Managers: Can not live with them ... but can we live without them? You can not throw a rock in any metropolis on Earth without hitting someone claiming to be a manager. Where musicians go, managers follow. It is as accepted and expected in the entertainment industry as an out of the habit of cocaine or a control non-payment of taxes. When you tell people you're a musician, one of the first things they will ask is: Do you have a manager? However, those of the spear of the music industry know how to ask even more specific: Do you have a good manager?
"What is the difference?" You can ask. Is not a better manager than no manager at all? Although it appears that the answer to this question is unequivocal: "Yes, actually, it's a bit like asking," did not have a prostitute suffering from herpes for a girlfriend better than to be alone? "In truth, bad representation is much worse than no representation. So it is a fact that there are things in your group will probably never be possible without the help of a manager, agent, entertainment lawyer, etc., bad representation can stagnate a career ... stop it dead in his throwing up in the ranks of celebrity or even worse ... undo some of the work difficult The group has already done.
Sad but true, a bad manager can take a group very well and turn them into something so bad that the old gypsy women covering their faces with cloths to spit and give your group the evil eye as you pass. Ok, maybe a bit dramatic, but seriously ... your whole band really is his name and reputation, so why take a chance on two of these through your whole group in the hands of someone you are not 100% sure is your best interests?
The following are some tips to help you decipher whether or not your manager can take you up or turn your group into a flop
1.) Drummer's Girlfriend is not a manager --- Sure, she may get names for your mailing list, to invite the team of his young daughter beach volleyball to all your gigs and post latest photos to your photo gallery website, but it is not really your manager. It is a help, she can be president of your fan club, the head of your street team and sexiest roadie world, but it probably does not know how to set up a press kit and make the calls you get to an A & R representative office for a meeting. This also applies to: boyfriends, wives, husbands, booty calls, one night, moms, dads, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbors, nieces, nephews, grandparents, grandchildren, the homeless animals and roots through your trash at midnight. These people may be all well intentioned and you can accept their help in dozens of ways (it takes a village to build a popular unsigned band) but do not give them the label or the powers of a manager.
2.) Treasure your fans but do not let you manage --- This should be a given, but you'd be surprised how many over-eager, a little obsessed fans move the semi-stalker to mega-manager in a small Simple week number. I can not stress how simply wrong this whole concept, for two dozen major reasons the most important is: The fans must be kept at a distance. There is a reason why that same person comes to all your shows no matter how you play, it becomes the first sitting in front of you apparently paralyzed with delight. Either they are in love with someone in the band or they are crazy. These reasons may be to obtain a restraining order, but certainly not reasons to make someone your manager. manager of a band knows all the secrets of every musician, every person in the personal lives of each member, where you keep your money where you live, and that is in your database of contacts / fan. This is not information you want someone who has 450 cut pictures of you on their bedroom ceiling.
Posted on February 7, 2010.
