What does a manager do? Pt1

They head up a team of people that include a booking agent, a publicist and a road manager, and may include more. They are the people who coordinate all of these activities as well as liaising with the record label, the merchandise producers, promoters and other managers. However, if you are a small band and in a small industry like ours, your manager tends to be your publicist, your booking agent, promoter, business manager and road manager all in one. It is because of various areas of activities exist, that forming a clear understanding of responsibility with any potential manager becomes so important.

 

Here is what a manager can offer:

 

Direction and advice

 

As someone with some business acumen and knowledge of the music industry, your manager is in a great position to give the band advice on direction, business ideas, creativity and strategy. This does not mean you should be letting or asking your manager to create your strategy for you, or to basically take all these decisions in these areas. What it means is that, as part of a business collective, your manager should be a valuable part of all your thinking and planning. Precisely because this individual tends not to be a musician himself, he will bring a different perspective to yours, as well as a range of experience. That can only add to the sum of knowledge within the band.

 

Neutral ear

 

Again, as an individual not linked directly to the creative process of making your music, your manager can act as a neutral ear. This means she can give feedback and reactions to musical conflicts that might not be resolvable within the band. If you are battling with a song and there are opposing points of view within the band,as someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in one answer or another, your manager can provide an unbiased point of view that looks at what works best for the song as opposed to one or other of the band members. Also, your band manager can often give excellent input into your songs and performance. As her point of view is directed at business and financial success, she will often be able to make suggestions that are aimed at making you more accessible to the public. Often these ideas will not be popular with your band. But if you have an understanding that certain compromises can be made in order to get your career further down the road and to make a bit more money, it is always a good idea to bear these concerns in mind. Not all managers have the kind of music industry knowledge that such input requires, however. So again, this is a point that should be discussed at length and form part of your agreement with your management.

 

Booking

 

In the South African industry, the most well-known occupation of a manager is that of booking agent. Your manager must know how to book gigs, how to plan a tour and how to negotiate the best deal for your band. He must also know how to make sure your technical requirements are met, that the PA and sound engineer are available on the night and that support band information is taken care of. As we saw in chapter 11, it is best to use a checklist or a booking confirmation sheet with all your requirements entered on it so that your manager knows what you expect and also what to do. Then, once the show is booked, everyone in the band knows exactly what has been agreed to.

 

Publicity

 

It is not generally enough for a manager just to make sure shows are booked. A good manager also needs to take care of making sure that the public knows about these shows. This includes sending gig information to free listings on radio, TV, the Internet and newspapers, and making sure that the web page is updated, that the database receives an email or SMS and so on. However, whether your manager acts as a full-time publicist on your behalf or not is something that needs to be agreed on upfront. Often managers are stronger in some areas than in others. For example, some are very good with logistics and technical issues, others better with media and publicity. A publicist looks after ALL your publicity needs, which includes setting up interviews, sending your music to radio, getting videos to TV and writing and distributing press releases. This is not a function that most managers will offer as part of the deal. If you require it, make sure you negotiate for it. And also be aware that, while your manager will probably do as much as is in her power to market your gigs via publicity channels, this is often where that responsibility stops. If you want more, ask for it, agree to specific outputs and keep an eye on the situation.

 

Look out for part two of 'What does a manager do?' next week.

 

Originally published in David Chislett's One, Two, One, Two: A Step By Step Guide To The South African Music Industry. Download a free copy of the book at www.davidchislett.co.za.