Artist's Guide to Music Managers (Part 3)

Business & Marketing Skills

Marketing is a highly important aspect of any business (particularly in the modern age) any business must be aware of the market they are working within as well as the competition which surround them. For managers starting out this kind of knowledge is critical to the success of the project, this is where planning comes in. ‘It is very satisfying when an opportunity opens a door to implement an active plan to take advantage of it. For example, young Josh Groban was asked by award winning producer David Foster to replace an ailing Andrea Bocelli in the 1999 Grammy television rehearsals with Celine Dion. His performance at the rehearsal was powerful enough to help launch his multi-platinum recording career as an artist. Groban’s planning and preparation for a career put him in a position to benefit from the lucky timing of Foster’s telephone call’. Paul Allen (2014).

despite being quite a broad term, a business plan essentially covers suitable goals for the artist, whether its the amount of albums you want to sell or a certain venue capacity you want to be able to sell out in say 3 years and market research which is in basic terms finding out where you stand in the industry alongside the competition as well as finding out as much about the competition as possible and your acts unique selling point (USP) what makes them unique? (This is where people tend to look for a gap in the market in which they can exploit and focus their business on).

Other business related skills one must have to be a successful artist manager is the ability to understand business terminology, this will allow you to communicate with establishments such as record labels and he Performance Rights Society effectively as well as giving off a good impression (as if you know what you are talking about); which in turn will only encourage them to place their trust in you and your client. Furthermore managers must always keep their clients involved in everything that they are doing, after all its their future on the line, this will involve being able to translate the legal mumbo jumbo into information that someone with little to no business and industry experience can understand (thats if they need it of course).

Conclusion

In Conclusion being an artist manager is considered by many to be one of the hardest and most stressful jobs in the industry. However, with these skills and a lot of hard work it can also be one of the most rewarding.

George Capon

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