Simply put, a manager oversees your career. If your career is still just a hobby –– even if it is starting to take over your life or if it is your job, but still local –– hire a friend. Rather than getting tied up with a manager, ask your sister, brother, close buddy or a fan to help out.

That is what worked for Alanis Morissette, who had a solid career going in her native Canada long before she achieved overwhelming worldwide success. In fact, her dad became her manager and he did a good job with Alanis’ career as it existed when she was a pre-teen and teenager. There came a time, however, when the big move needed to be made, and friends, sister or parents “have to know when to hand over the reins to the artist and her team. But they are the team up to that point,” says Alanis’ father, Alan. “As a parent I was involved in the early stages in finding expressive outlets and educational opportunities for our daughter: e.g. observing other performers; talent showcases (U.S. and Canada); auditions for TV and theater; dance schools, etcetera.”

“The Offspring’s record had just been added to KROQ, but Dexter [Holland] was still carrying around the band’s earnings in a briefcase and obviously needed help. So after a few months dealing with both Social Distortion and then the Offspring and handling a day job, I moved on to full-time management.” ––Jim Guerinot President of Rebel Waltz Inc., Manager of the Offspring, Social Distortion, Beck, No Doubt

Alan Morissette even promoted his daughter’s records to radio stations in her hometown of Ottawa and got her on the TV show, Star Search, in the U.S. “Once those types of avenues were exhausted, however, we had to find a producer with a track record of thinking out of the box of Canada.”

Alan found someone who introduced them to John Alexander, a musician and native Ottawan who was with MCA Publishing in the U.S. Alexander signed her to a publishing deal and arranged a recording contract with MCA in Canada –– then found her a manager in the U.S. She was 18 years old at this time.

Alan, who now runs Integrity Talent Direction, an artist consultation company that specializes in individual career planning, often talks to young artists early in their careers.

“I strongly stress the need to find a team that has the best interests of the artist at heart. In our case, Alanis had very good intuition as to whom to trust.”

Looking For Signs

Alanis Morissette obviously knew she was ready, and her team of parents and publisher went with her. What signs might you look for? The main indication is when your music is your career –– not necessarily your daily job, the one that is paying the bills at the moment. It’s when you are mentally positive that what you have been dreaming about, learning about and have a deep passion for is what you are going to do for a living. It is your complete focus and you simply know your songs are better than anyone else’s, or your voice will blow anybody else off the stage, or your musicianship cannot be matched.

“We sought management when we felt we needed a boost to reach the proverbial ‘next level.’ ... Get your band as up-and-running as you can, then get a manager.” ––Marko 72, guitar, Sugarcult

You’ve also introduced yourself to the industry by attending seminars, parties and have had one-on-one contact with professionals who might have shown some interest. You have been making introduction after introduction and, slowly, some doors have been opening.

Sugarcult is a band on Ultimatum Records who are touring (Warped Tour, Blink-182), and airplay and video play on MTV have kept their CD, Start Static, selling since its release in 2001. As Marko 72, guitarist for the band, says, “We have always been focused on managing our band. The industry is now shaped in such a way that bands need to be as self-sufficient as possible to increase their odds of success on any level. We sought management when we felt we needed a boost to reach the proverbial ‘next level.’

“Get your band up-and-running as best you can, then get a manager.”

Task Masters

Before you go looking for a manager, however, you must be sure a manager is what you truly need at the current stage of your career. While it seems crass to think of it this way, your art is a commodity to be sold, and unless you are one of the rare individuals who can efficiently work both sides of the brain, you will need a representative.

When an artist decides their art is no longer a hobby, they have decided to start a business. Maybe it’s a small business; perhaps it’s on the level of a corner store or a little company with big aspirations. But, it is still a business, even in the earliest stages. You have to work at it from day one and it is a full-time job.

So is writing new songs, producing demos, rehearsing, finding and playing gigs, honing your craft with singing lessons or guitar lessons or just finding time to be by yourself working on whatever your instrument is. Can you be a creative, professional artist and run your business too? Very few can answer yes to that question.

Once the decision is made to take on a manager, you need to realize you are hiring a CEO to take care of the business side while you produce the “product.” In fact, you are part of the product. If you were manufacturing costume jewelry, and the business had reached a point where you didn’t have time to make the product anymore, you would need someone to take care of marketing and day-to-day work. You have music to make or the company will go under. So you hire a CEO, a manager.

What’s the first thing that should be accomplished? You need to know that you and the manager are in sync. Anne McCue, an independent artist who just released Anne McCue Live: Ballad of an Outlaw Woman and toured through 2002 with Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Heart, and Lowen & Navarro, says, "If someone wants to manage you, check them out. Do they have a drug habit? Have they had experience? What do they want out of it, etcetera. Believe in yourself and expect them to understand you."

That’s a good point. You don’t want your manager, who will take your art to the marketplace, to misunderstand your work and intentions. If he or she is going to bring your dream to reality, they had better know your dream and all its details. If the manager doesn’t get it, your message will not be delivered.

Job Description

While it is difficult to fully explain what a manager does, try this analogy: Let’s say someone makes you the manager of a store. You aren’t just in charge of the butcher section, or the veggie section, or the deli store. You are manager of the entire store. You oversee everything on a day-to-day basis so the owner is happy and the store is presented to the public correctly.

A music manager is the same, except he or she is overseeing the marketing of an artist’s career. The manager needs to keep in touch with the various “departments.” Tasks to deal with include finding you a booking agent, a record deal, getting some press, trying for some radio, finding ways to make your career expand and move forward –– and keeping you advised of everything that is happening. Meanwhile, the day-to-day operation has to stay in order.

Once found, that aforementioned booking agent needs to make sure you are on tour and it is the right tour or date for you. The record company needs to have someone to talk to (they really hate talking to artists about business. Don’t ask why, they just do). The manager deals with lawyers, the press, promoters, and club owners/bookers.

When you have dates, the contracts need to looked at and approved, the posters and press kits need to go to the promoter. All the details you used to do are now in the hands of the manager so you are free to write and perform music.

Remember, however, that while your “CEO” is now in charge of the company, it is still your business. The manager is running it on your behalf. Naturally, then, you should talk to the manager every day. And, as McCue puts it, "keep them by your creative side." Make sure that what is happening is what you want. Make sure you are doing dates which provide the correct forum for your music.

The CEO needs to hear from the owner or things won’t work. And the owner needs to keep all the machines greased with the substance that started it all: music. New music. Because that’s what keeps you and your business going. And, the more music you make and the better it is, the stronger your business.

Finding The Perfect Manager

Now, let’s step back to the beginning for a moment. You are at that point where a manager is needed. How do you find the right one?

Start doing research. There are books that list managers and who their clients are. You may know people who have managers. Ask them if their person would be interested, or if that manager knows other managers. Find one who has clients that generally do what you do. If you see yourself as the new Jewel, do not call someone who manages Marilyn Manson.

Like anything else, it is who you know. If “a friend of a friend of your cousin knows the guy who manages so and so,” try to get your music to that person. Although it is possibly obscure, part of the introduction has been made through the friend. A little bit of that door is open. It may not open up any wider, but your chances there are a little better than with a total stranger.

Sugarcult had been researching managers and then one day “a girl at one of our odd bar gigs bought one of our self-burned four-song demo CDs and played it for a friend of hers.” That was Adam Raspler, manager of the band 311 who now manages Sugarcult.

Finding a manager should be a long and involved quest. Getting in the door in the first place can be difficult. Managers get tons of both new and seasoned artists requesting their time constantly. You have to impress them in some way. whether it is with your professionalism, your style or your persistence. Polite persistence. Don’t drive them crazy; you will never get in the door that way.

Keep in mind that activity breeds activity. Be visible. While your search is on, play every gig possible, be at every seminar, convention, performance or party you can get to where managers might be in attendance. You might think your music is the greatest that has ever come along, but so does everyone else that a manager meets. It may take time, but try to convey that you are professional and unbelievably talented. That message doesn’t get across by just saying so. It may not get across by just playing a CD. Allow some time for the manager of choice to see you perform, hear new music, hear your career philosophy and some part of your life.

I meet with artists several times and hang out as much as possible. It can take months to make the final decision to work together. The fact is, if this deal comes together, you and the manager will be spending anywhere from two years to life with each other. You have to believe the relationship will work.

Anne McCue says, "Find a task-master, someone who won't bullshit you. A manager should be able to tell you the truth about what you're doing. You need to find someone whose judgment you trust."

Quality Time

Jim Guerinot, President of Rebel Waltz Inc. and manager of the Offspring, Social Distortion, Beck and No Doubt, got together with the Offspring on a very loose basis and spent a lot of time with the band before actually working with them.

“I was managing Social Distortion and was General Manager of A&M Records at the time,” recalls Guerinot. “I spoke to Dexter Holland, guitarist and vocalist for the band, while I was at A&M. The Offspring had just put out their first record and we would just talk. He would check in periodically and I’d give him a little advice now and then. But I hadn’t met him.”

In fact, the first time he went to see the band, “I walked up rather boldly to Dexter and introduced myself. Except it wasn’t Dexter. It was the drummer.”

Nevertheless, the foundation had been laid. Based on conversations, Holland obviously trusted Guerinot and when it came time to get a manager, they knew each other. The introduction had already taken place.

“And the timing was right. The Offspring’s record had just been added to KROQ,” the trendsetting radio station in L.A. “But Dexter was still carrying around the band’s earnings in a briefcase and obviously needed help,” Guerinot says. And he was getting a little tired of doing administration work at A&M. “So after a few months dealing with both Social Distortion and then the Offspring and handling a day job, I moved on to full-time management.”

The timing was right. Jim Guerinot was ready and in a position to help, The Offspring had reached a point where the “job” part of their profession was overwhelming. They found someone they trusted.

Something clicked. The Offspring went on to sell 11 million copies of their first recording and many more since. And Jim Guerinot still manages them.

You’ll know when you need a manager. Just be sure about what you want, what you need and what your business requires. Put it all together and the rest is...not easy. But that’s another story.

Contacts For This Article:

• Sugarcult - www.sugarcult.com

• Jim Guerinot - N/A

• Mike Gormley - Glebe99@yahoo.com

• Anne McCue - www.annemccue.com