Artist and product management

Throughout this class, we have all been presented with valuable ideas and information on the artist and product management side of the industry. From creating a career plan for your artist, to setting up an event with an artist, we have all gained a good chunk of knowledge that will prove useful in our future careers.

These are some things I have put a lot of thought into and believe will help me in my future:

1.     Make sure to research the artist you are interested in managing. Get to know there past history, such as successes and failures. Also research their life in the past to get a feel for the type of person they are. You don’t want to manage someone who has had more failures than successes in their past, especially if they are a lazy artist that just wants success to be handed to them. You want the hard working artists that have at least got some success on their own.

2.     When creating a marketing plan for your artist, think outside the box. This does not just apply to marketing either; this can apply to your all around career plan for your artist. There are plenty of ways to make money especially if your artist is successful, coming out with a headphone line or a vodka company with your artists name or face on it can bring in the big bucks, and get your artist more exposure.

3.     Through my interview this month I learned that you might want to start with managing events, networking, and eventually coming to artist management. I believe by starting with something like events you get the opportunity to meet club/venue owners, artists, and other important people in the industry. Then when your name has grown and you have plenty of contacts, you may be able to start taking on artists careers and developing them. Who you know is very important.

4.     Have all legal contracts drawn up by an entertainment lawyer. A good idea may be to write up a rough draft of what both parties want in the management contract, then brining this to a lawyer to have a legal document drawn up with the terms that the artist and manager negotiated.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as artist management. But with the knowledge gained from all the assignments and reading this month, I feel ready to start working for an event management company, such as Exact Entertainment Group, the company that I had a chance to interview.

Interview with Exact Entertainment Group's Nikos Kozobolis - Artist Manager

For my interview I had the opportunity to interview Nikos Kozobolis of Exact Entertainment Group, based out of Orlando, Florida. He is a busy man with his work and he was pressed for time, but I got lucky enough to get this much of an interview! Enjoy!

Interview:

How did you get into the business of artist management?

Nikos: By being around artists and music through shows and networking. Which a interest for music in general turned into a career.

Do you have any words of advice for an inspiring artist manager trying to earn a living in this field?

Nikos: Take the time to protect your interests and understand the legality of the business before you get too involved, and plan for more than one project at a time because when one project goes nowhere you are going to have to answer to your artist as to what is the next move.

I notice you also are involved in event management, would you say event management is similar to artist management?

Nikos: Event management and artist management has alot in common in the sense that they both require a large amount of planning and risk management. What can go wrong probably will. They differ however in that events are over when they are over, and the artists career will continue on.

What are some things you look for in an artist that you are thinking about managing?

Nikos: Above anything is sound, but equally important to me is marketability. The artist must look the part and be sold as a product one day.

How important is it to have a plan for the artists’ career?

Nikos: Very important, you should have the long term plans in the mind at all times, though projects will change from time to time, overall planning is essential.

What is a good starting rate for an artist manager?

Nikos: That is next to impossible to answer, because each artist ranges so differently in success, but I would believe the majority don't make too much, while the few make 20% percent or more of income of the major act's they represent.

Networking of course is very important in this field, how do you normally approach an important person as far as networking goes?

Nikos: Straight forward, I explain what I do and my interests in the business, and if we as professionals have shared interests than that's what leads to business.

Do you have any further advice you would like to share?

Nikos: I would advise others to stay proactive and always looking for new opportunities. Also ask yourself if you have a true love for music before you get involved with artist management because it will keep you interested when all you see is the business side.

Through this very short and time pressed interview, I believe we can all see that becoming an artist manager takes a lot of knowledge of the entertainment business in general, as well as having good connections. Without proper knowledge of the entertainment business and good networking skills, your career as an artist manager will be non-existent. You need to be able to get your artist exposure, develop a plan, use your connections, and above all get you and your artist paid.