Band manager advice wanted :D

bassbomber

Hey guys were looking into gettin a good manager for our band but were not too sure where to start any advice????
Thanks

off.the.walls

Don't eat yellow snow! na but in all seriousness always make sure that his 20% comes after the money u guys make after all expenses are paid that way he wont be ripping you off. Think its called your net income.

bassbomber

off.the.walls wrote: »

Don't eat yellow snow! na but in all seriousness always make sure that his 20% comes after the money u guys make after all expenses are paid that way he wont be ripping you off. Think its called your net income.

cheers both very useful! (bit late on the snow thing but ill remember next time)

DANNY22XX

Make sure you get a manager that has past experience and isnt a fly by night just trying to get a few bob check for past dealings if he has a track record etc,,
there are tones of promoters/agents/managers,,, out there that promise you soon moon and stars but will get ya nothing it just look good on their sites to have another band on their site ive been gigging for 25 years came across them all be careful its a cut throat bizz out there best of luck

Fandango

Remember it takes a few things to make a good manager. Business sense, personality, previous experience in music, contacts (which usually comes with experience and helped by personality), professionalism etc. Also remember a manager will be most peoples first point of contact with your band so you dont want someone who is unprofessional, rubs people up the wrong way or hasnt a clue how to work with other people. There are tons of wannabe managers out there that fall down on many of the above but seem like a good choice because (as someone else said above) they have a good few bands on their roster. Always check the bands out that they manage also to see what they are up to and if they dont seem to be very active, probably should steer clear.

Edit: Also to add, a manager with alot of acts is usually a bad sign anyway. If you look at the great managers, they concentrate on one band or 2 tops who they got involved with because they love their music, not because they saw a few quid. I was only in one band that had management in the past and it was 2 managers who had everything above between them but unfortunately one had a serious habit of rubbing people up the wrong way (including us!) and so we had to part ways eventually.

drumdrum

+1 on what Fandango said!

A manager MUST (and cheesy as it sound!) believe in their acts and not the bottom cash line each night. Dont necessarily overlook the overeager guy on the side who thinks that your band is the next big thing...
Such people can be great in the short - medium term, but let them know from the start that if a better opportunity comes along then you MAY want to part ways with them. All of the great managers started in such ways with the original acts keeping them from start, for example, Paul Mc Guinness of U2....I think he has been their first and only manager actually......

As Fandango said, the manager is essentially the bands business liason with the outside world, so if they are rude or ignorant or as Fandango said "rub people up the wrong way", then peoples opinion of your manager will tarnish your whole band which will cost you opportunities in the long run.

bassbomber

Cool!! anyone know where i could find these good managers??

iamnothim

Check out the music managers forum.
http://www.musicmanagersforum.ie/

Send an email to them and they will circulate it among their database and maybe someone will be interested.

maccored

make sure you're ready for a manager and that you actually need one. Are you making money at present selling your music? If not, then you dont need a manager yet. a manager should only come in when the band dont have the time to fully manage themselves. bit like starting a business and employing staff before your business is running.

all the stars

maccored wrote: »

make sure you're ready for a manager and that you actually need one. Are you making money at present selling your music? If not, then you dont need a manager yet. a manager should only come in when the band dont have the time to fully manage themselves. bit like starting a business and employing staff before your business is running.

What about if they are shopping a EP/Demo to labels, surely then they'd be needing it?

the hamburger

There are probally only a handfull of managers involved in the music scene at present. Imagine Ireland is like the English premership then in the Premier division there are only 6-8 managers, drop down the divisions and the numbers get less.
A manager is no use without money, any band really need at least 20k to make any waves and anybody who says that talent wins through is talking out there arse. many Irish bands with Label suppoer have failed. The scene is not supported by Irish radio.
A Irish manager job is total crap, crappy venues ,poor crowds and poor media support.
Get your ep done get the Album planned , get a decent video and just hope and pray!!! lots of prayers