How to Become a Music Manager

Aside from creating the actual music, a music manager handles almost everything else in an artist’s career. They negotiate deals, manage performances, and handle all the business affairs artist’s don’t have the time to deal with. If these tasks are right up your alley, becoming a music manager could be the perfect gig for you! Not sure how to get started? Here’s how…

How to Become a Music Manager

Like many jobs in the industry, the work of a music manager can be extremely competitive and exceptionally stressful. Great managers do everything they can to secure the best opportunities for their artists, and sometimes this requires playing many different roles.

A manager needs to:

• Be a liaison between the artist and the rest of the team
• Develop itineraries and manage calendars
• Give advice, whether it’s personal and professional
• Understand artist rights and how royalties work
• Negotiate contracts and fees
• Guide artist’s through the ins and outs of the industry
• Analyze data, set goals, and track and measure results

It’s your job to guide the artist(s) you work with throughout their career and create as many opportunities for them as you can. To do this, you need to be able to multitask. You’ll be tasked with handling all the things they aren’t the best at, so the skills you bring to the table need to be top-notch. That being said, how do you get started?

There are 2 main ways to get into music management:

Consider working for existing industry professionals.

This route is more of a long game. It means finding a position as an apprentice to an established manager or getting a job on the ground floor of a bigger management company and working your way up. With this option, you can learn a lot and gain professional experience from those who have already found success doing the same.

Find a great unestablished band and offer yourself up as their manager.

If you decide to find a new artist at the beginning of their career, you have the opportunity to grow along with them before the majors swoop them up. This means you’ll be working harder for probably less money, but it also forces you to be as passionate and motivated about the artist’s success as they are.

Because until they’re successful and making money, neither are you.

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How Do Music Managers Make Money?

Most music managers work on commission, which means they receive a percentage of their clients’ revenue. Before you start working with someone, you should have a management contract that specifies the percentage of their earnings that go to you. Typically, the average fixed commission rate is 15 to 20 percent.

Realistically, music managers and management companies rarely commission on the entirety of a client’s gross revenue. This is because the artist needs to reinvest a chunk of that revenue into things like tour transportation, service fees to get songs on streaming platforms, publicist fees, and even commission paid to other professionals like lawyers and agents.

Educate Yourself.

Because music managers are responsible for all the legal and business aspects of an artists career, they typically need to have completed a bachelor’s degree in the music business or business in general.

• The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) accredits over 600 post-secondary music programs and consults with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business on relevant business degree programs. The NASM requires music business degree programs to contain some work experience in the form of guest lecturers, workshops or internships (nasm.arts-accredit.org). Many institutions even include an industry internship as part of the curriculum, which can provide some entry-level experience and help you build the critical business connections required to become a manager.

You’ve got many other options available to you, too. There are tons of schools out there that offer music management or business degrees. To help narrow it down, here are a couple of the best schools for music management:

• Full Sail University
• Berklee College of Music
• University of Southern California

Being a music manager is hard work.

There’s always the chance of your client blowing up out of nowhere and seeing major success, bringing you along for the ride. But there’s a much higher chance that getting to that level will take some time and a lot of hard work.

The biggest skill you’ll need to master is gaining the trust of your clients. As an artist manager, you’ll need to make major financial decisions and give advice on very sensitive topics. Whoever you end up working with needs to trust what you have to say. The only way to successfully navigate these tasks is with the utmost honesty and respect for your client and their career. With the right mindset and preparation, you’ll be ready to start managing artists in no time. You got this!

Why Every Musician Should Learn to Meditate

This industry is tough. At every turn, you’ll be met with trials and tribulations. With that comes anxiety, stress, and a fear of failure that can be hard to shake. While many people find success with prescribed medication, we understand that many of you are on the hunt for other methods. From Katy Perry to Paul McCartney, many musicians have found solace in meditation. If you’re an artist looking for more creative clarity, meditation could be your way in.

Here’s Why Every Musician Should Learn to Meditate

Improved Awareness

We all suffer from various stressors in our lives. Whether it’s stress from a creative writing block or from your manager breathing down your neck, meditation is a healthy and effective way to balance your thoughts and work through them accordingly.

Meditation forces you to sit down, close your eyes, and take the moment to recognize that what you’re feeling is normal. It gives you a chance to relax your mind and take note of exactly what it is that’s causing you to feel this way. Once you accept this feeling, you can grab a hold of it, assess what you can do about it, and move past forward with an actionable plan.

Anxiety Management

Anxiety is a feeling that can creep up at any time. Nobody sits back and says, “Wow, I’d really love to feel anxious right about now…” It’s just something that happens. For musicians, this can be exceptionally frustrating in an industry where you’re told to be tough, cutthroat, and confident, all the time. But how tough can you be while you’re anxious?

One of the best ways to keep your focus and move with confidence is to have a calm mind. Meditation can do just that. It’s less about clearing your mind and all about being mindFULL.

The next time you get anxious before going onstage or walking into a big meeting, here’s what you can do…

• Sit comfortably with the best posture you can manage. (Try sitting on a chair or on the floor with your legs crossed.)
• Breathe in through your nose for four counts. (You should count at approximately one beat per second. If you have a metronome handy, use it!)
• Hold that deep breath in your lungs for four counts.
• Exhale through your mouth for four counts.
• Hold with your lungs empty for four counts.
• Repeat.

Repeat this process four to six times or until you feel calmer, steadier, and ready to rock n’ roll.

Mental Clarity

As an independent musician, you’ve got a lot on your plate. You have songs to write, people to meet, campaigns to plan, networking to master, all while trying to be more creative than you were yesterday. It’s completely normal to feel stressed about getting everything done perfectly.

If you don’t let these feelings loose, there will come a time where it all bubbles over. Meditation can help you find a balance between working overtime and giving yourself a much needed pat on the back. You can’t go full speed all day, every day and expect to never burn out. With a calm mind, you’re in control.

• Meditation Oak is a great meditation app for beginners and veterans alike. Yes, meditation can be challenging, but stick with it. As little as 10 minutes a day can work wonders.

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Better Sleep

We all know how important a good night’s rest is for the mind and body. (and soul, if you ask me…) With so much on your plate, it’s easy to lay awake at night thinking of what you could’ve done better. This feeling of possible failure is one that runs rampant among creatives everywhere. We all go through it. Independent musicians especially feel this pressure.

• If you struggle with a restless mind at the end of the day, try to meditate before your head hits the pillow. Take the moment to breathe, and once your brain is nice and calm, sleep will come more easily than ever.

In Conclusion…

Mental health is just as important as every other step in your daily routine. By taking a step back to clear your mind, you can see your tasks more clearly, redirect your focus to what really matters, and move forward with confidence.

You Created a Music Video, What Happens Next?

So, you have just created your music video. The song is just right and the edits could not get any better.

You’re hyped up to release it but WAIT, RIGHT THERE!

The hard work is not over yet! While the music video may be complete or in the finishing stages, it’s important to use the correct release strategies. In order maximize your success we have come up with some guidelines to follow when it comes to releasing your next music video.

We’re here to help with your music video release strategy.

Choose Release Date

When it comes to picking the release date of your music video, it is super important to not rush the process. While it is all very exciting and you may feel pressed to get it out ASAP, do not make that your priority. The planning involved should allow for some time to do appropriate promotions online. By doing this you are only adding to the suspense and creating a larger hype around the release date.

Give your fans something to look forward to! Also note that this should be something you coordinate with your marketing team and management.

Consider reviewing the times of day that your fans are most active on social media and save the date!  Using algorithms from your Facebook page or business Instagram account is a  great way to find this kind of information.

Promote that Sh*t

Okay social media gurus, now is your time to shine! Promoting your release is key to building up a hype and creating a larger following prior to releasing the new video.  By including all of your social media platform (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) you can expand your promotion efforts to the largest obtainable audience.

Your goal should be to maximize engagement, meaning fans are liking, commenting, and reposting your content. From teaser posters to creative online statuses, the sky is the limit when it comes to promoting your video. Consider using contest giveaways to increase user activity and don’t forget to use the same hashtag throughout!

Press Coverage and Ads

While you can get a fair amount of promoting done through your own social media channels, it can never hurt to get a little back up from the pros! When considering press options, it’s important to review your press list and carefully select media outlets that you find most beneficial to this particular release. This means analyzing past albums, genres, and videos that they have been apart of the release process for to get an understanding about their general audiences.

When considering advertisement options, most users look to YouTube and Vevo to find the option most suitable for their release. Depending on your budget and other promotional needs, you can spend around ten dollars and already have a thousand people viewing your content!

Keep the Good Times Rolling!

While the initial release date may be one of the most exciting parts about your new video, it’s important to ensure everlasting hype around your new video or any content you release as an artist. By continuing to promote weeks, months, or even years after the initial release means more exposure to fans and more money for you.

For example, you can post on your social media pages when your video reaches a certain amount of views, thanking those who helped you make it to where you are now! Not only will this type of content keep your fans interested while you are in between releases, it will also help you continue to profit from royalties!

How to use SoundCloud as a Marketing Tool

Let’s say you’ve got your marketing schedule for the year polished and ready to go… Kudos! Now, I assume there are some times in your schedule where you’ll be touring, doing local shows, recording music etc., where you aren’t actively releasing anything new. So, how can you keep your fans engaged during that time? SoundCloud is possibly the easiest marketing tool out there for independent musicians on a budget.

Here’s how to use it…

How to Use SoundCloud as a Marketing Tool

Millions of SoundCloud creators share their music to more than 175 million people every month. Considering that SoundCloud offers its users over 200 million tracks to play around with, its success is no surprise. And giving artists the ability to spread their creations across the globe is a major factor too.

Express your creative freedom

Especially for hip-hop and electronic/dance genres, SoundCloud is the perfect tool to keep fans engaged outside of and in-between official releases. Because these genres traditionally rely heavily on compilations, mixtapes, and collaborations, (which are SoundCloud’s bread and butter) this gives artists the ability to be somewhat experimental in regard to what they release.

If you’ve got a mix that doesn’t necessarily fit within the scope of your official release schedule (ex: B-sides, older tracks, etc.), SoundCloud is a great place to let it out. Plus, your fans will swoon over getting something uniquely exclusive from you.

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Keep the momentum going

It can be difficult to see long-term consistency without an extremely dedicated fanbase. It can be even more difficult to see tangible growth without a consistent release plan/schedule. Using SoundCloud to incorporate unused content into free releases on the platform can help avoid any long stretches of perceived “downtime” where an artist is recording, touring, etc.

Spread the love across multiple platforms

If you’ve got an impressive Instagram following with a lot of engagement, releasing a “secret” or bonus track via SoundCloud and announcing it over Instagram will help funnel your existing fanbase to that single release and potentially grow your following there. Doing this over the course of multiple release cycles can result in massive upticks in engagement on SC, which in turn can be used to direct people to the “official” releases on the DSPs.

Success doesn’t come over night. It requires consistent marketing, creative problem solving and the motivation to persevere. With SoundCloud, you can do more than just create. We’ve seen that as the platform has grown, so have the opportunities.

Differences Between Vevo and YouTube Videos

So you’re planning to release a new music video. Congrats! Now, it’s time to decide where to drop it. Both YouTube and Vevo offer many benefits, but they’ve each got their own downsides to consider. Before you release anything, here are some major differences between YouTube and Vevo to consider…

Differences Between Vevo and YouTube Videos

Before we dive in…

The biggest difference between YouTube and Vevo is the simple fact that YouTube is limitless in terms of the type of video content on the platform. Vevo, on the other hand, is solely for music content. Even though yes, your video is competing with a vastly larger number of videos on YouTube, that doesn’t mean it’s capability for exposure is less. By ensuring your channel and videos are optimized correctly, you can increase the visibility of your videos.

YouTube

1. Access to Creator Studio

• View, analyze and report your channel’s analytics.
• Manage and optimize your individual videos with tags, cards, end screens, etc.
• Set channel and video upload defaults.

2. Total ability to quickly and easily manage all parts of your channel at any time.

3. Ability to upload and take down videos quickly.

4. Livestream capabilities

5. Interaction with your YouTube fans through likes, comments and messages

6. No consideration for feature placement on Vevo. 

7. Less likely for videos to go viral unless optimized correctly

Vevo

Vevo is the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform with over 23 billion monthly views globally. Vevo delivers a personalized and expertly curated experience for audiences to explore and discover music videos, exclusive original programming and live performances from the artists they love on mobile, web and connected TV.

1. Cannot update channel yourself, but can have the below details updated through your distributor per request

• Artist image
• Channel Banner
• Channel Trailer Video
• Channel Description (found under “About” tab)
• Social Media Links
• Featured Channels
• Google Analytics Tracking ID
• Playlist Creation

2. Makes you look more “legit” as an artist

3. Doesn’t guarantee more exposure, but has more potential to go viral

4. More likely to get your video featured in a well-exposed playlist, i.e. Vevo playlists

5. Video content lives on Artist’s official Vevo branded YouTube channel

Can you release on both platforms?

Yes!

In fact, we recommend it. — Odds are your only content on YouTube isn’t solely official content like music videos, track videos, behind the scenes videos, or lyric videos (all of which that can be uploaded to your Vevo channel upon approval, as well). You’ve probably uploaded to your personal channel full live performances, teaser videos, fan contests, or whatever else that has made sense for your brand as an artist.

• If you decide you want to keep your personal YouTube channel with all of these videos and then get a Vevo channel created to release more official content, you can easily link them both.

If you decide to do this though, keep in mind that your views will be divided if you upload the video separately to your personal YouTube channel in addition to your Vevo channel. This could also potentially affect your monetization opportunities since all channels must meet YouTube’s guidelines for monetization.

Because of this, we recommend that you distribute your official music videos with a distributor to be placed on your Vevo channel. Then, make a Vevo playlist on your personal YouTube channel. By doing it this way, your views won’t be divided between both channels, and you’ll also drive more traffic to your Vevo channel.

In Conclusion…

We hope that this article has given you some things to consider, and will give you the direction you need to optimize your next video release.

• Need help with YouTube Optimization? No problem. // Check out our YouTube Optimization Service to learn how to get started.
• Interested in getting a Vevo channel started?//  Check out our Music Video Distribution Service.

Good luck!

Press Release Definition — What Exactly is a Press Release, Anyway?

Whether you’re completely new to PR or been in the industry for a while, the definition of a press release remains unclear, or even a mystery to many. Read on, and we’ll explain what a press release actually is and what’s worth remembering.

Press release definition

A press release is a tool made to announce something that is newsworthy in the most objective way possible. The whole purpose of a press release is to get coverage and get noticed by a target audience.

Some claim that the press release is dead. They say it’s boring, targeted to a wrong group of people or just way too promotional. But is it always the case? Before we dispel some of these myths, let’s start with defining what a ‘press release’ is and what it really does.

The whole idea behind the press release is communication. It can be written, recorded or even shown – the form doesn’t matter as long as it’s effective. It is a tool made to announce something that is newsworthy in the most objective way possible.  The whole purpose of a press release is to get coverage and get noticed by a target audience.

It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, the problem is that the press release is tricky and often misunderstood by both PR specialists and the audience. To be able to write an effective material, it is necessary to understand its structure:

Wikipedia’s press release definition

It’s also worth noting what Wikipedia has to say on the subject. According to them, “a press release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy. Typically, they are mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to assignment editors and journalists at newspapers, magazines, radio stations, online media, television stations or television networks.”

What is the most important thing about a press release?

When writing a press release, it’s important to start with basic questions like who did what, when and where it happened, what it was for, etc. Keeping this form makes it easier to judge whether the material is newsworthy or not. If it’s not, without any media attention it will just get lost on the web.

The crucial part of getting coverage is directing the release to the right group of people. The research on the topic shows that 67% of journalists claim they receive irrelevant materials not in the area of their work or interest. So if a journalist specializes in technology, do not send a release about a new line of cosmetics – he won’t even bother to read it.

The press release is supposed to be kept simple and short – and preferably in a form that allows copying and pasting. Journalists are always busy, and if they have to read and edit text that is too long, they just might give up before ever starting. Experts admit that they want releases to be clear and straight to the point, without waffling over the topic. A release that is written in the form of a finished article has bigger chances of wide distribution.

What should you remember about the press release?

The next time somebody asks you “what is a press release?”, remember that the press release is not made only for getting press — it’s also a great tool that can help your SEO. It’s not only an advertising tool, but rather a means designed to communicate what is going on with the company. As long as the authors remember that, they can create effective content that will be noticed by their audience.