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Tidal joins Apple, Amazon Music in price increase. Will Spotify follow?Tidal will join Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and most other music streaming services in raising its monthly subscription from $9.99 to $10.99 monthly in the U.S. Tidal’s price hike. Continue reading
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The Manager's PlaybookThe Manager’s Playbook: Essential Roles and Realistic Paths For Musicians

As musicians, we all ponder the role of personal managers, those guiding lights who can shape our journey. They navigate us toward our artistic vision while deftly handling the nitty-gritty of the music business. Picture them as our champions, hyping us to the right business contacts, unveiling hidden opportunities, securing sponsorships, and orchestrating epic tours. They’re the backbone that ensures everyone involved is pulling their weight and more.

But here’s the thing: personal managers don’t grow on trees; they’re a hard-earned privilege. Truth is, until we’ve made some headway on our own, those seasoned managers with clout may not bat an eye in our direction. If we sit around waiting to be rescued without making our own strides, well, our musical journey might just veer into the abyss.

That’s why it’s crucial to grasp the diverse management options available to us musicians. From the DIY approach to linking up with established professional management, there’s a path for everyone. But before we dig into those essential routes, let’s quickly walk through the myriad roles a personal music manager can undertake. So, hang tight and read on, fellow musicians, as we embark on this enlightening voyage together.

Excerpted from the book Business Basics for Musicians, 2nd Edition

© 2023 By Bobby Borg

PART 1:

THE ROLE OF A PERSONAL MANAGER IN YOUR CAREER

By strict definition, a personal manager advises and counsels artists in all aspects of the new music business. This may include artist development, project management, touring, contracts and income streams, and so much more. 

A. Artist Development

The manager may assist with the development of an artist’s career via the following activities: 

•Encouraging You to Get Your Brand Together: Inspiring you to polish up your brand—from your artist name and logo, to what you wear and say in public, to the charities and other organizations and brands with whom you associate. 

•Assisting with Your Sound and Songs: Inspiring you to polish up your compositions and musical sound. If needed, the manager may even help set you up with songwriting consultants, cowriters, and producers, and help you find complete songs to record and perform. 

•Helping You to Improve Live Performances and Merch: Inspiring you to perfect the quality of your live performances (set list flow, presence, etc.) and merchandising designs (T-shirts, hats, stickers, etc.). And finally . . . 

•Helping You Build—and Monitor—Your Fan Base: Encouraging you to strengthen your connections with fans, including improving your social media content strategies on sites like Instagram and TikTok (or other), finding ways to get fans’ assistance with promotion and spreading the word-of-mouth, and ultimately getting fans to engage with you more personally through monetized crowdfunding platforms and Patreon. Additionally, your manager will help you to monitor fans through the use of various analytical tools and artificial intelligence to gain insights and make smarter decisions.

B. Contracts and New Income Streams

Your manager may also help initiate various business deals by doing the following: 

•Setting Up Meetings and Seeking Out Future Opportunities: Setting up meetings with potential co-writers, publishers, merchandisers, sponsors, and record companies, and seeking out immersive opportunities in the metaverse, digital asset stores and NFT marketplaces, and—when you’re a huge star—catalog sales via top music investors.

•Researching the Right Deals: Researching which companies and representatives are best suited to your talents and musical style, based not only on a company’s past signings or successes, but also on its financial stability, management capabilities and understanding of your vision.

•Recommending You Find Legal Counsel: Providing recommendations for legal counsel to help shop your music to various companies and review important contract terms that are relevant to the new—and ever-changing—music industry. And finally . . . 

•Working Collaboratively with Your Attorney: Communicating with your attorney about important contract deal points, but knowing when to step aside and let the attorney do their job. 

C. Project Management 

When, and if, you sign a recording agreement, your manager may also assist by doing this: 

•Getting Everyone at the Label Excited About Your Career: Lighting the fire under the label’s ass and trying to make sure that you will be a top priority. 

•Monitoring Pre-Release and Post-Release Activities: Providing marketing ideas regarding the branding, price, place, promotion and measuring of your records, and fighting tactfully for what is best for your career. And finally . . .

•Meeting with Departments: Meeting with the various departments at the record label, (new media, licensing, press, sales, marketing and radio promotion), and to make sure that everyone is talking and working in concert to further your professional career. 

D. Hybrid Services: Merch, Publishing, and More

As if the above tasks were not enough, some management companies operating under newer business models may even assist your career by doing the following:

•Providing Label Services: Handling all matters concerning the funding, recording, manufacturing, distributing, promoting and monitoring of a record, in addition to all other management services. Said another way, the management company is a label, or the label is a management company—however you see it. 

•Providing Publishing Services: Seeking creative uses of your songs in film, TV, games, and podcasts, issuing licenses to music users for the use of your songs, and collecting all income generated by these uses. And finally . . . 

•Providing Merchandising Services: Helping design and manufacture effective merch that sells, helping the group sell merch on the road and via retail outlets, and seeking sub-licenses to expand the product line. And finally….

•Providing Digital Marketing and Advertising Services: Acting as a digital marketing service in influencer marketing campaigns, advertising campaigns, email marketing brand sponsorships, and general social media management. 

E. Live Engagements and Touring

Moving on to another role, a personal manager may also assist with the following: 

•Securing a Talent Agent: Helping you to find a licensed talent agent who specifically works on procuring live performances. Your manager will work together with this agent to determine which tours are best for you, to make sure that you’re getting the best offers from concert promoters, and even to help direct your performances from city to city. 

•Working with Your Business Manager: Helping you find a business manager who specializes in the music business, and working together with him or her to ensure that your tours are properly budgeted. Hotel accommodations, transportation, stage crews, and other expenses will be closely examined in an effort to minimize expenses and ensure that you turn a profit (or at least cover expenses). And finally . . . 

•Hiring a Tour Manager: Hiring a “tour manager” who is responsible for keeping a watchful eye on all business matters from city to city, night after night. This could mean checking you in to hotels, “advancing” the shows (making sure that each venue has the proper accommodations in place for you), “settling” money with promoters at the end of each night, babysitting, and bailing you out of jail—seriously!

F. Physical and Mental Health Issues

Finally, once an artist is successful, a great manager can assist the artist in the following ways: 

• Monitoring Physical and Mental Health: Looking out for the artist’s health and well-being, and knowing when to say no to that extra morning radio show, public appearance, podcast interview, or leg of the tour. 

•Checking in with the Artist: Checking in with the artist and simply asking him or her, “How are you doing?” Said another way, the manager checks the goose that is hatching the golden eggs, rather than just focusing on the golden eggs. This is important. Artists are known to break down when they’re pushed too hard. Elvis Presley is one classic example. Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber are more recent examples. 

Turning Bad into Good: POST Malone and IGGY Azalea

Dre London, Post Malone’s manager, highlights another role of personal managers—turning bad into good.  

London discovered that Malone’s upcoming album had been leaked online. This could have been a major setback for the album’s release and promotion, potentially affecting its sales and reception.

However, instead of letting the leak derail their plans, London and team decided to turn it into a marketing opportunity. They created a scavenger hunt on Twitter, where they released different snippets of the leaked songs and hid clues for fans to find the full tracks.

This not only generated excitement and engagement among Post Malone’s fanbase, but also helped increase the album’s visibility and anticipation. When the album, Hollywood’s Bleeding: The Director’s Cut, was officially released, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and became one of the best-selling albums of the year. Totally fire! 

In another example of turning bad into good, T.I., Iggy Azalea’s manager at the time, helped Azalea avoid a major PR disaster and instead turned it into a positive experience. 

Iggy Azalea was set to perform at the Pittsburgh Pride festival, which was a highly anticipated event for the LGBTQ+ community. However, a Twitter user resurfaced old tweets from Azalea containing homophobic and racist remarks, which caused a backlash and calls for her to be removed from the lineup.

T.I. could have suggested Azalea issue an apology and let the situation play out. Instead, he came up with a creative solution. T.I. suggested that Azalea use the opportunity to educate herself on LGBTQ+ issues and work closely with the community to make amends.

Azalea agreed and as a result was eventually welcomed back by the LGBTQ+ community. Make no mistake, folks, turning bad into good is a major role of the manager.•

PART 2:

Management Options

Now that you understand what a manager does, we can discuss the various management options available to you. The most common choices, depending on how far along you are in your career, are self-management, start-up management, and established professional management.

A. Self-Management (DIY or DIE) 

In the early stages of your career, good management must always begin with the artist. Unless one of your relatives happens to be a record label or publishing company president, no one is going to help you until you first help yourself!

As your self-manager, consider the self-assessment checklist below to determine whether or not you are doing all the right things.

• Have you given serious thought to your long-term career vision? 

• Have you written a large repertoire of songs or even cowritten with professionals?

• Have you professionally recorded, mixed, mastered, and packaged your music?

• Have you developed a consistent and unique brand (name, logo, look, attitude)?

• Have you learned to properly release your music in streaming and physical formats?

• Have you mastered your marketing game both online and offline, as well?  

• Have you developed creative methods of connecting/engaging with your fans? 

• Have you amassed respectful analytics (streams, social numbers, reviews)?

• Have you developed a kick-ass live show and amassed a respectful local draw?

• Have you attempted to hit the road playing colleges, festivals, other events?

• Have you created a line of merch (T-shirts, hats, etc.) and generated decent sales?

• Have you aligned with any product sponsors and formed symbiotic relationships?

• Have you pitched your music in synch (film, TV, games) and secured placements?

• Have you attended industry conferences (NAMM, SXSW) and built a network?

• Have you subscribed to the trades/podcasts and got a grip on the new music biz?

• Have you made an effort to keep up with emerging trends (NFTs, Web 3, AI)?

• Have you found methods to pay bills, set goals, and manage your time like a pro?

Musicians often believe that the solution to their problems is finding someone to whisk them up from rehearsal room to superstardom. An experienced manager can make good things happen fast, but he or she is not a solution for your laziness. This is the digital age, where doing it yourself is far easier than ever before. Bottom line: you must generate some action on your own—and prove that you don’t need any help—in order to give managers a valid reason to want to work with you.  

B. Start-Up Management

After you’ve reached a point in your career when you’ve done all the things mentioned in the list above, and you just can’t go any further without a helping hand, then perhaps you’re ready for a start-up manager. This might include one of the following: 

• A Friend: A close friend who’s willing to make phone calls and help promote shows without getting paid for the first few months or years. In fact, he may not even be called a “manager” at all, working with the understanding that as soon as your career progresses, he will be replaced by an established professional manager and offered some other position with the band. 

• A Retired Musician: An experienced musician who wants to “right all the wrongs” she encountered in her professional career, and has got all the passion and drive needed to set you on course. 

• A Businessperson: An educated businessperson who’s always dreamed of being in the entertainment business and has the desire to live those dreams through you.

• A Club Owner: A club owner in your hometown who sees hundreds of bands perform each year. This individual has a good idea of what works and what doesn’t and is willing to offer you an objective point of view and career guidance. And finally . . . 

• An Intern: An intern or junior assistant of a professional manager by day who’s looking to cut his teeth on managing his own artist on his downtime at night. He’s got the advantage of having his boss’ ear for guidance and observing how a professional office is run all day.

While start-up managers may not be the most experienced folks, don’t underestimate their value. They can be some of the most loyal and hardworking people around, and they’ll stick with you through the tough times. And who knows, they may even grow into being legends. Look at Andrew Oldham. He started out with the Rolling Stones when he was just 17, and he became one of the most successful managers of all time. Johnny Wright started managing New Kids on The Block at just 18, and he also went on to manage Jonas Brothers and Justin Timberlake. Impressive! 

C. Established Professional Management

Finally, if you’re able to create serious momentum in your career (get millions of streams, start generating some income, and/or attract labels and publishers), then established professional managers will be more interested in working with you. You might be referred to these folks via your record label, or they might seek you out. Let’s look at mid-level and big-league managers.

Mid-Level Managers 

Mid-level managers are those who have a great deal of experience in the industry but have not quite broken a band into superstardom. Maybe they have one client on their roster who was able to amass several million Spotify streams and social media followers on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok (or other), but they still don’t have that bonified superstar artist yet—and that’s what they’re shooting for! They are typically well liked in the industry and have a big enough network to open some doors for you. 

However, the problem with mid-level managers is that they are not as powerful as big-league managers, and therefore it may take them longer to get things done.

Big-League Managers

Big-league managers (like Irving Azoff, Scooter Braun and Coran Capshaw) have been around for years and have lots of Grammy-winning superstars on their rosters. The relationships they’ve formed, the respect they’ve earned, and the favors they can trade give them the power to make things happen with just a few phone calls. 

However, the problem is that you could easily get lost in the sauce. This means that you get overshadowed by their more profitable clients. I was with a group that had one of the most successful rock management companies in the word (one that handles Metallica), and we never even did one date with the band or really much of anything at all. We soon left the management. 

Qualities of the Manager 

There are dozens of experienced, professional, established managers out there, any one of whom is capable of doing the job. The important thing is picking the one who really wants to work with you. 

Don’t just pick a manager who has the biggest stars on his or her roster, takes you out to the most expensive restaurant, or makes the biggest promises. 

Above all, your manager must possess a genuine enthusiasm for your music, an understanding of your vision, and a commitment to going the long haul. Of course, they must also come highly recommended from people you respect, and they must be trustworthy.

Be sure to read the biographies of some of the most interesting managers of all time and make note of some of the other character traits that you admire. One I’d like to recommend is the story of the Rolling Stones manager titled Stoned: Andrew Loog Oldham. Oldham understood branding and how to create the Stones’ “bad boy” image; he was an innovative thinker and helped the Stones retain ownership in their masters; and he knew how to form the right alliances for the band (he connected them with the Beatles). 

Another manager you might want to read up on is Scooter Braun. Scooter was a strong believer in social media (long before it was the industry norm), and had a knack for spotting hidden talent online, notably Justin Bieber. He also knew how to form the right alliances for Bieber by hooking him up with Usher, who was very instrumental in furthering Bieber’s career. 

So, what traits are important to you? Be sure to give this some thought. •

BOBBY BORG is a music industry professor at USC, author, and YouTuber at youtube.com/bobbyborg. He is the author of Music Marketing for the DIY Musician, Business Basics For Musicians, and Introduction to Music Publishing. He is the co-author (with Britt Hastey) of Personal Finance for Musicians.

Out Take: Sandro Morales-SantoroSandro Morales-Santoro

Composer

Web: sandromorales.com

Contact: kate.twilley@impact24pr.com

Most Recent: Kold x Windy, Restaurants at the Edge of the World

Sandro Morales-Santoro is an award-winning composer as well as a part of the executive committee of the Composers Diversity Collective to help connect composers of color with opportunities to advance their careers. He recently worked on WeTV’s Kold x Windy, pulling inspiration from hip-hop and drill music, and National Geographic/Disney+’s Restaurants at the Edge of The World, his second collaboration with co-composer David Benjamin Steinberg and director Jeremy Simmons.

His musical background includes popular and folk influences from his native Venezuela, an education in classical music, as well as interests in jazz and electronic music. “When I started as a composer in L.A., I was afraid of bringing too much of my cultural background into my music,” he says. “There have been a few times when I was interviewing for a composing job, and they said, ‘So all you can write is Latin music?’ I wanted to prove I could do music that wasn’t necessarily representative of where I come from, and when you start out, you’re trying to just imitate what the greats are doing. With time, I’ve learned to accept and embrace who I am, not care so much and try to bring those elements into my music.” 

Morales-Santoro says he loves the challenge of working on a variety of different projects, from animated film to documentaries. “The work is unexpected. I constantly need to evolve my sound, learn new instruments, new sound libraries. Having to face that and figuring out how to define a project’s concept through music, work with the director―I love those challenges.” 

Morales-Santoro advises aspiring composers to remember the old adage: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. In the beginning, I always felt in a rush, worried about things happening fast enough, but you have to take it one step at a time,” he says. “You have to network, you have to work on your craft, and then you have to work on your voice, which is what sets you apart from the rest and makes people interested in hiring you over someone else.” 

Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y & Indie MusicThis week, our tips and advice for all the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to take advantage of SEO, how to use social media for music marketing, and more…. Continue reading
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REWIND: The New Music Industry’s Week In ReviewA busy week by any definition, the music industry was no exception, with a campaign to save an indie venue, Spotify drops Soundtrap, grants to indie venues, and more… As. Continue reading
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Wise Music Group Appoints Max Moroldo as Managing Director of Wise Music ItalyWise Music Group has appointed Massimiliano “Max” Moroldo as Managing Director of the recently established company Wise Music Italy, based in Bergamo. Max joined Wise Music Italy in 2022 as Head of A&R and Music Publishing Consultant upon the acquisition of his company, Baby Angel Music, by Wise Music Group.

Through the ownership of Baby Angel Music and Atlas, Wise Music Italy owns shares in international hits such as “I Know You Want Me” (recorded by Pitbull) and “Seek Bromance” (Avicii), as well as Italian hits including Occidentali's “Karma” and “Amen” (by Francesco Gabbani, both winners of the Sanremo Festival), “Come Neve” (Giorgia and Marco Mengoni), “Credo” (Giorgia), “Potremmo Ritornare” (Tiziano Ferro), “Crepe” (Irama), and “Il Coraggio Di Andare” (Laura Pausini and Biagio Antonacci).

Among the catalogue’s many titles is the evergreen “Freed from Desire”, originally recorded by the singer and songwriter Gala in 1996, which became a huge hit all over the world, and which has subsequently been covered and adapted on numerous occasions. 

Max Moroldo comments: “Wise Music Group is definitely one of the strongest independent realities in the worldwide publishing scene and it’s a great honour for me to be appointed Managing Director after only one year working together. In line with the expansion and growth policy of Wise Music, Wise Music Italy has consolidated its position in the international publishing industry with the acquisition of important catalogues. The search for talented songwriters will be our next goal”.  

Wise Music Group CEO Marcus Wise says: “We’re delighted to have a local office in Italy and keen to expand in this important market.  Max is a talented and experienced publisher and is instrumental in helping Wise Music build our Italian business into a significant operation for our Group.”

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SXSW raises pay to showcasing artists, but boycott likely to continueWhen SXSW opened applications to showcase at its 2024 edition, its also increased payments to acts that are accepted to showcase. SXSW has raised payments from $250 to $350 for. Continue reading
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Musician’s Guide to SEOTake your online presence to the next level with search engine optimization (SEO). This straightforward guide will teach you everything you need to do to get started. by Wes Walls. Continue reading
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5 major shifts in music tech that are empowering independent artistsTechnology has completely altered the way all music professionals work and collaborate. Here are some of the most notable shifts that have given indie artists new bounds of potential. by. Continue reading
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Meet Ripple: TikTok parent’s new AI-powered music-making app that can turn a hummed melody into a songByteDance's free-to-use music production app features: a 'Melody to Song' generator and a virtual recording studio
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Disguised Malignance Sign with ProstheticHelsinki, Finland's DISGUISED MALIGNANCE today announced their signing to Prosthetic Records, with their forthcoming debut album, Entering the Gateways, due to be released on September 29. Alongside the signing and album announcement, the Finnish death metal group has shared Entering the Gateways' lead single Malignant Visions. (Photo by Eero Palmu)

LISTEN TO MALIGNANT VISIONS BELOWStream Malignant Visions via Apple Music | TIDAL | Deezer | Bandcamp and SpotifyPre-order Entering the Gateways here.

Speaking on the album announcement, Felix Pennanen (vocals) comments: "Entering the Gateways’ songwriting approach combined with lyrical concepts and overall aesthetic form an entirety that evolves throughout the album's runtime. First, the listener is absorbed into the hellish & twisted landscapes known from 90s death metal, surrounded with existential dread and nihilistic thoughts. As the album progresses, these landscapes and concepts start to evolve, while new ideas are introduced to the music. I think we achieved a great balance between banger riffs and otherworldly atmospheres. "Self-producing the album allowed us to make this entirety as close to the vision in our heads as possible. From the way each instrument sounds to the colossal and atmospheric synth soundscapes, the freedom to tweak these things ourselves really added a significant amount of depth to this debut album."Aatos Palmu (bass) adds: "We are inspired by a wide variety of different kinds of music, and I think it can be felt and heard in DISGUISED MALIGNANCE. All of those influences together with our own artistic visions form a distinct sound and vibe. This album lays the groundwork for the ”Disguised Malignance sound” which we always aim to achieve and evolve when writing music."DISGUISED MALIGNANCE’s formative years up until this point has seen the group operate primarily as a duo, with vocalist Felix Pennanen and bassist Aatos Palmu forming the band in 2021, and carefully constructing the band’s foundational sound of old school death metal sensibilities with a calculatedly modern view of technical songwriting embellishments. The young band’s dichotomous approach to the genre was evidenced in their early demo and 2023 promo tapes respectively, before Pennanen and Palmu found themselves with growing ambitions for the band.Commencing writing and recording in 2022 with their core pairing, DISGUISED MALGINANCE display a musical chemistry far beyond their years on Entering the Gateways. Frenzied passages careen and jolt forward with a menacing intent, whilst swarming tremolos and an dexterous rhythmic backbone bring to mind greats such as Demilich and Crytopsy. Written specifically with a solidified quintet in mind, Entering the Gateways ushers DISGUISED MALIGNANCE’s more textured passages into the fold - look no further than Disengagement into Eternity or Remnants of Serenity - that invoke more modern death metal acts such as Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation.Inspired heavily by Lovecraftian horror and armed with an esoterically eldritch unease at the simultaneously unknown and unknowable, Entering the Gateways oscillates between the physical and the otherworldly throughout its 34 minute runtime. DISGUISED MALIGNANCE’s ambitions to take death metal’s elemental parts and impart their own verve and voice into the genre are plain to see on their first full-length, and it's a testament to their natural talents that Entering the Gateways stands as a bold introduction to the band.

Entering the Gateways tracklist:1. Gates to Nihil2. Confined3. Unearthly Extinction4. The Fading Path of Existence5. Malignant Visions6. Remanants of Serenity7. Disengagement into Eternity8. Beyond (Entering the Gateways)DISGUISED MALIGNANCE is:Felix Pennanen - vocalsAatos Palmu - bassDaniel Gamache - guitarTuure Suomalainen - guitarJuuso Hämäläinen - drums

Canva inks deals with Warner and Merlin to let creators use songs in their contentCanva has built a user base of around 135m
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SoundCloud tackles what it calls the ‘Zero Plays problem’ with AI-Powered ‘First Fans’ featureAlgorithm will use AI technology developed by Musiio
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