How to Find a Music Manager for Your Band or Solo Act

Having an experienced music manager can really help propel your band or solo act to the next level. So, how do you find a music manager? First, you need to realize that you shouldn’t actively seek out a manager. When you’re ready to work a manager, they should start coming to you. Though, there are a few steps that you can take to help speed up this process.

Make Sure You Are Ready for a Manager

The first tip for finding a music manager is making sure that you are ready for one. You need to ask yourself if you need artist management at this point. For the most part, an experienced band manager will not want to work with an unestablished act. They want an act that already has a loyal following. You need to know what direction you’re going. If you don’t already have a fan base or any recorded music, then you should focus on gigging and releasing your own music. If you need help booking gigs, you could enlist the help of a friend or family member. Delegate some of these tasks so that you can spend more time on refining your craft and building your following.

Be Prepared to Receive Offers from Music Managers

Eventually, you should begin to receive enough attention to attract a music manager. Though, before you sign a contract, you need to make sure that the person you work with is a good fit for you and your band.

Learn More About Their Experience

When you begin to talk to various band managers, you need to learn more about their past experience. Find out what musicians or bands they have worked with. Look them up online and see what information you can find.

When searching online, you should be looking for any online comments related to the manager, along with details related to the musicians or bands that he or she has worked with. You may even want to get in touch with some of these musicians and get the details first hand. Find out if they enjoy their music manager.

Follow Up with the Music Manager

After you’ve been contacted by a potential manager, if they don’t get back in touch with you in a reasonable amount of time, you should contact them. Though, this could be a sign that they are too busy to help your career or that they weren’t really all that interested in managing you or your band.

Review All of Your Options

If you’ve been contacted by multiple managers, then take your time and review all of your options. Make sure that you have done your research. Compare each of the managers that you have been in contact with. Consider what each of them brings to the table.

Again, look at their past experience. It’s not difficult to look at their past work with other musicians. You can search online to see how much success the manager has had in advancing their careers.

Narrow down your options. Though, in the end, you should go with the music manager that feels like the best fit. You’re going to be closely working with this person. It’ll help if you’re on the same page as to what you want to get out of your music career.

You and your manager should have a similar outlook on the music industry. They should also have plenty of experience. This means that you can learn a lot from this person.

Have a Professional Look Over the Contract

Before you finalize your decision, you will need to sign a contract. But, you need to make sure that the contract is legit. A basic music management contract shouldn’t be overly complicated.

You should be able to understand the details of the agreement on your own. Though, it always helps to get a second opinion. This is especially true if you haven’t signed a contract before. It’s not a bad idea to have a professional look over the contract.

Generally, lawyers are willing to review a contract for a nominal fee. You can expect to pay for about two hours of their time to have them look over the contract. This gives you additional security in ensuring that you are not signing a bad deal. Here are a few additional tips to consider when reviewing a music contract:

In the end, choosing a music manager for your band is a major life decision. While you are choosing a manager, they are also choosing you. They should be excited about wanting to work with.

Additional Tips on How to Get a Music Manager

Along with these tips, you can gain additional suggestions by downloading our detailed guide – Music Management for Indie Artists. You will find expert tips and step by step details on how to advance your career and get the right music manager to launch your career into the next level. Good luck and thanks for reading.  

Source: ArtistPR Music Manager