Maureen

Great Managers and How To Find Them - A blog in 6 parts

"A lot of work goes into the public hearing the music," states Danny Goldberg. "It's time-sensitive, and it requires finesse and intelligence to avoid disasters. Whether it's something going wrong in a club, the relationship with the media, the record company, the attorney, or the booking agents, I don't know if artists are always aware of how much work it is. It's the kind of profession where anything good that happens is credited to the artist and anything that goes wrong is the fault of the manager.

"It's hard sometimes to measure a manager's real contribution, impact, and value in a tangible way," Goldberg admits. "Therefore, you're hoping that there's an intuitive grasp of it. There's no chance for an It's a Wonderful Life run-through of what your career would be like without the manager. That's the most frustrating thing for both parties. The artist always wonders, 'Am I getting my money's worth?' The manager wonders, 'Do they appreciate what I'm doing or not?' I believe good managers are worth a great deal to an artist. And bad managers are worth zero. So the profession is extremely valuable -- when done correctly."

Good managers are networkers; they understand that the business is all about relationships. Though it may be your song in the movie, the path it followed to get there may be this convoluted: Your manager is backstage at the Foo Fighters show, which he got into because he used to book bands at the club part-time. He runs into his ex-girlfriend's brother, who works for a film company. They talk about a film that's under production there, and it turns out they're looking for a song with a train theme for the soundtrack. The manager remembers that your band has a train song on their demo. Phone numbers are exchanged.

The point, of course, is that it's not always easy to trace or gauge the manager's positive effect. As Billig points out, "There are little accomplishments that seem insignificant to the artist or outside world but are gigantic for the artist's career. It's hard for anyone, even an artist, to see that opportunity the manager gained for him or her."

"I think there's a quote from Andy Gould [manager of Rob Zombie and Monster Magnet] that says, 'A manager's job is to be the thing that gets between the bullet and the artist's foot,'" laughs Hutton. "I think that's true, combined with contributing to the artistic process. That doesn't necessarily mean creating the music, but representing the music in the proper spirit and in a creative way."

Managers essentially work for free until they can create financial opportunity and exposure.

Pt. 4: You Want Me to Pay You What? (How Managers Get Paid)