You’re now saying, “Slow Down! WTF is a Music Manager?” Right? In today’s post, we will look at the role of a Music Manager for your music and show you how to get a music manager in 2023. The video is courtesy of Damian Keyes. You may be aware of Damian from my much older posts. I have followed him for a while and know he is good. He also has his music business academy, so that I will share the details with you at the end of the post.
Get Your Free Copy of The Complete Guide to Music Marketing 2023
How to Get a Music Manager?
Firstly, let’s look at what a music manager is, what they do and why you need one…even if you need one!
WTF is a Music Manager?
A good music manager can be the difference that will either make you a success or a failure. However, in business, we say that nobody is a failure. Some of the biggest names have failed on their way to success. It’s all a learning curve, and it’s all a good experience.
Every music manager has a different skill set. Some will be good at one aspect of managing your music but completely and utterly useless at managing other parts of your music. Therefore, the best kind of music manager you can hire is someone you already know. I say this because you will already know their strengths and weaknesses.
The most important thing that a good music manager can bring to the table is a strategy for how you will progress. They will show you how you will succeed and what you can expect from working with them. A music manager who can guide you along your pre-planned strategy is worth their weight in gold.
Your Progress Strategy
Being a good music manager is not simply about setting your plan down in black and white on a document. A good music manager is someone who is already well-connected. They will have plenty of contacts in the music industry. These contacts will include other managers, labels, promoters, legal eagles, other artists, as well as key music industry professionals.
The right strategy includes…
- Writing and recording the songs
- Build the social media presence
- Develop the audience
- Bring the audience value
- …and then you can monetise the audience.
How Much Money Do Music Managers Make?
Typically, the answer is anything from 15% to 20%. However, some managers have been known to make as much as 50%. This is all from merch sales, tickets, streaming royalties, CDs, syncing royalties and endorsements. The money paid to the manager is also taken from all income generated.
This isn’t as much as it sounds. If you are paid $100,000 for putting on a show, all other costs must be deducted before the manager takes his cut. The manager’s cut is the percentage of the profit and not the percentage of everything that comes in. Therefore, if your costs for the evening were $69,000 and you had $40,000 left over, the manager’s cut would be the $40,000 and not of the $100,000.
How to Get a Music Manager Who Values You
For a manager to value you, you have to value them in return, and you also have to respect yourself. Don’t go on wild nights out, drink tonnes of beer and smoke loads of drugs. That is the fast track to hell. What you need to do is to be sensible. Think about your career. Do you like making the kind of money you make? Is it the dream life you had? Before you begin, you need to ask yourself what you want out of life.
What is Damian’s Best Advice For How to Get a Manager?
Damian has three vital lines in your dealings with a good manager…
Make yourself scalable. Being scalable is more important than talent.
Demonstrate why you are worth managing.
Your job is to make yourself manageable.
Damian Keyes, (April 2023)
By this, Damian means you must make yourself attractive to a manager. You don’t do this by dressing nicely. A manager wants to see you have what it takes to turn your music into a winning success.
What is my Role in the Music Industry?
The more time I spend in the music industry, the more I see my role in promotion. This is because it is my role to critique and review the work of various artists. You are also welcome to work with me and have your music reviewed on Krannaken.com.
