5 Key People You Need in Your Music Team

If you want a long-term career in the music industry as an artist, you have to have a team; there’s no exception to this. Whether your goal as a musician is to be a local artist, achieve indie success, or get signed by a major label, having a music team will help you attain your goals. A music team can be made up of as many people as you like. George Howard, founder of Slow River Records, gives great suggestions about including a web developer, tour manager, and song pluggers in your own music management team. Nonetheless, with out these 5 key people in your team, you will not take your career in the music industry to the next level:

 Personal Manager

The personal manager is probably the most important person in the team, other than the artist. As an artist, you have to be careful in choosing who you want as a personal manager. Chose one that correlates best with you in order to have a great relationship where trust and communication is generated. A personal manager will arrange the other team members, and delegate special jobs to them. This manager will also counsel, guide and manage the artist’s career. A manager’s duties DOES NOT include finding employment for the artist – that is a booking agent’s job. Be careful when deciding the terms of a management contract; make sure a provision is included just in case certain objectives aren’t met. The industry standard is 20% of income, but there are exceptions to this. Also, the post-term agreement can be controversial. Look for a sunset clause to reach for a compromise.   

Attorney

An entertainment attorney is important because they are informed about all the legal aspects and issues you may not be aware of. Having a legal adviser in your music team not only protects your best interests, but also enables you to negotiate possibly good deals. Attorneys can also write your contracts, and help you understand the details of other contracts you need to sign. Make sure you and/or your personal manager do enough research when choosing an attorney. Compensation can be anywhere from a consultation fee to an hourly rate.

Booking Agent

A booking agent finds employment for the artist. There is a common misconception that a manager is supposed to find the gigs for the artist. Brad Wavra, Vice President of Touring at Live Nation, describes a booking agent as someone who collaborates with the artist by providing relationships with corporate sponsors, club owners and other agents. Booking agents offer great services, and can really help you get noticed. Generally, a booking agent receives 10-20% of artist commission from the gig.

Business Manager

A business manager strictly handles money. In the beginning of your career, you may not need a business manger since you won’t be producing much income.  However, once you star receiving a steady cash flow, a business manager will be necessary. They can handle all of your finances, including paying bills, taxes, collecting salaries, royalties, and more. Business managers are usually compensated by the hour, month, percentage, or any combination of those.

Publicist

A publicist purpose is to get you noticed by the public. They can manage your social media accounts, create a media campaign, and get you in blogs, magazines, TV and radio. They create a buzz about you (the artist) and your music. Depending on the job of the publicist, they can charge an hourly rate, monthly fee or a project fee.

Having these 5 key people in your music team gives you the time to focus on what is important to you as an artist: your craft. With the six of you working together towards a common goal, your career will be taken to the next level. I guarantee it.