What Should You Look for When Hiring a Music Manager?

Hiring a music manager is a major decision and can be incredibly beneficial. Choosing the right band manager can help you gain recognition and allow you to focus on creating amazing music.

If you have made the decision to hire a music manager, you should know what to look for in order to find the best fit for yourself or your band. Whether you are a solo artist or work with band members, find out how to get a music manager who will truly look out for your best interests.

You Should Have Natural Rapport with Your Manager

When you first meet a potential manager, you should have a natural connection. You do not need to be best friends with your manager, but you should be able to get along. You need to see eye to eye with your manager. They are directly involved in how you or your band is presented to the music industry and the general public. Make sure you actually like your manager.

Find a Music Manager That Has Experience in the Industry

It is definitely helpful if your manager has experience in the music industry. This is not necessarily a requirement, but an experienced manager will bring with him or her a long list of contacts. These contacts are used to help book gigs and garner positive attention to you or your band. If you have a buddy that is genuinely interested in becoming your manager, their lack of experience may be a hindrance. Keep this in mind when considering your options.

When you meet with a potential music manager, learn more about their experience. Ask for a list of names on their roster. Find out what they have done to promote the artists on their roster. Search for these artists online and see if you can find additional information. A professional manager should be willing to put you in touch with their other artists, as a form of providing references.

A Band Manager Needs to Be Enthusiastic About Your Music

A band manager does not have to love your music, but they should be enthusiastic about helping to get your music out to the public. A quality manager will offer invaluable advice. Their input can help point you in the right direction. A certain level of enthusiasm is needed to promote an artist.

Make Sure Your Band Manager is Good with Finances

Along with music promotion, a band manager often handles finances. So, make sure that your band manager is good with finances. They should be financially responsible. In all aspects of managing your musical career, they should be looking out for your financial interests. This applies to gigging, music licensing, record contracts, and any other earnings.

When signing a contract, pay close attention to their cut of your earnings. They make money off your success, but they should not be receiving a larger cut than you or your bandmates. Over the years, there have been plenty of examples of great musicians not getting the money they deserve due to bad financial management.

Find a Music Manager That You Can Trust

You also need to be able to trust your music manager. Since they are directly involved in your income, you have to trust them with your money. Some people have a natural ability to tell when they are being fooled while others are too trusting.

If you need help to determine the trustworthiness of a potential manager, get assistance from an outside source. If you work with a band, then get a group consensus as to the overall opinion of the manager.

Video Transcript ▼

three things you should consider before hiring a music manager the first thing you have to figure out is what you’re trying to do are you trying to be a mainstream artists are you trying to be a celebrity do you want to do more shows are you trying to make money and making money seems to be everyone’s answer but that’s not good enough because there’s lots of ways to make money so you have to figure out how you want to make money and that will help you discern what type of manager you need or if you even need a manager to begin with the next thing you have to understand is what a manager does a lot of people think a manager takes a nobody and turns them into with somebody that’s not true some managers may have that capability if they feel that the artist or the composer or the person is talented enough and they believe in them but for the most part a manager manages tasks so if you have no business if you have no fans if you have no email list if you have no sales that you’re trying to increase there’s nothing for the manager to do and quite frankly you’re just wasting the managers time in today’s world there’s very little artist management it’s mostly do-it-yourself artists composers bands they’re doing their social media they’re building their own fanbase they have huge email lists and that stuff can get real cumbersome so at the point where you’re marketing you’re negotiating your promotion when that gets out of hand and it’s taking away from your family time it’s taken away from your creative side is stopping you from creating that’s when you need a manager that’s when you need someone to actually come in and take some of the burden off of your shoulders then you have to ask yourself can I afford a manager understand that a manager is paid on Commission they’re going to take anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of any revenue that they help you generate so if you have a whole lot of emails in your inbox and those being contracts that need to be negotiated and these are clients that you haven’t charged more than three hundred dollars for projects do you really want the manager taking 20% of that or even 15% of that you could actually be losing more money than you make with them and some of you may be thinking well the manager is going to bring me more business that’s true but maybe they won’t you got to think they’re already working with bigger artists or bigger bands or bigger clients that they have to fulfill needs for as well so if you’re not bringing anything to the table if you’re not bringing a good income to the table for them to take a chunk out of let me remember it is business if you’re not bringing anything to the table that is of benefit to them it’s not worth their time this is Greg Savage from do-it-yourself music viscom please subscribe leave some comments below and I’ll see you in the next video

Take Your Time When Finding a Music Manager

Learning how to get a music manager that can help you achieve your dreams can be a challenge. Take your time. Contact more than one potential manager. Be thorough in your research. Learn more about their past and current artists. Find out how much experience they have in the music industry.

You should also ask plenty of questions. Remember, this is similar to a job interview. If they shy away from any of your questions, then they may not be a good fit for you or your band.

Keep These Tips in Mind During Your Search for a Manager

Do you want your music to reach the masses? Having the right manager can make all the difference. Hiring a bad manager can sink your musical dreams. As you start your search for a music manager, remember the advice provided.

You should treat the hiring a band manager as you would a job interview. You need to make sure they are the best person for the job. These tips are a great starting point to help you find the right manager, but the music industry is complicated.

 

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Source: ArtistPR Music Manager