Product And Artist Management: The Best Practices

From learning about the major effects of how to balance the needs of client and the customer, I have learned the importance of management within the industry. Its a source of organizing your presentation to potential investors and your audience. In terms of artists, you must be prepared to accurately pinpoint their wants and needs in order to mold their talent accordingly. As for product, you must be prepared for estimates of sales, expected revenue, unexpected emergencies, and other forms of knowledge that is critical in management. Between both product and artists, the 3 things that I have learned as far as management has to be: 1) proper negotiation, 2) the knowledge of who/what your managing, and 3) having a professional presentation.

1) Proper Negotiation - In the first assignment of this class, we were instructed to research Creedence Clearwater Revival and the issue of their mismanagement. This was a prime example of an artist trying to control a group of individuals that needed outside consulting on what they should do with their money and what contracts to sign. An outsider looking at this story can see that not only were their issues within the group but outside of the group in terms of their financial needs, there seemed to not be a middleman that would make sure business was properly conducted. Henceforth, the need for a manager that can be separate from the artistic process shows promise for smoother business deals and better long-term business relationships.

2) The Knowledge Of Who/What Your Managing - In the last wimba session for this class, we learned about how to prepare for sales, returns, and etc. In management, the balance of all expected situations noted will provide an estimated outcome that managers can expect. Furthermore, this should reflect that good managers will reflect issues that are relevant and applicable to their product when they are selling or making a presentation.

3) Having A Professional Presentation - The Def Jam video that showed former record executive Tina Davis gave some insight on the do's and don'ts of an artist's manager. The main importance that was stressed was the presentation. Not only is it within the packaging of a product, the manager needs to present a show of faith to what their client/artist has to offer. If the presentation is not in accordance with a professional level of confidence from the management, their ideas will not be taken seriously.

Source(s)

http://www.goodproductmanager.com/2010/02/23/realize-your-product-is-not-the-center-of-your-customers-worlds/

Introducing Molly Ruland

Interestingly enough, Molly and I were friends on Facebook and I noticed a lot of her postings. One time in particular, she mentioned something about the music scene in DC and some issues of promotion for shows of all kinds of genres. I reached out to her personally and we ended up having some good discussions about this. What I didn't know about Molly was her plans with her own company, One Love Massive Entertainment, and her vision for what she does in terms of artist management. In addition, she is a known show promoter and works with VJs (DJs that spin music videos with a modified DVD DJ setup). Working for years throwing events, she has managed to gain connections with major label artists as well artists on the independent and underground level. A self-starter and very hard-worker in the industry, Molly has taken her time to do this interview and give us some insight on her inside scoop on artist management.

Please introduce yourself and state how long you have been in Artist Management.

My name is Molly Ruland and I'm the founder of One Love Massive. I have been an artist management for one year and entertainment solutions for 10 years.

Who are the artists that you currently manage?

Currently, I manage the Empresarios.

In order to make sure your artists are successful, what are the steps that you take to help them with shows, tours, and merchandise?

I help my artists achieve success by constantly managing and growing their brand, their talent and their product or live act. I try to guide them on good business decisions while helping them maintain a positive public image. Having connections in the music business allows for better tours, better deals and ultimately a better band. Merchandise and branding are very important as is maintaining consistency while remaining appealing to the masses. This is the foundation of any successful and long-standing band.

Name one instance where you have had difficulty managing an artist but were able to overcome it.

Artists are difficult to manage by nature because you cannot manage art or talent unless you truly understand and appreciate it. Artists typically are not good business people and often make bad decisions because they are easily swayed. Artists are also typically ego driven because so much of who they are is in what they do, this is part of the reason why we love them. Having said all that dealing with personalities is probably the hardest part about managing any individual or groups of artists. This is also the main reason why good management is so crucial to an artist. Having good communication skills and practices in place is a crucial element for successful relationship.

As a manager of an artist, what is the one thing that you enjoy about the process?

Personally, I really enjoy the creative process so for me watching the talent grow and change is the best part. Being able to catch little glimpses of the new art created every time that magical connection happens is truly priceless. I've always been amazed by the talent of people who can create music because it's such a foreign concept to me so to be able to see this firsthand and to really relate to the music in that way it's invaluable to me. I've always been someone who's shared good music was wanted everyone to hear what I hear so being a manager is the ultimate dream for me because I get to tell everybody how great this music really is.

Even though you are an artist manager, what are the other projects that you are involved in? And how do you balance those projects with your artist management?

I own and operate an entertainment solutions company here in Washington DC. I have a roster of DJs, VJs, emcees, graphic designers, a sound company, the ticketing company a social networking service, and this staff that can handle the management of all of this. We offer a service to business owners that provides accountability and a top-notch roster of talent from which they can choose. In return we hope to raise the level of quality entertainment in the district one venue at a time. My concept is this, the more of us that work together to achieve a common goal the more success we will achieve. Right now I'm in the process of delegating and hiring to ensure that I have an open schedule for the Empresarios so that I can deliver to them the best manager that I can be.

What are the newest developments that you have had to deal with when it comes to your artists?

We are working on an upcoming tour to SXSW and several other tours to support the January 11, 2011 release date of the Empresarios first full-length album.

Since you are involved with managing musical acts, what do you find to the hardest challenge in the music industry when it comes managing?

The hardest challenge in the music industry is dealing with people, money and egos. Money can always cause problems and if you're dealing with people with egos it's a surefire way to have a real problem on your hands.

What key tools would you say it takes to have to be a manager?

Patience, good negotiating skills and a hearty sense of humor are crucial. Ultimately, if you don't have a true love for music and appreciation for talent I don't think you could really handle the chaos of this business. You gotta be able to roll with the punches and figure out new ways to do the same old thing. There is no music note that's never been played, we aren't doing anything new here were just doing something different...hopefully.

Any final comments?

Thank you for including me in your research.

The Empresarios debut album, Sabor Tropical, is on sale now.