Manage Your Manager Initially

Following on from my basic overview on the roles of the manager of an independent rock band, there are some finer points that I feel should point out in the hope that they are taken on-board (or at least considered) prior to launching off into your brave new world as a band with a manager.



Firstly, congratulations!....but hold your horses. After all of the documents and details have been agreed upon and signed off, I highly suggest that your manager attend at least three of your live performances to check out things like audience type and reaction and how the band manages their crowds. Any half-decent independent rock band can knock together a passable video of a live performance and demo tape. These should have been run past your new manager in the meeting mentioned in the previous blog entry.


In order for your new manager to gain an entire different dimension into your band 'in full-flight,' they should see you perform at a small, medium sized and larger performance. This can sort the wheat from the chaff. Additionally (and to my mind, more importantly), the manager should be present to witness how band members conduct themselves before and after gigs. This will really sort the wheat from the chaff. The well-behaved that were present during the initial meeting with the prospective manager may well turn out to be drunken, drug-soaked pretenders with outlandish requests from the venue at which they're performing. I would suspect that this sort of behavior would well and truly nullify any contract.



Remember, folks, just because you have enlisted a manager doesn't automatically turn you into Motley Crue. What it does do, however, is display to the manager that you are unlikely to be financially viable for them and that you will more than likely tarnish their reputation and credibility.


Now for the up-side. If you are serious about your career as an independent musician, you will continue to conduct yourself as you did at that initial meeting with your manager. This in turn will see your your musical career and creativity continue up that huge hill.....But hey; it's better than being stranded, drunk and stoned at the bottom of it.