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Ongoing History of New Music

Mighty Managers of Rock

Ongoing History of New Music

Curiouscast

Music History, History, Music, Music Interviews, Music Commentary

4.8 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 23 October 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you’re a musical artist and you start to do well, the point will come when you need a manager. The manager is the person who looks after all the business stuff so the musician can get on with the business of making music…managers deal with booking gigs, marketing, promotions, promoters, publicity, support staff and road crews. They collect the money and pay the bills…and the oversee all the infrastructure of your career: lawyers, accountants, and all the other people involved in running the business that is you and your music. But it doesn’t stop there…managers can also function as advisors, sounding boards, fixers, father and mother figures, referees, bail bondsmen, bouncers, psychologists, and even amateur physicians and pharmacists—for good or for not-so-good reasons. They need to be on top of trends, have all the right connections, understand audiences, be able to navigate record companies, and translate contracts…it can be a 24/7 job. Bottom line is that a manager can make or break a career…they are incentivized by their commission, which is usually somewhere around 15%...the more you make as an artist, the more they make…if they’re good at their job, your career grows and the money roles in. These are the stories of nine managers who have had an impact—mostly good, but also, you know, not-so-great. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing

0:04.3

history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.

0:09.4

If you're a musical artist and you start to do well, the point will come when you need

0:14.0

a manager. The manager is the person who looks after all the business stuff, so the musician

0:19.8

can get on with the business

0:20.9

of making music. Managers deal with booking gigs, marketing, promotions, promoters, publicity,

0:26.5

support staff, and road crews. They collect the money and pay the bills. And they oversee

0:31.1

all the infrastructure of your career, lawyers, accountants, and all the other people involved

0:36.1

in running the business that is you and your music.

0:39.6

But it doesn't stop there.

0:41.5

Managers can also function as advisors, sounding boards, fixers, father and mother figures, referees, bail bondsmen, bouncers,

0:49.7

psychologists, and even amateur physicians and pharmacists for good or not so good reasons.

0:55.8

They need to be on top of trends, have all the right connections, understand audiences,

1:00.6

be able to navigate record companies and translate contracts.

1:04.0

It is a 24-7 job.

1:07.1

Bottom line is that a manager can make or break a career.

1:11.0

They are incentivized by commission, which is usually somewhere around 15%.

1:15.9

So the more you make as an artist, the more they make.

1:19.2

If they're good at their job, your career grows, and the money rolls in for everyone.

1:24.5

These are the stories of nine managers who have made an impact, mostly good, but also,

1:30.5

you know, not so good. This is the ongoing history of new music podcast with Alan Cross.

1:40.0

Hello again, I'm Alan Cross, and this program is all about managers of rock bands.

...

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