Possibly the biggest misconception of many DIY artists and bands is that “DIY” means do it ALL yourself. I wish I had a nickel (or a dime!) for every time I encountered a tired/discouraged/frustrated/burnt-out/(insert how you’re feeling) artist or band because they spend too much time spinning their wheels on so many things that they feel like they there’s no way they can succeed. This is nearly an epidemic in the independent music world.
Let’s consider everything that a band has to keep up with… Note – We’re not talking about hobby and garage bands here. They probably should be doing it all themselves. We’re referring to artists and bands who are a couple rungs up from the basement, playing out some, recording music and occasionally touring outside of their home town.
So what are the basics that bands have to manage? Here’s a small, abbreviated list:
- Make music – This should always come first.
- Practice and rehearsal
- Play shows
- Record music
- Produce, mix, master the recordings
- Marketing
- Publicity
- Manage the website
- Manage social network websites (ie: Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs)
- Networking
- Distribution
- Tour booking
- Touring
- Merchandise
- Licensing and sponsorships
- Festivals and Special Events
- Music Videos
- Strategy
…and the list goes on. Wow, I’m getting tired just thinking about all of this. And honestly, depending on the band, I think this list can be endless. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and lost. There’s just so much to do and only so much time in a day. Add in a day job, a family, friends…a life outside of music – and you’re sunk before you can even finishing writing a song.
It’s sorta like bobsled.
While this shouldn’t come as a surprise, “DIY” does NOT mean that you’re supposed to do it all yourself. Independent artists, more than anyone, need to build a team around them to help them accomplish their goals and objectives. Building and managing this team is probably the second most important thing, following the music. Artists should be very careful who they align themselves with and should assemble the most passionate and talented people they can find. And often times passion is more important than talent.
Once you identify the most talented and passionate individuals you can find, these are the most essential positions that must be filled to build your team:
Management. Ultimately, your manager is the equivalent of a President’s Chief of Staff. Your management should be the most trusted person in your immediate sphere – the single person that you give the most control and responsibility to. Ideally, your manager will “manage” and coordinate the rest of your team, allowing you to focus first and foremost on the music. Your manager should have connections, should excel at building relationships and should have a good reputation. At the end of the day, you need your manager to be one of your biggest fans. The day your manager loses interest in your music is the day you should start shopping for a new manager. Cost: Pricing on managers is really all over the place. Some do a percentage, some do a retainer. I recommend making sure you financial relationship with your management is incentive-based.
Booking Agent. Booking shows, whether for local area shows or for touring – this is hard work. More than anything, it’s about relationships, reputations, hard work…and more hard work. Now mind you, anyone can book a show or two. But to book six months of shows or even a tour – this is a whole different ballgame. And then when you actually put a strategy behind things, booking can quickly turn into a fairly involved, time consuming job. It’s definitely more of an art than a science. Cost: 15% to 20% is pretty fair rate for a typical booking agent. For a top-tier agency or someone with some serious skills – they are worth their weight in gold and you will pay them more…usually worth every penny.
Publicist. If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it… Does it make a sound? Musicians are exactly the same. If you make the best music in the world, but no one ever hears about it, what’s the point? The sooner you start investing in publicity, the better. Find a publicist who believes in your work and is sincerely passionate to work with you. And being that 2010 is just around the corner and the internet is where more and more people go to discover new music, make sure your publicist knows what “Web 2.0″ is and make sure their list of music blogs is bigger than their list of newspapers and magazines. Also, unless you have excess cash to spend, DO NOT hire someone to work on radio promotion. Your manager can easily work local and regional radio promotion. A national radio campaign is stupid unless you are regularly touring nationally, are widely distributed nationally, and have a decent national marketing budget. Cost: Publicists vary greatly depending on their reputation and talent. Do your homework and check several references before you spend your money. Set clear expectations with your publicist and communicate (or have your manager communicate) with them regularly. This is important if you want good results.
Licensing Agent. Having a music licensing strategy is no secret these days. If you don’t have one, fire your manager. While music licensing is quickly becoming over-competitive and pretty saturated throughout by indie artists and virtually every major label band – it’s still a worthwhile component to pursue. Every artist should have an experienced and savvy licensing agent who is well-connected in the industry (it’s all about relationships and reputations) – AND – your manager should also be pursuing opportunities simultaneously, as they arise. While licensing is hardly the “answer” as many hope it could be…with a little luck, it can be a decent piece of your financial pie if you play it right. Cost: In the licensing world, the leverage is with the licensing agents, so indie artists are largely subject to the deal that is being offered. Payments to licensing agents ranging from 15% to (gulp) 50% of the gross license payment are pretty safe, depending on all that’s involved and their overall reputation and talent.
Intern. This might seem a little silly, but every band seriously needs an intern. And best of all, your manager should manage the intern, making it even easier for you. Essentially, an intern is a “worker bee” for the band – able to work the merchandise booth at shows, help load-in and load-out at venues, hang posters for shows, enter the emails lists into the database, run errands, videotape shows, work on special projects, mailings, etc. An intern is sort of a junior-level manager, sometimes working side-by-side with your manager, learning the biz and ultimately able to fill-in and help out whenever needed. Cost: Interns work for the love of it, not money. Be sure to give them their share of merch, keep them in the loop on new demos and song ideas, buy ‘em lunch, and make sure they generally enjoy what they do.
Last, but not least, develop a few friendships with other artists. Get to know a photographer, a videographer, a web designer, and a graphic artist. Again, your manager should be the one to physically coordinate and work with these people to execute projects when needed. But YOU need to have relationships with these other artists who specialize in these areas – artists who genuinely support your work and are somewhat passionate about your music. And these can’t be one-way relationships either. You too need to equally support them and their work by creating a reciprocal relationship where they benefit from you, just as much and you from them.
That’s it. That’s your team. The sooner you assemble your team and get it rolling, the sooner you’ll be able to focus the vast majority of your time, work and resources on what matters the most – the music.
