How do you become a manager for an artist?

[Double Burger With Cheese]

My fiancee and I started an edm entertainment company in March 2020--made it a LLC in July 2020, we're making profit and have people who are willing to bankroll the next show we do, small to large. It's hard but not impossible.

That’s dope man. shyt, you can give the brehs some solid advice since you actively doing it. I’m not an expert or anything but I always been around studios and managers and shyt. So i was just going from my experience that I saw with them. My one homeboy actually had several investors after a while but that was after years of building relationships and networking. You already turning a profit so that’s great. I hope y’all company is successful

 

[CrimsonTider]

No.

You find someone to invest in you and don't use any of your own money, like any other company. Don't be stupid.

I’m talking about being a manager

 

[FromBillionsCameOne]

intimidation

 

[mr. smoke weed]

I’m talking about being a manager

Yea so if you manage, that's not all you do. You typically have a management company that has their hands in everything their artists does (not in a sneaky/bad way), and you normally fund that thru outside investors. Often managers are/were local/regional promoters, who also get bread and meet investment partners that way.

 

[Crumple]

@Suspicions

If you're passionate about it, go for it.

Learn from the best and go for it.
I think discipline, vision, capital and leading with integrity are some of the keys.

I've been paid for creative team work. Again I'm no multi millionaire so ask from the best, not me lol

It's a challenge but fun.

Careful on who you choose to work with.

Good luck!

 

[WaveGang]

Yep... Was gna make a thread or dm skeets

Wish I was cappin

 

[Double Burger With Cheese]

Yep... Was gna make a thread or dm skeets

Wish I was cappin

oh I thought this was a joke about rappers getting pimped. Didn’t know you were serious lol.

I told this story in here before but it was this lil bad bytch I was fukking that was selling p*ssy and stripping. And she had a whole live in boyfriend too that was cool with all this shyt too She literally thought I was cool cause she told me she was an escort one day and I was like escort? You mean sell p*ssy Then I told her I would never pay for p*ssy. And I think the bytch thought I was cool or some shyt.

So anyway,’one day she straight up tell me she want me to be her pimp. I’m like alright bet. I’m feeling cool as hell. Waking around thinking I’m Pretty Tony cause this bytch chose me. Only thing is, I didn’t know what to do So I called a few homies and was like, do y’all know nikkas who be buying p*ssy I basically played security when dudes came over her house for a second but even then I really was just a few doors down and was like hit me if you need me

That was the time I realized I wasn’t no pimp lol. My one homeboy had told me later on when I seen him I was supposed to make her do all the work and just take the money. I was like oh yeah I was way too nice I was trying to work more like a team

 

[L&HH]

Why would you wanna mange a rapper lol? Managers hella under appreciated and do all the leg work. Especially for an up and coming rapper. My homie but was a manager and from what I noticed, dude cared more about the artist success than the artist. He never got a major deal, but he did have a few offers from major labels that they ended up turning down cause the contracts were so bad. But ironically, he says if he could do it over he would take one of the deals cause it would have got him in the door of the industry and could have parlayed that into more success. He quit after his last group fukked up an opportunity where they wanted to move the whole group to Atlanta. I forgot the label. They was gonna have them in singing and dancing training and had a townhouse for them to live in and shyt. My homeboy worked hard as hell to put that shyt together with some contacts he had with a major r&b artist manager, but the lead singer of the group didn’t want to move to Atalanta. I think that was the last straw and my homie left the music game.

Seen another Russ post where he’s arguing about artists being independent again. And it always makes me laugh because major labels will always exist. You need money to have success. Anyone saying otherwise is fooling themselves. And there’s always going to be teenagers and young adults with no money looking for an opportunity. And there will always be someone with money looking to exploit. Hell Taylor Swift parents had money, enough to invest in her first label and she still signed to a major.

My fiancee and I started an edm entertainment company in March 2020--made it a LLC in July 2020, we're making profit and have people who are willing to bankroll the next show we do, small to large. It's hard but not impossible.

You’re operating a different business model. At the end of the day throwing a concert is simple math of making more money from (ticket sales, concessions, merch, sponsors) than you spend on (venue, artists, security, insurance).

Being an artist isn’t. Gotta make music and acquire a fan base willing to spend on that.

 

[Tasha And]

Watch season 1 of Atlanta.

 

[WaveGang]

oh I thought this was a joke about rappers getting pimped. Didn’t know you were serious lol.

I told this story in here before but it was this lil bad bytch I was fukking that was selling p*ssy and stripping. And she had a whole live in boyfriend too that was cool with all this shyt too She literally thought I was cool cause she told me she was an escort one day and I was like escort? You mean sell p*ssy Then I told her I would never pay for p*ssy. And I think the bytch thought I was cool or some shyt.

So anyway,’one day she straight up tell me she want me to be her pimp. I’m like alright bet. I’m feeling cool as hell. Waking around thinking I’m Pretty Tony cause this bytch chose me. Only thing is, I didn’t know what to do So I called a few homies and was like, do y’all know nikkas who be buying p*ssy I basically played security when dudes came over her house for a second but even then I really was just a few doors down and was like hit me if you need me

That was the time I realized I wasn’t no pimp lol. My one homeboy had told me later on when I seen him I was supposed to make her do all the work and just take the money. I was like oh yeah I was way too nice I was trying to work more like a team

Part of me thinks its more trouble than its worth.. Any tips on where to research?

 

[keepitrealprk]

Being a manager for an artist is a largely thankless endeavor.

If you're not already financially sound, this isn't a career option. If you're broke, don't fukking bother. You need to already have money on deck so you're not making bad choices for fast money.

This is for people who already have deep connections in the music biz.

If you were a promoter, you probably dipped your toes into dealing with agents and managers already. That's an in.

Right now is a terrible time for management. There's no shows, which is generally how artists make money. You gonna take your 15-20% cut of what they're making right? But right now they're not making much. Did you know you only get $5-6000 when you hit a million streams? That's not going to pay your bills.

If you're really keen on being a manager, don't work with rappers. They're lazy, idealistic and mostly lack the ability to articulate their goals.

More often than not, they'll drop you immediately if the artist gets approached by somebody with a bigger bag/more connections. That's just how it works, it's biz never personal.

That's just my two cents as a music industry professional.

 

[Suspicions]

@Suspicions You got one life to live. If this is what you wanna do go for it my guy. You'll find your footing eventually. Start reading about masters and publishing first and go from there. I love the business side of music and I wanna be a manager as well. One of my boys raps and my cousin raps but I'm wary of mixing business and friendship. He's been my nikka for over 20 years so I don't wanna jeopardize it.

@Suspicions You got one life to live. If this is what you wanna do go for it my guy. You'll find your footing eventually. Start reading about masters and publishing first and go from there. I love the business side of music and I wanna be a manager as well. One of my boys raps and my cousin raps but I'm wary of mixing business and friendship. He's been my nikka for over 20 years so I don't wanna jeopardize it.

yeah the person I’m thinking of managing might already have a manager but he’s a good friend I’ve known for 4 years...what should I read about masters and publishing? Any recommendations?

 

[Suspicions]

No.

You find someone to invest in you and don't use any of your own money, like any other company. Don't be stupid.

Who would be this someone?

 

[SnowflakesByTheOZ]

yeah the person I’m thinking of managing might already have a manager but he’s a good friend I’ve known for 4 years...what should I read about masters and publishing? Any recommendations?

Yea you can start by just googling the terms, learning about the difference between the two etc.

Also, google notable managers or managers of artists you like eg.

Steve Stoute
Anthony Saleh
Kevin Liles
Russel Simmons

And just watch their interviews and soak up everything they say.

Or, you said your friend has a manager already right ? You can even reach out to him /her and ask how they got into it.

 

[SnowflakesByTheOZ]

Seen another Russ post where he’s arguing about artists being independent again. And it always makes me laugh because major labels will always exist. You need money to have success. Anyone saying otherwise is fooling themselves. And there’s always going to be teenagers and young adults with no money looking for an opportunity. And there will always be someone with money looking to exploit. Hell Taylor Swift parents had money, enough to invest in her first label and she still signed to a major.

You’re operating a different business model. At the end of the day throwing a concert is simple math of making more money from (ticket sales, concessions, merch, sponsors) than you spend on (venue, artists, security, insurance).

Being an artist isn’t. Gotta make music and acquire a fan base willing to spend on that.

Agreed. major label = capital

You can call it a different name but the concept remains.

If one of your friends has money and sees potential in you as an artists and decides to invest in your career under the understanding that he has to recoup in some way then guess what, you basically signed to him.