necessary work payments before they can be charged to the artist or company.
If an artist is very committed to an idea that is not financially viable, the manager will discuss the finance of it. This involves finding out whether the artist is prepared to contribute to the project themselves. For example, if an artist is playing an important gig and would like an orchestra for it that is not within the budget, management will help them decide whether it is worth the financial loss in promotion. “One artist I work with has had a lot of money put into the production and look of their live shows because it has a very positive impact on how future promoters perceive them as a live act, meaning the artist will ultimately secure a higher fee” (Shaw, 2024)
Managers don’t tend to have rights over any of the artist’s work like a session musician, writer or producer might, but they do take a commission. Managers send invoices for their agreed-upon percentage to the artist, which is usually between fifteen and thirty percent of their artist’s gross income. A very active artist is likely to make more consistent money whereas artists who take long hiatuses or release music less regularly are likely to bring in a less steady income. If working with an artist is not going well personally or financially, management can terminate the artist’s contract. They will often put ‘sunset clauses’ in place meaning that, after the contract is done, a manager can continue to earn from projects an artist worked on during their partnership in gradually decreasing shares.
Because the music industry is so saturated with artists likely doing similar things, someone has to know what makes that artist stand out. “It used to be that you could be ‘good’ and make a living. However, the current state of the music industry means that, in order to be successful, you have to be ‘great’; not just in terms of musical ability but also in terms of social media, visual identity and understanding your market. It is important for there to be a clear idea of where an artist’s project is going.” (Shaw, 2024) A manager has to manage their artists’ expectations and understand how they will react in certain situations. Essentially, their role extends beyond business. The most profitable way to organise a famous musician’s tour would be to put on shows as often as possible in the largest venues possible, but an artist needs breaks and time to work on music and other projects.
One of the most challenging aspects of a music manager’s career is the “constant demand for content” (Music Week, 2016). Due to the increasing popularity of social media, the pressure from fans online for artists to release new music and other content can be overwhelming. In terms of becoming internationally famous, emerging modern artists are often disadvantaged if they do not use social media to promote their music. Also, the ability for already famous artists to popularise and solidify their image is ever-growing with some artists selling thousands of tickets in a matter of minutes. “Massive established artists are staying at the top for longer whilst newer acts are struggling to get through the door, and their opportunities to do so are minimal” (Music Week, 2016). For example, streaming services are often being criticised from all sides of the music industry for their low pay per stream because this gives emerging artists a disadvantage. It takes an artist around 263 streams to make one dollar (MIW, 2024) on Spotify. This means artists with millions of listeners can still make a lot of money (albeit still an arguably unfair amount) while artists releasing new music without a pre-existing name for themselves may see it as financially unviable to continue releasing music. This is especially pertinent considering the rising cost of music equipment, studio time, travel and merchandise production; all of which are important in growing an artist’s image. A manager is only able to make money if the artist they manage is making money. Which can be a problem depending on a manager’s clientele because “building a client from the beginning is often a lot of work and doesn’t bring in a lot of income” (Shaw, 2024).
With these financial issues considered, “choosing the right way to manage everyone’s working hours and retaining a personal life, whilst fulfilling professional ambitions, is definitely the biggest challenge” of music management (Music Week, 2016). Managers in the present day have a lot more access to data that helps promote an artist in the most successful way. However, this also makes the industry more competitive (Shaw, 2024). This means managers must put a lot of work into staying up to date on the current happenings in the industry.
Management is often the voice of an artist in a professional setting. Examples of this can be seen in the public cancellation of gigs and online responses to controversies. As Shaw (2024) analogised, “from the fans’ perspective, a great football team is great because the players are great, but a football team in which the team doesn’t gel is unsuccessful because of the manager.” It’s almost never the artist’s fault from the industry’s perspective if a venture – musically or otherwise – does not resonate with fans. Some managers feel that, because of this, they sometimes forgo control of their client’s public actions because more successful artists feel as though there are very limited repercussions career-wise from ‘branching out’. Onwuka (2016) described the experience as having “too many external voices and opinions”. He predicts that in the future, “managers will be looking after more than just ‘music business’ for their artists”.
Another big issue for music managers is the lack of assurance that the return on their investment will be fulfilled. When it comes to releasing music, there is an expected return on investment for all parties involved, and it can be discouraging if it does not come. No matter how tightly management and the artist stick to a decided budget it is not guaranteed that all projects will generate the same or more than the amount after releasing the album. Recording a song requires allocating touring, materials, studio lighting, features of people, and many other expenses that will not definitely be recuperated (V13, 2021).
The role of an artist manager, while still significant, is becoming less important or viable for a lot of artists. It used to be that “a manager’s job was essentially to get an artist signed” (Cecilia, 2022). This meant that managers were very important for artists to achieve faster growth and be able to make a living because they had the pre-existing network to help them. Now, because the internet has allowed for increasing mass music creation “labels will only sign on ‘data driven’ artists” (Cecilia, 2022). Managers now have to possess skills in social media or have a network of people who are good at marketing on social media to push an artist to higher numbers of followers and streams. Many artists manage themselves because, as social media become more centralised in modern society, young artists are knowledgeable about how social media works and are about to generate views for themselves and therefore are able to market their music and live shows to more people. As well as this, many artists have knowledge and experience in the music industry from doing extended diplomas and degrees in popular music and other similar subjects and know how to deal with music copyright, producers, live tours and publicity. From an artist’s perspective, “if you don’t feel listened to by your management or supported then in the long run there really is no point” (Cecilia, 2022), so they often don’t try as hard to secure a manager for fear of a bad or underwhelming professional relationship that may actually hinder their career progression in comparison with self-managed peers. From some people’s perspective, it is possible that a manager’s importance is diminishing, but, at the same time, most artists who have achieved global fame have done so with help from good management and will likely continue to do so.
Bibliography
(Cecilia, 2022) Why more and more music artists – including Jessie J – are managing themselves
(ICMP, 2023) The Role of Music Managers in an Artist’s Career
(Lawdit Music, 2023) A quick guide to the legal issues you may face
(Music Week, 2016) Managers shaping the industry reveal their biggest challenges
Including information from…
(Kinn, 2016)
(Morgan, 2016)
(Onwuka, 2016)
(Stubbings, 2016)
(MIW, 2024) The Streaming Royalties Controversy: Why Artists Are Still Fighting for Fair Pay
(Shaw, 2024) Personal interview with Leon Alexander, Red Light Management
(UK Music, 2024) Music Manager
(V13, 2021) Problems Faced in the Music Industry by Managers and Labels
