A reliable team is essential for your music career
Well, you need reliable people around you if you want to have a successful career in the business of music. Why? Because you aren’t going to have enough time to do everything yourself. You’ve got to strike a healthy balance between art and business and the following is a group of people you need as part of your team.
A manager
Umm, okay so a manager’s role is to assist you with:
- Networking i.e., connecting with the power circle, not losers—the dunderheads
- Being your spokesperson to record labels when you need a huge loan (or budget)
- To give you advice so that you don’t end up on the cancel culture’s chopping block
- Creating thoughtful marketing strategies that are drama free and ensure brand safety
- Securing endorsement deals and sponsorship from corporations
- Booking studio time, producers, and session musicians
- Helping you make money from club appearances and performances, etc.
A lawyer
Oh man, lawyers can be pricey mate, innit? But either way, you have no choice, you need them to sort out any legal work which you probably won’t even grasp due to the mind-boggling jargon terms used in records contracts, particularly music publishing, and especially whether you can buy back your “masters” at a later date after a record company has recouped their cut.
The last thing you want is to sign contracts that you can’t get out of easily. And that’s the most common mistake encountered by upcoming musicians when they get too excited about a record deal whilst overlooking the details of the fine print. Most importantly, you should do research to check if that entertainment lawyer is affiliated with your record label or not, because if that’s the case they will feed you to the wolves. You gotta find someone else without any of those close ties.
Pro Tip: Success in the show business is determined by the contract you sign. There is nothing special about winning awards, selling out venues, and later on whining in a documentary series about the recording industry. Bitterness is a manifestation of the spirit of poverty—premium ignorance. Keep your eyes on the prize i.e., capital gains. Or else someone will eat for years with minimal input from your work.
An accountant
Taxes and bills have to be paid on time — the government always wants its cut — and this is the part where a certified accountant comes in. But avoid hiring family, friends, or your partner to manage your finances: you don’t want to mix business and pleasure. However, just because you hire an accountant doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep an on them.
Money is very tempting and people will finesse you in calculated ways if they figure out your level of financial literacy is atrocious. Hence, it’s vital to take lessons on personal finance. You should also make sure you invest some of that money because in the future your music career might run to the ground whilst there recurring financial obligations to resolve.