“I got more work for myself over the years by getting it myself, rather than from the Manager I hired to get me work,” said almost everyone in the music business.”
You are your Manager.
Until you get an “official” manager, you are self-managed.
One of today’s most revered PR pros told me that an artist “should never contact a manager directly.” I’ve had this confirmed by other managers.
Someone else must make the introductions to the manager. It can be someone you know on the manager’s roster, or it can be someone in your circle who is important and influential.
Here are the keys to becoming an effective self-managed artist.
Fill in the blanks.
I want to become a ____________, and do ______________.
Who is the audience* I want to reach? Who would find what I do relevant?
What are the next steps to becoming a _________ and doing_________ for that audience*?
Where do I find and reach that audience*?
*Here, the audience I’m referring to is the person who would enjoy what you create.
This is the first step to create your own successful career strategy.
Sound too simple to be true?
Answering those questions above, and following up with the necessary first steps, will create a system you can use and trust to become a thriving and flourishing performer, composer, or ensemble.
And as your career moves forward, management (the other audience who will find what you’re doing relevant) will become receptive to an introduction. Or…they will approach you.
Or, you may decide that the successful system you’ve created means you can put your quest for management on hold.
Self-managed artists are in complete control of their careers.
Sound too simple to be true? Here is a real life case study.
Musician LB determined that they want to become (1) a principal player in an orchestra, who also (2) performs solo recitals of recently composed music by underrepresented composers whose substantial music has been hiding in plain sight. And, (3) perform concertos with orchestras (see No. 1)
Their next steps.
1. Daily practice of orchestral excerpts. Take auditions.
Pretty simple and obvious.
In this artists first eight months, they took five auditions, and won two. Next year, they begin their job as a principal player in a major U-S orchestra.
2. Their representative knew a U-S based and a UK based record label who are primarily seeking to record music that hasn’t been recorded before. LB now has an agreement in principle with the UK based label.
3. LB came up with a menu of five concert programs that range from a traditional program to something completely new and fresh offering music by underrepresented composers. This menu, with a brief artist statement, bio and videos are in the hands of venues and presenters who are looking for artists who are changing the classical music concert going experience.
LB does not have a manager.
Performing and composing are hard — really hard, and rightly so. But what if creating a personalized career strategy was relatively simple?
Don’t hold off on your career by focusing on getting a manager. Instead, simply focus on your career and doing what you love, and doing the things that are most important to you.
Let me know if you want to go over a strategy to get you a manager — or if you even need a manager at this point in your career.
Reach me here: davidmsrebnik@gmail.com
To be continued…
As your own manager, you also have a marketing agency. And, you own the agency, so you can access it anytime without a fee.
