creative deconstruction

Why Your Band Needs Booking and PR Before Management

Posted on 21. May, 2009 by refe in STRATEGY

I am all about the do it yourself approach. Artists who are also jack of all trades will be much more successful in the early stages of their careers than those who wait for others to come along and handle the ‘business side’ for them. With that said, there does come a point where all bands need to ask for help.

The first thing that most bands think of when it comes to adding non-musicians to the team is management. In a way that makes sense, but there are also a couple of problems. First of all, most bands don’t understand what artist management is and what exactly managers are responsible for. In the new music industry a band manager should primarily be focused on finding funding for what your band is doing. If you do decide to go the record label route, they will be the one negotiating contracts, ensure that the label meets their obligations, etc. They should also be intimately involved with your development as a band/artist. A good manager is making sure that you are constantly growing and maturing in your art. Of course, most decent managers won’t even talk to a band who doesn’t have some infrastructure already in place.

Start with booking and PR. More gigs equal more money, and more PR equals more gigs. These people can be freelancers, part-timers, generous fans or even specific members of the band – the most important thing is that the responsibility is owned by someone who is willing and capable. I would recommend outsourcing booking to an agent, simply because they will have connections that you don’t. It will take some research to find a good agent or agency, but you should be able to find everything you need online.

PR can either be done by a few different people who work the press in different areas or who target different types of publications/media outlets, or by one person who is in charge of getting your name out everywhere. Honestly, the best place in the world to find PR contacts is on Twitter. Twitter is crawling with PR folks! Take a look at their profiles before you contact them – there are different PR people for different industries.

The best place to find contacts in booking, PR, management – or anything else for that matter - is your existing network of fellow artists and bands. Figure out who you know that is working with someone and see if you can get them to refer you. They might even get a good kickback in the process.

Once you have gigs flowing and a decent level of press exposure, attracting a good manager will be much easier. Artist managers like taking on bands that have already proven that they have some business sense and follow through in addition to their talent.

Tags: artist resources, bands, business models, music, MUSIC INDUSTRY