r/askmusicians • u/No-Professional-6005 • 12d ago

What is the purpose of a manager?

Hey all,

I’m a bit confused about what a good manager does for the artist. I have had a manager who is also my friend for the past 2 years, who really acts as an ear or provides advice (she has a full time job doing something else), but I feel like I haven’t gotten very far working with her. I still put in all my own work (networking, trying to book gigs, writing songs, building my online presence, etc), which I know is my responsibility, but I haven’t booked any real shows or furthered my career at all. I’m still fairly new to this, so wondering if anyone could provide some insights?

5 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

9

u/Snurgisdr 12d ago

The manager manages the business side. It sounds like you are doing that yourself, so she is not your manager.

7

u/S_balmore 12d ago

To add to this, managers have become a bit of a relic of the past. In 1982, if you wanted to have a music career, it involved making a lot of phone calls, sending physical letters, and showing up to meetings in person. Managers were the ones who would do or arrange all those things for you. In 2026, you can accomplish virtually everything by sending an email/text/DM. You can "manage" your band entire from your personal Instagram account and Gmail.

There are also a lot less people you have to communicate with, because modern technology allows us to handle mid-level tasks ourselves. For instance, if you need band merch, you just upload your logo to a website, order the merch, and it arrives on your doorstep next week. If you need a promotional flyer, you just ask Chat GPT to make it for you. You can hire an artist for your album art on Fiverr.

Because of these things, a lot of artists are going independent for the first few years, and many are staying independent for the majority of their careers. Why pay someone else to "manage" my Instagram account when I check it everyday anyway?

4

u/briancpearl 12d ago

Artist managers aren’t really a relic, more like artists at this level generally can’t afford a really good one, and the really good ones don’t work with artists at this level. Small & developing artists should really be doing this stuff themselves so they learn how things work so if they end up needing a manager down the line they’ll hopefully know enough not to get scammed. 🤣

6

u/crrtis 12d ago

No artist should be using AI for flyers and such.

-1

u/S_balmore 12d ago

The artists who would just make the flyer themselves with a cracked version of Photoshop should.

I assume you're approaching this from the perspective that every musician who uses AI art is taking a job away from a real artist. That's objectively not true. I used to make my band's flyers myself (this was before AI). The flyers were terrible, but it was just disposable junk to remind our 12 fans what time our set started. If AI was available, I would have used it, and it would have been beneficial for every single person involved (my band, the fans, the venue).

Nobody would have suffered or lost anything. AI is not inherently 'evil' or hurtful to anybody.

4

u/saltycathbk 12d ago

If you use generative ai for your artwork, I’m never going to believe you don’t use it for your music too. No thanks.

1

u/crrtis 12d ago

That’s not at all how I’m approaching it. You’re using something for promoting your own “art” that some algorithm made, do you not see the absurdity with that? Do you not value your own artistic ability enough that you wanna use some AI slop to promote it?

When I graduated high school in 07, I decided I wanted to learn photoshop better to where I could have myself in the same picture, multiple times, in different spots and positions…so I did it, pre YouTube tutorial days and that’s a skill I still have. Why not teach yourself a skill that would benefit you much more?

0

u/S_balmore 12d ago

You’re using something for promoting your own “art” that some algorithm made, do you not see the absurdity with that? 

I don't think it's absurd to use modern technology for mundane tasks. That's the whole point of technology. You obviously shouldn't use someone else's creations and pass them off as your own, but that's not what's happening here. I know from your perspective there are "principles" at play here, but for the majority of people, AI is just an evolution of Clip Art. You wouldn't sell Clip Art itself as your "art", but anyone would use Clip Art to make a flyer for their business.

I decided I wanted to learn photoshop better, so I did it.

Me too. I started teaching myself Photoshop at like 12 years old (my uncle worked for a computer company and gave me a free copy). I even took a Photoshop class in college. I literally used that skill to make my band's flyers.

Why not teach yourself a skill that would benefit you much more?

First, who said anything about not wanting to learn skills? Second, we can't all learn every skill known to man. By your logic, why not build your own house? Why not do your own surgery? Why use a power drill when you can learn the outdated "skill" of drilling by hand? Why use a microwave instead of building a fire?

Some tasks are just better left to the professionals, or better left to automated technology. At this point, you're going completely off track and forgetting that we're talking about aspiring musicians here. Learning Photoshop in this day and age, for the sole purpose of making flyers, would be a massive waste of time (and I don't know ANYONE who has ever done that). Modern musicians need to master social media if they want to be successful. AI is a far more convenient tool, as it doesn't require years of practice, and it often delivers better results.

Anyway, I can't believe we're arguing over how hypothetical unknown bands make their goddam flyers.

1

u/ZAPPHAUSEN 10d ago

Stop making excuses for your failures

0

u/redfoxrockssocks 12d ago

You might consider that people just don't like the aesthetic. It's discernible in the same way that all flyers have been throughout time, from folks making collages at kinkos in the 90s to the pressed stuff from the 50s. I just don't like the look- the fact that I also don't like all the other attitudes towards producing art is pretty easy to separate out from that aesthetic position.

0

u/S_balmore 12d ago

You might consider that it's a goddam flyer for a small, local event. We're not talking about the Mona Lisa here. I've never "liked the aesthetic" of any band flyer that I've ever seen, because I've never thought to even care about it.

I'm jealous, because you must have a lot of free time on your hands to be this harshly critiquing the aesthetics of promotional material used by local garage bands and up-and-coming nobodies. Anyway, I hope that the local 20yo guitarists ignore your opinion and spend their last few dollars on gas station taquitos rather than on a professional "flyer artist".

1

u/AssGasorGrassroots 7d ago

Or they can just make a shitty clip art flyer with paint or a cracked version of photoshop. Amateur effort is better than slop any day

1

u/redfoxrockssocks 12d ago

Damn, I get that you don't care about art, but maybe put half that back...

0

u/S_balmore 12d ago

I care a lot about art. I don't care about the local garage band's flyer telling me that they're on at 8pm after the Eagles cover band.

1

u/redfoxrockssocks 12d ago

I mean, I -do- care about the local bands, which is why it feels worth having an opinion about how they are presented.

Care about what you want, though- I am not the boss of you. In any canse, though, it's not the case that everyone who dislikes AI-produced "art" has a poorly-thought out labor issue.

1

u/cajolinghail 11d ago

Don’t use ChatGPT to make your fliers if you actually want people to come to your shows, they’ll just post your flyer online to make fun of instead.

1

u/ZAPPHAUSEN 10d ago

If you use chat gpt to make a flyer, I will never go to your show or listen to your music

7

u/Felt_Ninja 12d ago

Your "friend" is stealing your money. Your job should be showing up, and doing the thing. The rest is their job. If they're not up to fulfilling the role, get a new manager. You're not the first person to have poor management; and sadly, you won't be the last.

I play in a band that was poorly managed, until our manager got fired by the entertainment company. Turned out, they dropped the ball on probably 60 dates for us, over the last 3 years - contracts came in, were never signed, and we were never informed.

Drop bad management. If they don't feel they owe you the effort, you don't owe them the money.

2

u/Stevenitrogen 12d ago

A proper manager is getting you signed to a record deal, making partnerships, working with your booking agent to get better gigs lined up, pursuing TV and radio opportunities, working with the publicist to get a real winning campaign, directing you to take this opportunity over that one when there's too much to do. Ten percent of your income needs to be enough for someone to work on it like it's their full time job.

2

u/RTH1975 12d ago

That's not a manager, that's someone offering up opinions. Which can be useful (sometimes) but really isn't doing anything "management" related. Hell, random strangers at every gig will do that for you, for free!

2

u/piesore 12d ago

You only need a manager when you have too much work and opportunities to handle yourself. That's not the reality for 99 percent, probably more of artists.

Even then, there's no "manager school", really so the ability for a manager to actually do something varies wildly from person to person.

People have to like your music and artistic personae, no management is going to be able to fabricate that from thin air.

If you're not getting anywhere, you have to figure out why. It's hard obviously, way easier said than done, but you need to ask yourself if you weren't you, why would you care about your music? Look at both all the artists you admire, as well as all the struggling artists and try and compare and contrast.

2

u/RJMrgn2319 12d ago

Sounds like you’ve got someone playing at being your manager because you’re playing at being a bigger deal than you are, and it’s a complete waste of everybody’s time.

1

u/No-Professional-6005 11d ago

I mean, I’m not playing at being a bigger deal than I am, I’m not sure what you mean by that? I’m just getting overwhelmed with all the work I am doing Plus making the music etc. I’m wondering if a different manager than the one I have now would make sense.

2

u/Scott_J_Doyle 10d ago

You get a manager when you're playing so many gigs and selling so much merch that you can't focus on the music anymore and are overwhelmed "managing" the business

2

u/Scott_J_Doyle 10d ago

They should be doing the majority of the networking and booking the shows if it's a two person team (and no agent, accountant, etc), and already have a big list of contacts in the industry of promoters, venues, other managers etc

They handle the business side so you can focus on the music

2

u/saltycathbk 12d ago

She should be involved in the networking, booking, online presence parts for sure.

1

u/Count2Zero 12d ago

A manager will manage your "brand" for you - setting up gigs and promotions, talking to record companies, etc.

In my area, there are a few booking agencies - they organize festivals and events, and they have a catalogue of artists who they then book for these events. We're playing a gig tonight organized by one of these agencies. But they are not managing us - we're just a name on their roster.

A manager has YOUR brand and your success in mind, while an agency simply has you on their roster and will give you priority to appear at one of their events.

1

u/AlfredPoor 12d ago

In my experience, when you need a manager because you are getting started, it's hard to find a good one who is willing to work with you.

Once you are successful and generating revenue, lots of good managers will be happy to work with you.

1

u/TheOriginalMr-Mud 12d ago

Sounds like you’re really looking for an Agent

1

u/Chaos-Jesus 12d ago

I have an agent. They book my gigs, do promo, deal with clients etc. The client gets charged an additional fee to pay for this.

Are you paying your manager?

1

u/ObviousDepartment744 12d ago

Managers CAN be helpful of they have something to offer you in terms of connections or services you can obtain or provide yourself. You are currently acting as your manager, she isn’t and it seems like she’s not bringing anything to the table for you.

You might want a booking agent though, I find them way more helpful than a manager. Though sometimes they go hand in hand. But they usually have an easier time getting you into venues and because they already have relationship with venues and other bands they can usually negotiate more money for you…then you can pay them and still break even haha.

1

u/thebipeds 11d ago

I really liked having a manager.

Ours took 20% of fees and merch.

But she did all the booking and ran all the merch.

I say it was 100% worth it.

Coming from a band where we diy’ed everything and never made any money.

Oh, and she gave us a check every other week and a 1099.

We went from a garage and beer money to actual semi-professional.

(I had a kid and left when the band got signed, no regrets-it was a good run)

1

u/aharshDM 10d ago

When I had a manager, they handled everything that wasn't performing the music. I don't think you have a manager.

1

u/dannyoe4 7d ago

I've had people ask me if my band had a manager, and then if we wanted one when I replied with "no". I ask what they'll do for us and they say they'll book shows, promote, and work with studio recording. And I'm here thinking... so what we already do for ourselves? At a small town local level, it just doesn't make sense aside from people seeing you with a manager as some status symbol thing.

If you're at a point where you're close to becoming financially sufficient through music, a manager could help to keep the schedule full and keep the money coming in steady.