As a performer, you have a great many things to think about.
Your focus is on the music, the show and the audience. You need to select songs, rehearse and figure out the order you will do the numbers in. You need to plan your wardrobe, how many breaks to take and when and maybe you’re even involved in the sound and lighting for the performance. That is more than enough to keep you occupied. So who’s managing you as a business?
You may have gotten into music for the love of music but at the end of the day, music is a business. You want to make a living and so do those orbiting your sphere of success, your fellow musicians, the venue where you are performing, the promoters and anyone else you employ. A team of music business management professionals can help make sure you make money while you’re doing what you love.
These management experts will each do their part to make sure you are a success which in turn makes them successful, at least in theory. They have the expertise to know when to cut corners to save a buck and when to lay it on to embellish your image.
A good music business manager will watch your finances with the eye of a hawk. He will make sure you pay your debts on time, file your taxes when they are due and that you stay on budget for tours and productions you are paying for. If things look like they are about to go bust, he will inform you and make recommendations for righting the situation.
Your personal agent is the one who can make the real money for you. In music business management, he is the one who negotiates all your deals. He influences how much you make for recording, what your residuals are and what you net from a concert tour or television appearance. He can negotiate endorsements that can bring another source of revenue.
The entertainment attorney is another music business manager who is looking out for your financial well-being. He either sets up or reviews all the contracts and agreements you enter into. He can advise you deals that pose great risk to you or leave you financially liable. While he doesn’t necessarily make money for you, he certainly does protect the money you make.
With so many aspects to a music career, it is impossible for one person to oversee them all. Having an experienced, professional team of music business management professionals working for you ensures that you will both save money by not making foolish investments and signing bad contracts and by ensuring that career generates the highest possible dollar value it is capable of achieving. The combination of the two means that music business management can indeed help you make money from your music career.