THE ARTIST, THE MANAGERS AND THE RECORD LABELS: I am glad that 90% of artists in Nigeria recognizes the importance of engaging a manager in the progress of their music career in spite of being signed to a Record company or not, however am worried that 80% of the artists don’t even know the functions or the role a manager plays in the success of their music careers, hence the exploit from artist by most record label companies. More so it’s sad that only a few of the managers in the business are qualified to be artist managers, while most record labels in Nigeria assume the role of management and record company at same time, hence taken total control of the artist career and brand. Have you ever wondered why artist dump their record companies even after a successful period of working together? Here are my thoughts on this issue briefly: A few weeks ago I got a text message from a strange number, the person went on telling me how he got my number from twitter and that he is an up-coming artist, he had recorded a few demos and wanted me to work with him. Then I asked if he knows what I do, he said “yes, that I am an artist manager” I asked again “so what exactly do u want me to do?” He said “I want you to HELP me in promoting my music to “BLOW!”” Then I asked if he had a budget? He replied “I don’t have MONEY, but if u can HELP me, u can take all my PROFIT in this first stage” lol! Very funny right? It is very clear on how desperate artist can be in other to be successful (“BLOW!”) no matter what it takes, even if he gives away his intellectual property and royalty out of ignorance. Hence most record companies take advantage of this and exploit the artist, then by the time the artist realizes; he dumps the record company with a lot of anger and regrets which shouldn’t be so.. However if a record company decides to invest huge amount of money into your career as an artist, all you owe them is to work hard, write and produce good music that will be marketable, BUT before you enter into any agreement with a record company make sure you have a clear understanding of the contract document you will be signing, if possible have a lawyer read the contract for you “just to avoid stories that touches the heart” at the latter, because the moment you sign, you are bound under that agreement, so “Shine your eyes”…. We have a few examples of artists dumping their record label companies already in the music industry of recent because of similar negligence. It’s obvious there is a huge gap in our music industry structure in educating and creating an enabling platform between our music artist and the record label company to have a common understanding in doing business together. First and foremost let me define the term management: “it is the act or skill of dealing with people or situations in a successful way. (Oxford advance learners dictionary) Management, as it applies to the music industry, it is not far from the literally definition as above, but technically in this context, a manager is not a guarantee for your success no matter how big the manager or management is, it is your had work on getting fans to listen to your music, writing better songs every day and building your network around people that matter in this industry, that will take you to the promise land. The biggest managers are not necessarily what you WANT, they are BIG and BUSY having huge clients and crazy schedules, what you NEED is a manager with a SMALLER roaster so that they can concentrate on you. • A manager is to stand as an intermediate between the record label and signed artist, Educate, develop, advice, plan, represent and guide the music artist all the way to the top. • A manager could be your friend or a family member, not necessarily a stranger, but must be a fan of your music and brand and must b qualified to be a manager. • A manager is the alter ego of the artist, the part of the artist the audience never sees. • A manager commissions the revenue generated from your music, so if you are not able to generate revenue then you have no business engaging a manager, the manager makes money when you make money and he is entitled to an agreed sum between 15% - 25% of your total revenue throughout the duration of his management contract with YOU the artist. • The percentage collected by a manager is dependent on his/her input financially in the success of your career; however a manager is not necessarily a promoter, a financier, a booking agent and definitely not a baby-sitter. Another thing that drives me crazy, are people who say “if I just had a manager “,”if I just had a Record Company” I will “BLOW!” LoL! ……. But really what you need to be successful is YOU! Few facts you should know as an emerging recording artist: 1. YOU must work and believe in yourself and your work before finding a right partner (manager/management) to work with. 2. Knowing how your intellectual properties can be protected and what organization are responsible for that in Nigeria. 3. Knowing who you are and knowing where you’re going with your music career before you even sit with any manager. 4. Knowing how a manager makes/gets his revenue and knowing how the managerial works 5. Understanding how royalties works 6. The only person that can drive success for your career is YOU. These are critical to your music success; no manager can take the place for a good education. Wish you all the best!
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 20:15:12 +0000
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