Why A Band Or Artist Needs A Manager

To most performer s, the enduring image of an performer manager is a caricature of a heavy-set, unkempt slob of a man, stuffed into a 2-sizes-too-small, off-the-rack department retailer suit, chomping on a cheap smelly cigar while sliding a gr easy hand unceremoniously into the back pocket of a starving artist. Inevitably, somewhere in the vast landscape of the music universe, such malice exists. The vast majority of performer managers, however, are a motley collection of well-meaning, hardworking, selfless individuals struggling to make the dreams of a person they believe in come true.
For the legion of dedicated unbelievers out there, this is an article that attempts to shed light on the true benefit of an performer manager. Below are 8 reasons why a performer or performer needs a nice manager:
1. Career Guidance – It is frequently extremely c club enging for performers to step back from the day-to-day activities and see the large picture (you know – the old ‘forest-for-the-trees’ thing). A knowledgeable manager may see how everything in the large picture fits together, and may help the performer navigate through the frequently -confusing maze of activities that seem unrelated yet are all part of a massive jigsaw puzzle. The manager offers career guidance and helps to  set the overall game plan for the performer and the performer s’ team to follow.
2. Cheerleading – Even though listeners are the central cheerleaders for an artist, a person has to communicate the same enthusiasm to the music business community. An performer manager will trumpet the artist’s message to record labels, booking agents,  promoters, media person nel, club bookers, independent retail accounts, etc., in order to keep them all engaged and enthusiastic.
3. Prestige – According to most record industry professionals, there is something to be said about an performer that has a manager. The logic is that if an performer is nice enough to attract management, there must be something of benefit present. In fact, most major labels refuse to sign an performer unless they have solid team (manager, attorney and publicist) in place. An performer in the absence of management is just too much drama! Labels would rather deal with a person who knows how the music business works and may make decisions on a non-emotional basis.
4. Buffer – A manager may act as an effective screening buffer amidst the performer and individuals that want to do business with the artist. This buffer tends to attract legitimate industry players while at the same time scaring away scam performer s. There are no scarier words to a scam performer than “please talk to my manager”.
5. Time management – There simply is not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done in order to further the career of an artist. In amidst writing songs, conducting interviews, designing artwork for compact disc ’s and merchandise, managing a mailing list, filling out copyright paperwork, rehearsing with the band, employing and firing performer s, updating performer websites and MySpace.com profiles, getting pictures taken, shooting and editing DVD’s and YouTube videos, sending out packages and/or updating EPK’s, researching, repairing and buying equipment, etc., there isn’t time to additionally craft a master game plan, solicit potential sponsorship partners, handle licensing requests, reach out to industry gatekeepers, attend industry networking gatherings, harass labels for tour aid, and so on. Some tasks may be delegated to the performer while others may be handled by the manager.
6. Accountability – Part of a manager’s job is to hold individuals accountable. What happens when the financial tour aid that was promised by the label fails to materialize? Or the check from the booking agent bounces? Or the FOH engineer at the show is MIA? Or the licensee fails to sign and return the contract but is using the artist’s songs anyway? Or the beer in the tour van vanishes? Somebody has to keep individuals honest, and that’s most appropriately the manager’s job.
7. Good Cop / Bad Cop – Need to fire the bass player but do not want to create an enemy? Let the manager performance bad cop and do the firing. Need to re-negotiate your contract and request more of a promotion budget? Let the manager performance nice cop and keep a positive spin on the proceedings. There are plenty of chances when the performer and manager may trade off playing nice cop / bad cop.
8. Sounding board – A manager, even though standard ally an “honorary member of the band”, is frequently on the outside looking in. Managers frequently see things disparate ly than the artist, and may frequently offer disparate perspectives, insights and determinations to problems the performer is encountering. Running tips by a knowledgeable manager prior to making decisions frequently allows for nice tips to become better and bad tips to be removed altogether from the to-do list.
So, there you’ve it! 8 nice reasons why an performer needs a manager. Having said all this, however, it is necessary to note that having a bad manager is worse than having no manager at all. many wannabe managers think they may just “wing-it” with an artist, and continue to operate with the “lets-record-a-3-song-demo-and-shop-it-for-a-record-deal” mentality, even though the music industry continues to undergo serious change s. New business models are emerging, and only those managers that stay at the leading edge of the learning curve will create successful strategies and offer serious counsel to their clients.