In this chapter:

• What is an artist manager?
• What do they do?
• Getting in the door

WHAT IS AN ARTIST MANAGER?

Bob Marley’s took five bullets in the groin for him. Beyoncé Knowles’s is her father and Celine Dion’s her husband. Former Australian prime minister Paul Keating used to be one. The most crucial relationship in an artist’s working life (after their pet Pomeranian, of course) is with their manager. Artist managers work directly for the artist or band, and are their chief representative/ally/defender/punchbag when it comes to everyone that can help them become a star: i.e. the record company, the publisher, the concert promoter (basically every other person in this book). See how, in the diagram in Chapter 1 (page 7), the manager literally surrounds and encloses the artists like a buffer.

Managers try to ensure artists are left free to concentrate on what they do best: music. And ensure they don’t have do anything so demeaning as picking up a ringing phone all by themselves .. .

In return they get 15 to 25 per cent of their artists’ income - usually 20 per cent, although this isn’t set in stone.

The hours average 10 am to 6 pm but be prepared for them to inevitably run into the wee small hours.

WHAT DO ARTIST MANAGERS DO?

Everything, really - that’s the simple answer. Managers literally ‘look after’ their client. Why else do so many singers end up being managed by their own mother? Managers do everything including:

• negotiating record company contracts
• negotiating publishing deals
• liaising with merchandisers
• liaising with PR companies or record company press officers and pluggers
• dealing with booking agents
• dealing with the relevant overseas companies
• handling the legal side and appointing a lawyer
• handling accountancy, maybe appointing an accountant
• appointing tour managers

... and much more.

So one day you might be acting tough with the record company lawyer over paragraph three clause four, the next urging your artist to smile more at a magazine photo shoot. One day ringing the accountant about the tax return, the next ordering the Chinese takeaway. If an artist can’t get out of bed in the morning to do promotional duties for the new album it’s the manager’s job to haul their charge onto their feet, order room service and placate the anxious record company exec outside the door who is at risk of bursting a bloodvessel as she has 20 journalists waiting impatiently in the hotel lobby downstairs. The most devoted/foolhardy (delete as applicable) artist manager may even end up performing duties such as mortgage applications and dog walking. It’s that diverse.

But it’s also a little more romantic than that. When everyone else is trying to turn their artist into something they’re not, the manager can be the only one defending their integrity and struggling to maintain what was so special about them in the first place. Managers will urge the record company to take a long-term view of their client as opposed to the fast buck short-termism of many record company suits. So if the manager feels their artist is being exploited (say inappropriate photos that dramatically alter their public image) or neglected (say a meagre marketing budget for their new record) they’ll fight their corner.

SOME FAMOUS BRITISH MANAGERS

Simon Fuller and his company 19 Management – famous for the Spice Girls, S Club 7 and the ‘Pop Idol’ concept which has netted gazillions. A modern legend.

Louis Walsh – familiar from ‘Pop Idol’ this veteran has mothered Boyzone, Westlife and Girls Aloud.

Peter Leak and Network Management – Dido, Avril Lavigne and Coldplay are some of the big names whose hands these folks hold through the peaks and troughs of stardom.

Colin Lester and Ian McAndrew and their company Wildlife – much-envied hotshot managers of Craig David, Travis and more.

Chris Morrison of CMO Management – a veteran who’s worked with Thin Lizzy, Ultravox, (Nigel) Kennedy, Blur, Morcheeba, Turin Brakes and many others.

David Enthoven and IE Music – much-respected and very busy chaperones of one Mr Robbie Williams and formerly bands such as Roxy Music.

GETTING IN THE DOOR

Management companies are firms that represent several artists at the same time. Whether you want to learn the business through a big, comforting corporate structure or fly solo, the same principles apply when it comes to knocking on doors. (See also Chapter 2 for more general advice on getting in through the corporate route.)

Most managers opt for the life they lead because they find an artist or band they long to manage. They might have no actual experience – just a firm belief they can make this artist a success – and end up learning on the job. So time you’re in your local toilet venue being blown away by a fantastic band, buy them a drink afterwards and ask them if they need a manager (obviously this wouldn’t work with U2 but it might with a local or college band, or anyone with talent and aspirations that reach beyond a bi-annual pub gig).

Do you have what it takes? Have you got a thick skin, persistence, patience, tolerance, sense of humour and a rudimentary knowledge of the principles of management and business? Maybe you were entertainments officer or social secretary at college, organised gigs in the student bar or roadied for a friend’s band. It’s all great experience.

The most essential requirement is absolute faith in your client: if you don’t believe they’re the best thing since sliced bread you will never persuade anyone else they are.

Courses

The University of Westminster is one institution that offers a degree in Commercial Music which covers music management. Check the BPI website for up-to-date info on others.

Books

The MMF (see above) publish the trade magazine MM Forum and a specialist manual, The MMF Guide to Professional Music Management, both of which will come in handy if you’re serious about this line of work.

Many managers start out as roadies, become tour managers (see Chapter 7) and work their way up. Or they may have a background as musicians or producers themselves and find that the business angle eventually lures them in.

Case study: Mark Vernon, Firebrand Management

‘Managers are like lone wolves in this business – they tend to be self-employed and are therefore open to all the elements. There’s a huge protection zone around artists and record companies, and artist managers have to be ready to be the first over the top and be prepared to get into the firing line with all concerned.

‘Initially I wanted to be a musician so I formed a band. However, with no money coming in this meant having to do a variety of jobs – working in HMV, on building sites, a stint in a French supermarket (to learn French). Eventually I became a confectionery rep for a while ... which at least brought in a secure wage, but more importantly the freedom not to be constrained by working nine-to-five, and therefore time to rehearse and perform plus the company car that meant I could get the band and gear to and from gigs!

‘Throughout this period I was always writing music and in 1985 I had saved enough to quit my job for a year or so and plunge into being a songwriter and focussing on the band. I chose to manage myself and ended up signing a publishing deal, going on to record an album with John Cale producing, and then negotiating licensing deals for the album in the UK and Europe. Looking back on it, I think I would have benefited from approaching a separate management company and concentrating on making the music, but at the time it was probably my experience as a sales rep that gave me the confidence to get in touch with Cale’s manager in the first place. I had always been taught ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’.

[Various members of his group (Rob Ellis and Ian Oliver) with him as manager, ended up backing PJ Harvey. His plan was to move more into production and subsequently he ended up producing PJ’s first single ‘Dress’ and co-producing ‘Happy and Bleeding’ off her first album ‘Dry’ in 1992. Due to the increasing amount of business activity this led to him becoming her manager.]

‘I set up my own company, Firebrand Management, in 1991. Since then and up until the present I have tended to specialise in representing the careers of more ‘cutting edge’ artists such as Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, BJ Cole, Trash Palace and, in a curious loop of circumstances, John Cale.

‘Watching your artist play a sell-out show to an enthusiastic audience and knowing afterwards that they are actually happy with the is a real high point of the job, as is reading a constructive and positive review, and seeing your artist on the cover of a magazine. Also getting the deal signed and celebrating, but be warned: only once the cheque has cleared! Seeing your artist attain a favourable chart position and hearing them on the radio or seeing them on TV whilst knowing they’ve achieved this without having had to make creative sacrifices is a real pleasure. I also enjoy the travelling – it’s not an office-orientated job, it’s unpredictable and that feeds the adrenalin and keeps you alert.

‘The minus points are people saying they’ll do something and not doing it. In terms of dealing with people you need an ability to separate the good guys from the bad and knowing the difference will go some way towards protecting your artist from the latter. Perhaps the most unsavoury side of the business is litigation and going to court. It has been jokingly suggested ‘where there’s a hit there’s a writ’ but in reality this is tiresome, stressful and horrifically expensive. I have always ended up on the winning side but my advice would be wherever possible to try to settle matters amicably and move on with dignity intact.

‘To succeed as an artist manager in the music business you need energy, initiative, team leadership and team building, foresight, creativity, patience, tolerance, dependability, responsibility, consistency, tenacity, decisiveness, occasional bloody-mindedness, strength and vision ... and at all times. Above all, you need the ability to build up a close relationship of trust with the artist by supplying them with a solid and reliable support mechanism whilst retaining a sense of perspective and humour. Knowing a foreign language can also really help when you are dealing with overseas business contacts.

‘Try to get work experience at a management company, but research them first – they’ll be more favourably disposed if you know what kind of artists they represent and a little about the history of the management company rather than going in blind. My assistant has been with me for the last six years. When she sent in her CV, it was we had compatible taste in music and that beyond that she had a good working knowledge of artists on my roster. This, allied to a diligent and proactive outlook, helped her get the job. Initially I started off by giving her small things to do as work experience, but over the years I have built up sufficient trust in her and her experience that I know the company is in dependable hands should I need to be away.

‘In terms of CV I’m not necessarily impressed when I see someone’s done media studies as a degree or done some particular music business course. Apart from basic computer literacy I’m far more interested in the personality and seeing what kind of music they’re into than pages of qualifications. The sorts of questions I ask myself: Can I have a good conversation with that person? Have they got energy and enthusiasm? Are they reliable? Have they got a sense of humour? Can they cope with the unpredictable hours and pressures that the job will entail? Do they want to learn? Will they get on with the artist? Above all, have they got a good work ethic or are they just in it for the ride?

‘There is no hard and fast rule that says you have to be in the music business already to be a good manager. It takes more than just swotting up, academic qualifications or interest in music – you’ve got to have the right temperament. As well as believing in your artist and the music, if you’re a dependable, organised and outgoing personality it will help you to do well and be able to sell yourself as a person (and therefore your artist) to others.’