Walking Man Live

If musical opportunities are knocking on your door you might be a bit overwhelmed and not sure how to handle it all. Should you hire a manager, do you need an agent? Maybe you need to hire a secretary to hire a tour manager to rent a limo so you can travel in style. If things are going well, first of all congratulations. Secondly, you need to keep doing what you were, writing and/or playing music. Yes it is your career and you should be involved in every step, but even the Beatles had a little help from their friends.

There are a few types of managers to consider hiring:

• Personal Manager
• Road Manager
• Business Manager

Each one of these types of managers are involved in a very specific part of your career and should be people you feel comfortable agreeing and disagreeing with, and someone who you have trust in. And of course always make sure you and a lawyer read the fine print.

Personal Manager- Someone who’s job is to help enhance and advise your music career. This usually involves helping you make decisions about what agreements to sign, advice on your playing and writing of music, and any other decisions you have to make about your career

Road Manager- Someone who arranges tours and makes sure all the road money and equipment is handled properly. Your tour manager will take care of making sure the venue has all the equipment you need, and that the transportation has been taken care off. In addition they will be picking up the cash at the venue and holding onto it for road expenses if necessary.

Business Manager- Basically your accountant. This person should be very well with number, finances, and being organized. They make sure your royalties are paid in due time, handle any trust accounts you may need, and advise you on any negotiations and how much you’ll be getting. A CPA does help a lot.

Managers, depending on the success of the artist and complexity of their job (bands on tours require a better road manager then a studio band), are usually compensated 10-25% of your earnings. This is not set in stone, and every situation is different. Good managers will invest on you, and good managers require a good pay.

It has been reported that Colonel Tom Parker’s contract with Elvis Presley gave the Colonel 50% of his earnings as pay for being his personal manager. That worked well for them.

What your manager should not do is be your agent, publisher, or a promoter. Your manager should help you hire agents, promoters and sign to a publisher. It is important to keep all of these jobs separate from the same person or business. In New York State, your manager cannot act as your agent and book shows without being a licensed agent. On occasion, managers might be offered an opportunity to have you preform and the decision must be made immediately. This is called incidental employment and is allowed, just don’t let it be a habit.