Breaking into the music industry : Part Two

Posted on 06.7.2005

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INDIE CORNER :
Breaking into the music industry : Part Two.
Picking Your Team
By : Lennox Murdock

see previous article here -
Breaking into the music industry

This music industry is an especially tough business to break into alone. This is why you must surround yourself with a team of people that you trust and are qualified to help guide your career. You should have a team of focused and enthusiastic people around to help out with your day to day activities. Your team should include a personal manager, business manager, an accountant, lawyer, publicist, and an agent. In this article, I will tell you how to go about picking your team, checking their qualifications, and how to know if they have your best interests at heart.

Personal Manager/Business Manager

Your personal manager is one of the first people you should have on your team and also one of the most important. At this level though, he/she is most likely to be a friend or family member. (Remember these people are your first fans and usually care more about you than anyone else.) Your manager should posses these qualities : strong drive, willingness to work on your behalf, good communicator, organized, and be a people person. He should also have some connections to people in this industry but if he doesn’t, it’s okay. Because with a strong drive, it shouldn’t be very long before he does. Your personal manager’s day to day duties would include making sure everything is in order as far as booking shows, negotiating deals for movies, live appearances at events, TV, movies, radio interviews, and maybe even a major label deal. Negotiating a major deal may also be done by your lawyer. These duties are the most likely things your manager will be doing. I combined business manager because at this level you may just find that it is better or cheaper to have one person take care of all these things.

Lawyer

Your lawyer is also a very instrumental part of your team. This is probably the first person on your team to actually be in the industry.
When choosing a lawyer you want to make sure that this is a person will also have your best interest at heart and not just out to make money.
Because unlike your manager, who only gets paid if you get paid no matter how much he works, if your lawyer does ANYTHING, then he gets paid and lawyers aren’t cheap. Their fees can range anywhere from 100 dollars an hour to 300 dollars an hour, and maybe even higher, depending on experience. Your lawyer will probably be the one to get you a deal, (considering the fact that he already has industry contacts and knows who to call. Also your lawyer will know the ins and outs of the business like copyrights and trademarks, which will come in handy with all the sampling going on.(i.e. Kanye West, Just Blaze, Heatmakerz ) This is the guy that will help you clear that old Genesis sample.
***Note : Kanye West did not clear Chaka Khan’s sample for "Through the fire” until the video aired on MTV2.

Publicist

Ahh. This is a person that is very much needed. Don’t get it confused though, in the beginning you still need one but, if your sister who is in college majoring in English can write a good essay then this is a task that she can handle. She/He will be a key player in getting you shows and making you look good in the public eye. I decided to add her to my list of people on your team that you need because I feel that if you have this person from the beginning, then things can go pretty smooth.

Agency

Agents in the music industry are quite different from agents in Hollywood whereas, agents in the film industry are major powerbrokers controlling almost every aspect of it. Agents in the music industry are involved almost exclusively in booking live appearances. Music agents are sometimes involved in commercials, tours and endorsements but, they do not get paid off of records. This makes them different than agents in Hollywood. This is an important part of your team because they are very influential. If you have a personal manager this will be a person that you will very rarely see. Your agent will almost always talk to your personal manager instead of you.

Your search begins

Where do you start to look for these people you ask ? Well, simply look around you and ask people who you know are involved in the music industry.
Maybe even your high school music teacher. If you ask people and make an effort to find out what you need to know, just like other aspects of life, you will find what you are looking for.
If you need some references refer to these publications :

- Yellow Pages of Rock which is published by the Album Network, 120 N.
Victory Blvd. Third floor, Burbank, California 91502

- The Recording Industry Source Book
Address : 6400 Hollis St., Suite 12, Emeryville, California 94608-9889

- Hits Magazine
14958 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, California 91403

- Billboard International Talent and Touring Directory
1515 Broadway, New York, New York 10036-8986
Telephone : 212-764-7300

- More Information
For more information on this topic please read ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS, by Donald S. Passman.
You should be able to pick up a copy at your local Books-a-Million

**Note : IF YOU READ MY LAST ARTICLE THERE WERE A FEW GRAMMATICAL ERRORS I
AM SORRY IN THE FUTURE I WILL TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE NOT THERE.

ANY independent artists or labels, who would like an interview and/or album review,
please give me a call at 205-283-8561 or e-mail me at
rudebwoymuzik@yahoo.com

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