In my long and twisty journey to the current makeup of my creative career, I sometimes forget that there are lots of people in my circles that have no clue what I do. Part of that is the general mystique and opaqueness around the term “artist management.” Who is an artist manager? What tasks are they responsible for? How do you become one? How do you find one?
So, in an effort to lift the veil a bit from this weird and unregulated corner of the creative industries, I’ll be doing a deep dive all month into my journey to becoming an artist manager, and also some education on finding and working with managers from an artist perspective.
We’ll start this week with a general overview of different kinds of representation that exist for artists. Let’s dive in!
*A disclaimer up front: my first-hand experience on this subject primarily comes from a background specifically in the music industry, with some additional experience gained in recent years working with clients in the visual art world. By no means am I offering comprehensive information about ALL the norms of any one of these industries, let alone creative industries as a whole. But hopefully this is one resource of many you’re checking out.
Types of Artist Representation:
Almost all artists get their start by doing everything themselves: making creative work, booking their own gigs and projects, accounting and bookkeeping, project management, and promotion and marketing. As an artist grows, their career will eventually reach a tipping point where it becomes very challenging to handle the volume of opportunities coming in the door AND continue DIYing all parts of their business. This is where artist representation comes into the picture. Various artist representatives can take some of these tasks off an artist’s plate, and also act as a professional liaison between the artist and the public, communicating and operating in the best interest of the artist.
Let’s break down some common representatives in different creative disciplines:
Musicians
Artist Manager: In short, this person is true champion for a musician or band who works to make all components of an artist’s career work together for success. A manager typically has a global view of ALL of an artist’s operations: tours, music releases, publicity campaigns, brand partnerships, etc. If an artist has a large team (agent, tour manager, publicist, business manager), the primary manager is often the person that team reports to. There are very few universal standards among artist managers in the music industry, and some get their start by managing their own band or a friend’s project, and others climb the ranks in established management agencies. They seek to establish long-term partnerships with their artists, and they often maintain close personal relationships with them. Sometimes a general manager will also take on the roles of other specialists mentioned below, depending on the career stage of their artist.
Booking Agent: An agent’s job is more specific than a manager: they are responsible for booking performance opportunities. They do not deal with other revenue-generating components of an artist’s career (music releases, publishing deals, brand partnerships). An agent’s value lies in their connections to concert and festival promoters and talent buyers. They are specialists who can efficiently and effectively book a whole tour for an artist.
Business Manager: This person is a specialist dealing with all financial affairs of an artist. An artist is only likely to have both a business manager AND a general manager after achieving a certain level of success and revenue. A business manager handles tasks like filing taxes, accounting, invoicing, budgeting for tours and projects, and advising on investments.
Tour Manager/Road Manager: This person is a logistics specialist who is responsible for keeping things running smoothly while an artist is doing a performance tour. They most often travel with a band and manage the entire touring team (performers, sound engineers, merchandise managers, etc) and are the primary on-the-ground liaison between a venue’s crew and the band for every show. They may wear a LOT of hats and manage everything non-performance related on tour, depending on the size of the act and crew.
Visual Artists
Artist Manager: Having a personal manager is far less common for visual artists, but it’s an emerging trend in the industry as more brands, corporations, non-profits, and government entities are seeing the value of visual artists and seeking them out for a wide range of projects. Similar to the music industry, the primary role of a visual artist’s manager is to generate great opportunities and manage all components of their career.
Gallery Representation: When visual artists think of representation, gallery representation is what likely comes to mind first. In the fine art world, an artist’s primary gallery can become their main connection to art buyers. Prestigious galleries can have a huge impact on an artist’s career, connecting them with high-profile collectors and helping advise them how to grow the value of their work. Artists can also have work represented in multiple galleries, submitting various pieces or collections of work a gallery can sell on commission.
Art Licensing Agent: This person is a specialist who pitches an artist’s work or designs to manufacturers and retailers to use on their products. (Think about every wallpaper print, sheet set, or cheeky mug you’ve seen in a store – all of those designs were made by an artist.) A licensing agent has professional relationships with retailers and brands, and they have expertise on licensing contracts and terms. This person may work across multiple types of products, or may specialize in one type of product (for example, greeting cards).
Actors
Talent Agent: The world of acting for film and television tends to be much more regulated than the music or art world, due in part to the continued presence of a strong actors’ union. Agents MUST be licensed by the state and are the only representatives authorized to solicit and negotiate employment contracts. They get actors auditions and negotiate contracts if an actor books a job.
Manager: Personal managers for actors are not regulated in the same way as agents; they don’t need a license. Their primary role is to advise actors and help them make connections with agents. They legally can’t negotiate or sign a contract on behalf of a client.
Other Fields and Roles
Influencer Talent Manager: Professional influencing and content creation is a newer industry, and therefore talent management in this space is an emerging role. There are boutique management agencies dedicated to serving rosters of lifestyle, fitness, wellness, and travel influencers. A talent manager helps secure more brand partnerships for these influencers and provides guidance, education, and connections within the industry.
Literary Agent: This person works as an advocate for writers, and their primary role is pitching a writer’s work to publishers in order to sell a writer’s manuscript.
Personal or Virtual Assistant: This is a more generalized role that varies widely between fields and individual artists. Artists in any one of the fields mentioned above may eventually hire the services of a personal assistant, either in addition to or instead of a general manager. While the tasks of managers and assistants can definitely overlap, in general a manager is more focused on advising and strategy, while an assistant is more focused on administrative and care tasks that make an artist’s life easier.
So what do I do? I describe my business, Harris Artist Management, as “full service management and targeted consulting for multi-disciplinary creatives.” I currently have musicians and visual artists on my full-service management roster, and I also consult with a variety of individual artists and arts organizations. My business is informed by my range of experience working in multiple creative contexts…but my exact business model is something I kind of made up. The common thread is that I love working with artists on their whole business to help them implement strategies and processes that allow them to reach their big-picture goals.
Next week I’ll explore more of what a manager does for an artist on a day-to-day basis, and what my personal workflow looks like with clients on my roster. If you have specific questions, feel free to send me an email and I’ll do my best to cover them!
Links links links!!!
Listening: I’m mega late to the game on this, but I listened to The Chicks’ album Gaslighter for the first time this week and LOVED IT. The songwriting, the story arc, the 3-part vocal harmonies - GAH! Everything is so strong.
Watching: This guy Jan Hakon Erichsen has a whole series of videos titled “Destruction Diaries” that feel like absurdist performance art with everyday objects (like spaghetti noodles). The vibe feels right for late 2020.
Reading: My friend Jenna McLean, a wonderful musician and educator, posted a brilliant thread comparing artist revenue between streaming and direct album sales on her Instagram this week. It has me thinking a lot about the idea of “ethical music consumption” and how we might effectively advocate for changed consumer behavior in the music industry.
Loving: Yoga is the only exercise I feel I’ve ever been able to stick to long term, and Adriene Mishler of Yoga With Adriene has long been one of my favorite online instructors. I loved this online profile of her by the New York Times.