The Band Factory

Overview
This article provides a background into defining the key roles and responsibilities of the core artist management team. It essential to the success of the artist’s career, that these roles and responsibilities are understood by all to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.

A brief background on each role within the structure has been given, so that one can understand the positioning of each role so that the responsibilities and duties are allocated correctly.

The Band Manager
Essentially, managers work for the artists and are responsible for developing, advancing and strategising the artist’s career. The manager is also a vital factor in obtaining a record or publishing deal and managing the business end of the artist’s career. Once the artist has been signed, an artist’s relationship with their record/publishing company will be conducted almost entirely through the manager, although the artist will get to know many people in the business on a day to day level.

The manager will also handle the artist’s relationship with their live agent, merchandise, website people, accountants, lawyers, PR and Publicity company on a day to day basis. In addition, the manager will deal with the music publishing issues of the artists who are also songwriters. The philosophy behind this structure is that the artist is a creative individual and therefore needs an experienced, trusted business person at the helm to ensure that that the business aspects of their career are being handled efficiently and that the maximum income is generated.

There is a school of that that says that you’re either manager or not. In other words, you’re born a manager. The ‘inner manager’ has the ability to sort out problems with a combination of ego, persuasiveness, lateral thinking, empathy and a bull-headed belief in their artist, this has characterised all great managers in the business. If you talk to great managers, you will often find that they are the kind of person who organise things, see different ways of looking at a problem and relish being the back-room person who in reality runs everything.

Most importantly the manager must be able to see the ‘big picture’ and develop a strategy to getting there, which may not be obvious to the artist or the rest of the team. It is therefore important that the manager keeps lines of communication open and helps the others to see ‘the big picture’.

As the manager will often be presenting the artist’s work to the industry at large, and will be the first port of call in those interested in your band, you need to ensure that your manager is creatively in tune with you. A good manager after working with the artist for a period of time will develop an intuitive ‘sixth sense’ of what the artist will or will not be happy with. This speeds up the communication process and forms the basis of any good working relationship.

Managers make their living by charging a percentage of the artist’s earning. This percentage is normally between 15% and 20% of the artist’s gross earnings. It is also normal for the manager to be paid certain expenses on this of this which the manager incurs as part of his day-to-day work managing the artist and the business.

It is worth remembering that some of the world’s most successful artists have been with the same manager for decades – a true partnership between the artist and manager.

The Live Agent
Many people in the music industry get confused about the difference between managers, agents and PR people. It often occurs, particularly in the newer bands and people new to the industry that they view an agent’s role as that of a manager. This could be not further from the truth, although with smaller and newer outfits, one person may fulfil all roles, the duties and responsibilities are distinct.

An agent’s function is to get their artists as many gigs as possible and to help the band (and manager) to develop a sensible gigging strategy. This strategy defines performance fees, types of venues, dates and locations.

Agents are in constant touch with promoters, venues and with other agents who exchange information about which bands are touring, which venues are seeking artists or opening acts for larger touring bands. An agent will work closely with an artist’s manager at all times, keeping in close communication to ensure that the artist is ready to perform if an opportunity arises.

Once a gigging strategy is established and gigs or tours booked, it is the agent’s job to make sure that all parties, from the artist, band, manager and the promoters work well together and make sure that that the gig/tour is a success. They are not a Tour/Road  Manager, this will be covered later in this document.
This will encompass everything from making sure the gig/tour is being advertised properly to ensuring that the promoter is getting co-operation from the artist management and vice versa, they will liaise with the Tour Manager and most importantly ensure that the band gets paid !

A great agent is a real ‘get out there and do it’ person with an extensive network in the industry. An agent is not scared of knocking on doors, or even kicking them down, they are shrewd negotiators for deals, and will also keep their artists best interests at heart, ensuring a good deal for the artist without compromise.

Agents, rather like managers, make their money by charging a percentage of the fees paid to the band for gigs. The industry standard is between 10% and 15% of the artist’s performance fee.

The PR and Publicist
This person is basically the bridge between the artist and all media. They are the ones who get the word out for an artist, so they are critical component for the building of a fan base and industry recognition. They answer and work closely with the artist’s management who has briefed them on the ‘Big Picture’ strategy. Like the agent they work closely with management at all times.

An adept publicist will do more than simply get the message out to media. They will arrange media appearances or other special promotional appearances, co-ordinate with in-store promotion and your tour planning, come up with an angle that makes your story appealing, and so on.

This is where it becomes key for you to have a defined identity in terms of a genre. It is vital that the publicist is able to direct their efforts to the appropriate media outlets and any other parties appropriate to your genre, whether it be radio, zines, the web, stores, distributors or whatever.

It is a huge plus if the publicist actually specializes in the artists genre, or is at least very familiar with working in it and also likes the music, for they will then know all the roads to the right places without having to go through a learning curve at the artist’s  expense, and they’ll be enthusiastic to boot.

A publicist needs to be confident and professional, but also wants to take the time to get to know the artists act, goals, wishes and needs, so that they can best relate to others what the artist  is all about. They should listen to the artist and management and vice-versa, because the publicist knows the business of publicity and marketing. At the same time, the PR person must also take cognisance of the artist and management so that materials are not published that do not reflect the artist or the strategy.  A publicist needs to be told when there is something that the management or artist don’t like about a piece of material that is  intended for the industry or the public.

Whichever the billing method, they will almost certainly charge you for any out-of-pocket expenses they incur on the artist’s behalf (travel beyond their locale, mail-outs and so forth), much like a lawyer or manager does, and they may require a “retainer” deposit up front.

As an important liaison between the artist and a world of companies and individuals out there, the publicist’s job requires a special and varied skill set. It is a pressure-packed and challenging role involving a constant weight of demands and looming deadlines.

The Road/Tour Manager
For the purposes of this article, we will call these to roles the same. Although in larger artists with long tours, these take on different roles. For sake of brevity we will refer to them as Road Managers.

Road managers are employed by the artist manager. The Road manager will perform many of the functions of the manager while the band is on the road but these fall more into the domain of the Tour Manager.

The Road Manager’s prime responsibilities are the logistics and technical aspects of the gig or the tour. They are responsible for making sure that transport arrangements are done and available. The Road Manager works closely with the agent in this regard and takes the logistics to their execution stage.

The Road manager ensures that all backline and front of house riders have been supplied correctly and does preliminary checks with the resident sound and lighting crews. The hospitality rider falls under the agents duties.

It is up to the Road Manager to inform the agent of any potential problems, who will then communicate these to the management and promoter/venue.

The Road Manager oversees the load in and load out processes. Soundcheck times are confirmed to the agent and management and also relayed to the band. The Road manager is, along with the agent, responsible for making sure that the artist and band are on time for the soundchecks and performances. There is an obvious overlap here with the agents.

Compiled/written by Kai Von Pannier. Grand Axe Music
                     

 

So this is the Band Factory! Well what is it, I hear you asking?

Simply put we are a partnership of people from the music industry who have come together to fix a crack in the market that we have identified.

How often do musicians ask these questions?

- How do I get radio play?

- I want to record my music ? where should i go?

- How can I distribute my music?

- Who can understand these contracts?

- What are my royalty rights and how do I get them?

- How can I get more gigs?
- Do I need a manager or an agent?

You get the picture!

We have seen great talent fall at any number of hurdles. Let?s face it musicians are musicians, that?s what you are good at. How often have you been told ?You have to run your music career as a business?. Yeah right! It?s an oxymoron. You would love to do that, but your are really not that way inclined!

So we want to help you. We want to make sure you get the best chance possible in the toughest industry in the world, and that is not a sales pitch, it?s fact!

So more later !!