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A Look at Hiring an Artist Manager

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Having an artist manager helps in many ways. They help take care of the business part so that the artists can work on the creative part. They have plenty of connections to help you out and push you forward in the industry. You just have to make sure you are ready for one. They usually don’t come cheap and even rarer, come free. You want to make sure that you aren’t just starting out when looking for an artist manager. It won’t be worth spending the little money you have on a manager when there is nothing for them to work with. Make sure to have a few shows behind you and some songs recorded before hiring a manager. It’ll give them a chance to look at what you have and how they feel with you. You want to make sure there is a connection with them and sometimes music is the only connection to start off with. It’ll also help find the right kind of manager to get that will mesh with the music well. They will be able to help you more if they work in with others in your genre.

If you don’t have the money to afford a manager, you can always have a friend help out. You might have a friend who knows some things when it comes to the industry, or at least have enough enthusiasm to look up anything in the industry to help. If they believe in you and enjoy your music, they might be willing to do it for free. Not everyone will do it for free, but they might be cheaper than a well known manager. They will gain experience and you will be able to focus on your music.

If you have the money to hire a manager with connections, it would really help. Make sure to find the right artist manager for you. If you are looking for someone to help more with booking, look for a manager who has connections with venues and promoters. If you want someone to help more with finding labels, look for someone who has connections in that area. Some of these managers might work cheap if they really believe and enjoy your music. It’s not always easy to find, but they are out there.

Once you decide to get a manager, make sure you connect with them. It’s like hiring a new band member. They will most likely be spending a lot of time with you figuring things out, going on tours, recording, etc. Make sure they are someone that you can be honest and open with. The artist and manager need to be open with what they both want and how they can work to help each other. It should never be left to just one side to get things done. Both sides need to be realistic about what the other can do and everyone must be honest with what they can and cannot do at that time.

Looking for managers isn’t always easy. Try asking around at shows. The best ways to find managers is by asking the bands you perform with. Some might already have one and can give you a referral about a great manager or their manager might be able to refer one to you. Other artists will give you honest opinions on the people they work with. Having the artist introduce you to an artist manager will be a great way to start a conversation with a probable manager.

When trying to get the attention of an artist manager, you want to treat them the same way you would a label. Send them music samples, demos, information about yourself/band and music, and anything else you would send to a label. Once you send an email to an artist manager, give them time to respond. You want to give them a little follow up, but you don’t want to be too strong.  Give them a week or two before sending a follow up, but make sure to be respectful and not too pushy. If you do get a response, make sure to be respectful, kind, and humanly no matter what the response is from them.

If you find an artist manager that you are willing to work with and who is willing to work with you, make sure to make up a contract. If it’s a friend that you decide to work with, you can all make up your own terms that you mutually agree upon. Talk things out and don’t get angry. If you guys can’t agree on a contract and things you agree with, don’t work together. If it’s with a known manager, they will have lawyers and have more terms that might be better to get legal advice for. Either way, make sure that everything is agreed upon before you sign anything.

An artist manager is great to have to help out. You want to make sure that you are established and know what you want before even looking for a manager. There are so many different types out there and you want to make sure you find the right one for you and your band. Not everyone is going to work for everyone.

How Independent Musicians Can Build a Street Team

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Having a street team is a great way to promote. You have less stress and things to worry about, and most fans are more than willing to help out. Just make sure you are ready and prepared before starting a street team. Is your music good enough yet? Do you have the money to purchase promoting material? Do you have anything to promote? All of those are crucial to have before starting a street team. Always make sure that people know you have a street team and that you’re always recruiting people for it.

 

 

Online Street Team:

When starting a street team, it is best to start online. The fans who signed up for your email list are best to start off with because they are already invested in you and are keeping up on you. It will be easier to contact those people and you can invite them individually.

A social media street team should be done next. There are ways you can make forms for them to fill out on your social media and make multiple ways for them to join. It’s also easy for fans to keep up to date and for you to post tasks for them to do. It will also help your email list grow. Having members post things at the same time on multiple social medias will help give you more of a buzz and will get others interested.

Getting an online street team gives you a wider range of things to do. You can have fans share videos, tweeting and re-tweeting, and share posts. It’s a great way to get feedback on things that you want to do. They can help you decide and create posters and shirts, as well as coming up with new merchandise to sell.

 

 

Offline Street Team:

Having a street team on the streets are still very important. It’s a lot easier to find out what place you’re more popular online so you know where to start the street team. You want to find fans who are willing to go out and post fliers or pass out stickers and talk about you to other people and call up radio stations to request your song. They will make things more personal when promoting and it will help with getting more fans. You have to make sure that you have the money to provide the promotional tools for them to pass out.

 

Asking fans to promote you isn’t all you need to do. You want to make sure to reward them as well since they are using their free time to help promote you. It can be anything. A shirt, tickets, CD, stickers, etc., will all work and will make people want to do more. You can even turn tasks into contests and give out prizes for whoever did the most. Keep them interested to have them want to help you. Make sure not to do give out the same thing too many times or it will get old and they won’t be doing it as much. Make sure to do meet-and-greets with them so you guys can connect and they’ll feel more excited to help.

Finding people who are most influential will help the most. They will be the ones who will talk to people about you and get them interested, whether it’s online or off. They’re the ones that their friends go to for new music.

You want to make sure that when you get people to join your team that they are willing to do things to help you out. You don’t want them to be rude and give you a bad name. They will be trying to help, but you don’t want them to be pushy are make people upset in any way. It will look bad on you. It’s not always easy to monitor that, but when you start hearing about it, you should try to fix it. Always make sure your team members know what you expect them to do for you and the Do’s and Don’ts of what you want, before they sign up. And always keep them updated with events or anything coming up.

You want to make sure that there’s always a way for your members to contact you or anyone else. Email is always a great way for them to keep in contact, but creating a FaceBook private group for just the members is a great way for them to keep in touch with each other and get help from each other. Having groups set up for specific cities will help the members fell more connected with each other and can even get together to come up with ideas on what to do. Emails are great for members to report what they’re doing. They can send written reports and photos of what they’re doing. It will help you keep track of what’s going on and where. Having a forum will help each other stay in connect and have easy access to anything they have a question about and maybe even before they ask it. It’s easier to find what they’re looking for.

Everyone wants to help their favorite bands or friends/family members in bands, but the bands have to make sure they are ready to have a street team. You have to purchase all the posters and stickers that the members need to pass out and you have to be able to afford to send the products to them. You want to make sure you have a song or music video or anything for them to promote. If there’s nothing to promote, then there’s nothing for them to really do and they’ll forget about it. Make sure to reward them for their help and that they know you appreciate all that they are doing for you. If you get the right people to work on your team, they will do anything to help you out, so you want to make sure you can do anything to show your appreciation. It will be hard to get noticed without their help.

 

How Independent Musicians Can Build a Street Team is a guest post by Michele Enouch

Michele Enoch is a music business graduate from Musicians Institute who has managed and promoted bands for years. She is now working on her photography and helping performers advance in their career. Her passion has always been music and she is exploring all aspects of the industry. Michele appreciates all kinds of music and seeing music in all kinds of environments. She enjoys crocheting hats and toys, reading and writing mystery and horror stories, taking pictures of everything she can, food from around the world, and adorable animals. She is always on the look out for anything new and exciting

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