They said the game has changed a lot due to the magnitude of resources available in the music industry and are readily available at the disposal of the music artist. Yes! That’s Right! But the underlying fact is that artist manager, talent representative or the service of talent representation can not be ignored by the music artist. The body of workload carried by an artist manager in the life of the music artist cannot be overemphasized. Just like in every business or general scope of life, we all need some form of assistance in whatever we do in other to make real progress; and for the career of a music artist, the help of a professional talent representative is compulsory.
Types of Artist Managers
While trying to understand the role of the artist manager in a settings of the artist music career, firstly, let us identify briefly the times of artists managers that are available out there.
- Personal or Relationship Manger
- Tour or Road Manager
- Financial Manager
- Brand or Image Manager
- Bookings Manager or Booking Agent
What are the duties of an Artist Manager
The work of the artist manager can be described as “unquantifiable”. This means that the workflow of the music artist in its entirety would rest on the shoulders of the artist manager.
Take for example, just as a motor car needs a driver, so also the artist music career needs a professional Artists representation firm or individual to take care of. Below are some of the crucial and dedicated services performed by an artist manager as indicative of the types of artist managers above:
- The artist’s personal or relationship manager is the very port of call as it regards to the managerial duties of the music artist career. The personal manager is what I personally refer to as a relationship manager. The reason being, he is the closest one to the artist. He or she acts as a Chief Of Staff (C.O.S) to the artist. I often call him “close confidant” of the artist as everything and everyone who needs any form of dealings with the artist, has to pass through him. The relationship with the artist is so mutual that in some cases, we have seen even superstars like Burna Boy, Usher, and others being managed by their Mother. This is due to the personal manager position as it is legally available in the career of the artist.
- Tour or Road Manager: in a situation where the artist has gotten to a certain level, where this is required, the road manager is the one in charge of the artist’s tour itineraries, logistics, and related peripherals. The tour manager, in most cases, always forms part of the record label crew that deals with the artist tour from a touring business perspective. The tour manager will also work with the artist’s personal manager to see that everything runs smoothly whilst on tour or planning a tour. But in an indie artist situation, the position of the tour manager might be taken over by the personal manager due to budget constraints.
- Financial Manager: as the name suggests, this is the money bag issue. The financial manager is probably an accountant appointed by the artist in agreement with his or her personal manager. The financial manager will be the one who takes care of the artists’ finances from, income to an expenditure of all kinds. The job of the financial manager forms the backbone of financial prudence including taxation matters, staff salaries, and others.
- Brand Manager: The artist’s brand manager forms part of the creative team that is responsible for the public personality of the artist. The artist is treated as a brand and the manager is a representative of the artist as a brand. His responsibility among many is negotiating marketing deals, including ensuring the public image of the artist is always positive and marketable. The brand manager is responsible for endorsement deals and others. He will ensure the artist’s image and integrity are well preserved.
- Booking Manager or Booking Agency: as the name suggests, the bookings manager or booking agent, might mean two things in a situation of large music companies. But for medium size companies or indie artists, a booking agent would be the talent booker with whom they are registered or assigned to seek or accept bookings on his or her behalf. The booking manager would be responsible for running and managing the artist’s schedules including that of performance and other commercial engagements. Just like the others, the booking agent works closely with a personal manager to achieve a successful booking calendar for the artist.
Conclusion
There you have it folks, the various types of artists management duties as it matters to the artist or talent representation. Depending on the size of a company or the level of the artist, one may pick and choose which is more important to work with. As usual, we appreciate your comments below.
Most importantly, if you are an artist or know some artist you would like to assist with information, kindly share this with all your friends and social media handles. You might just be helping someone in a big way.
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