The Right Manager

Trustworthiness is an incredibly important attribute to look for in a manager. Think about it, you’ve worked for so many years learning how to play your instrument and write your songs, and your band has been rehearsing and promoting its shows for years—AND NOW YOU’RE GOING TO TURN OVER A GREAT DEAL OF RESPONSIBILITY TO SOMEONE YOU BARELY KNOW! Sounds scary doesn’t it? Trust must be earned over time, but if a manager doesn’t at least show an initial caring, enthusiasm, and commitment for your dreams and passions, you may not have the right guy. Is your manager just interested in making a quick buck off of you—or perhaps just interested in having a romantic relationship? Seriously! You really need to follow your gut instinct on both these issues from day one.

I remember one very famous manager firmly saying to a group that he didn’t need to like or be passionate about their music in order to do business with them. Sounds rather insensitive, but because of his power and clout, the band decided to go ahead and work with him. As it turns out, the relationship ended in disaster. The band drove all the way across country in a van to perform a showcase, and the manager didn’t even show up—nor did any industry people! True story. Coincidently, after that, the manager didn’t even return the band’s phone calls. Nice! Perhaps he realized there was no quick buck to be made from the relationship? Who knows?

In similar situations, so many bands are promised that there’s a big tour or record contract right around the corner and that the labels are ready to ink the deal. One or two years later, the band is still playing the same dive clubs and are unsigned.

A manager can’t lie to his artists as some ploy to keep them under control, feel powerful, or to perhaps manipulate into a romantic relationship. Again, an initial feeling of genuine caring, enthusiasm, commitment, and over all trust is a major quality to look for in a personal manager. Without these traits, no matter how powerful and well connected the manager may be, you may end up with nothing more than a lot of broken promises.


Respect
A manager must also be someone that you can respect. We’re not just talking about the number of successful bands this individual has managed or how many gold and platinum records he has on the wall, we’re talking about morality and ethics. What does your manager really stand for? Is he/she well educated? Well groomed? Does he show a genuine loyalty to other business partners and associates? Does he show an interest in win-win relationships in other business ventures? Is he family-oriented? Does he do anything to give back to the community? Or is your manager all about making money and flash—big houses, expensive cars, and arm-piece girl friends at any expense? Is he a spoiled rich-kid or businessman who got into management to fulfill some show-biz fantasy? Is he a former drug dealer or dubious business person? Does he hang out and party twice as hard as you? Is he a bully? Hey, I’m not making these examples up! Surely, it’s not like you’re an angel looking for a saint, but overall a manager must maintain a level of authority and respect and perhaps even be somewhat of a father figure to you. Many bands, not that they’ll always admit it, want someone they know they can look up to and feel protected by. They want both someone who’s going to take them under their wing and keep everything under control—a super hero who can do no wrong, and someone who knows how to be down to earth and admit that they don’t have an answer to a particular situation.

Of course, you may initially be impressed with someone who makes a lot of noise, blows a lot of smoke, wines and dines you, and flexes a lot of muscle—but are you really going to trust your whole career to guy like this?

A manager must be secure, grounded, firm, confident, educated, and well respected—far above all the bells and whistles and shallow surface stuff discussed above. Without these positive and respectful attributes, your only building a relationship in a personal manager that is doomed to eventually fail!