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This week, Managers,  Let’s go -  

What is the role of a good artist manager? Do you work for the manager or does the manager work for you? Well if it’s your Uncle Earl, he works for you, but if you are fortunate to get signed by a large well known company like Southpaw Management you might feel like you work for them but they still work for you too. A manager is like the CEO of the company YOU. You hire the manager to run your business and you trust them to have your back, front and each side. So ask yourself, do you have anything to manage? And if you do, are you willing to turn over all of the responsibility of your business to them? Remember a manager is not a glorified assistant. A manager should have unrestricted access to your money, your image, your likeness, your contacts and make legally binding decisions for you. You have to be able to trust them. And yes there are some horror stories out there of the misuse of power of management companies, so it’s a tough call. They should be like a Dr and do no harm, and they cannot benefit from the relationship and go behind your back and profit in ways that don’t benefit you and your career.    

Hiring the CEO of YOU, is one of the most important decisions you can make. They will handle your day to day, book gigs, make sure your transportation is straight, know what your backline is, makes sure the studio is right, the engineer “gets your sound,” and negotiates your deal points. They should not only understand your brand and your sound but help to develop it. The manager should know the right producers, beat makers, and graphic artists to make everything from your logo to your album art pop! They should understand your audience and know how to grow it, or hire the right person to do that. Now with all that said, sometimes what you need is a “bridge-manager” to help out with your load until you can find that right manager. That is where Uncle Earl comes in handy. Just make sure you both know that’s what that relationship is.  

Now with that said, a manager is not a marketing company, a record label, or a production company. These are services that a manager helps you to obtain and even leads, so you can be the artist you are meant to be. A lot of managers out there are entertainment attorneys and they (in my opinion) make some of the best managers due to their ability to negotiate. In addition, the fact that they usually have power of attorney and fiduciary responsibility to act on your behalf, you want someone who knows the law and not just google.  

Ok so that’s it for this week and the year, and what a year it has been. Stay safe out there, wash your hands, stay 6 feet apart and wear your mask. See you for a quick note next week and back to the Tips next year. 

This week's Independent Artists of the Week is still Indy artist with Christmas Music all the way through Christmas. Click on the name, scroll down the page to hear, buy and support.  

For more information or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next week.