High on the wish list of every aspiring musician is to hire a manager. There is a sense of legitimacy that can come with having this human extension of your band. You would have “people” that other people’s “people” can be contacted by. You gain a gatekeeper, a mediator, and hopefully, a champion. However at the early stage of your career, you don’t need one.
Music Business
Until you have build up the cache as a working musician, you have nothing with which to negotiate. As such your access to credible artist management is going to be limited, and those that do engage you may utilize their disproportionate leverage to suggest terms greatly in their favour. A manager typically takes 20% of everything. Can you really afford this tax when the remaining 80% is insufficient to pay your bills?
Music Jobs
You don’t need a manager. You need a lawyer, a publicist, and a tour booker. A manager is a jack-of-all-trades. You need experts.
Entertainment Lawyer
The purpose of a lawyer is obvious. As an inexperienced musician you will need the guidance of someone trained to spot contractual pitfalls that might be dressed up and presented to you as opportunities. The potential horrors that an experienced entertainment lawyer can help you with are immeasurable. In addition, lawyers have better access to decision makers at record labels (the ultimate home of many musicians) than managers do.
Record label executives take their calls - otherwise the next contract negotiation surrounding another artist could be strained. Financially speaking, a lawyer is paid by the hour. You only pay them when you have something for them to look at, rather than an ongoing manager percentage.
Publicist
Similarly, a publicist is only an expense when you have something specific to promote – an album or a tour, for example. Fulltime publicists will have relationships with media outlets that a manager can’t match. A publicist isn’t paid for their time, they are paid for access to their database.
Even if a manager does have impressive connections to the press, they can’t possibly know the tastemakers in every market. In using publicists, you can have a different one in every city if you want. Pay the expert.
Concert Promotion
A tour booker, by title, is the investment with the most immediate return. They make you money and take a percentage of that. They only get paid when they generate income for you. Win-win.
The level of manager you retain when you are starting out will be obsolete when you do achieve higher levels of success. Having your friend manage you is not a loophole. Remember, they are representing you, and you get what you pay for. How far will someone go that is working for free? No one will work harder for you than you. If your friends want to help your career, let them work your merch table at your next show.
Music Industry
A small percentage of new bands will be flattered by the attention of high-level management. Don’t bite. Their priority is their larger profile artists, and you will always come after them in the pecking order.
You wouldn’t hire an architect to fix your bathroom. You would hire specific contractors to handle plumbing, tiling, and electrical, where needed. As a musician, focus on your specific needs and invest your limited resources where you can achieve the greatest impact. For now, hold off on a manager.
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