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Publishers’ and Managers’ Roles in the Music Industry

There are a number of other players that may fall into an artist’s orbit that are crucial to long-term development and career management in the music industry. They range from a publisher to a business manager, an attorney to an agent, and perhaps a digital marketing manager, or even a publicist.

Those people should be added to your team as needed. For example, you don’t need an attorney if there aren’t any contracts to negotiate. These people get paid in different ways and should be added at different points. So let’s talk briefly about what they do and what role they fulfill to help you determine when you need to add those people.

What does a publisher do? As part of your online music education, you should know that a music publisher does a number of things. In addition to collecting revenue and income from sync fees, setting up co-writes, and also pitching your music for opportunities, they are an important part in developing you as a writer.

A lot of young writers say, “Oh, I really want a publishing deal.” Publishing deals are really well-suited for artists that have a number of things bubbling under or are showing a lot of potential. Or they may have a number of songs that have already been placed with a number of artists that are being released so that a publishing company can actually collect on your behalf and propel you forward to get other co-writes, to get other opportunities, using their network and having access to their staff.

Publishing has historically been a great asset for many artists. The deals worked very similarly to how record company deals work. They pay in advance. They collect on your behalf. You get a royalty. And they recoup that money.

Publishing entities have been tremendous assets for performers who perhaps no longer want to perform, or aren’t as interested in touring anymore, but still possess a great skill for songwriting and also on the flip side have been true champions of up-and-coming writers and have really helped develop and propel their careers. They represent the writing and the writer, the songwriter, and pushing the song forward.

An attorney negotiates deals on behalf of the artists, oftentimes serves as a confidant or a mentor to an artist, and works closely with the manager. They generally get paid 5% of the deals that they negotiate. That could range from anything like merchandise deals to licensing deals, record deals, publishing deals, and other things of that nature.

Again, none of these numbers are set in stone. Different deals work in different ways, depending upon who the person is and what the circumstances are.

Agents collect money on live shows. They generally make 10% of the gross on your live shows. Artists generally book their own shows until such time as they can no longer do it. Agents are extremely effective at routing tours, booking shows, and help determining what the right venues are for that artist to play in particular cities, both domestically and internationally.

A business manager generally makes 5%. A business manager is an accountant. They oftentimes handle your entities, meaning your touring entity and your label entity. They handle payroll for tours, for your crew, for your band, sound, lights, and other such aspects.

Again, a business manager comes in very handy once you are in a situation where you have a number of different businesses that need to be managed. A publishing entity, a label entity, and a touring entity are generally the three different lanes that a business manager helps coordinate and files taxes on your behalf.

Digital marketing managers are great to add, especially if your audience primarily comes from social media. Publicists are also an option if you’re more of a traditional TV, radio, or magazine type of artist. Publicists can come in very handy.

But record companies also provide many of these services. They have publicists. They have digital media entities as well as business development people.

But all of these people work in concert with your manager. The manager is the closest, most important business relationship you will have in your career. It’s the manager’s job to interact with all members of your team.

So think of it like a football team. As the artist, you’re the owner of the team, and the manager is the quarterback. They’re on the field, calling the plays and running the ball on your behalf.

It’s an important lesson in music education that you have a great relationship with your artist or manager. It’s important that you’re honest with your artists and with your manager. And it’s important that you feel that your manager represents you, your brand, and who you are out there in the world. Because 99 times out of 100, they’re going to represent you long before you ever get into the room.

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