I wear many hats, Im a brand manager, an account executive for a marketing firm, I do artist development and research, I got my break in entertainment by doing logistical site planning for concerts.
I'm immersed in the music industry, I've put countless hundreds of thousands of miles on my car because of it, I've boarded trains and planes in pursuit of musical happiness and I've slept on many studio couches after burning the midnight oil. I'm 32 years old but I'm constantly around young people, I frequent the most viral of blogs and I read the comments of both satisfied and dissatisfied consumers everywhere. I'm constantly learning and I'm always networking and building relationships. The one thing I'm always looking for when I work with people is the "core principles" that will give me a sign that there is a foundation worth building upon, that's number one!
That foundation is your talent...your potential!
I've worked with corporate brands, music artists, designers, practitioners of Yoga and even spiritual advisers, and no matter what there talent is...they've got to want it as bad as I want it for them. You have to understand that you're the head of your business and be as focused on your career as you want me to be. A lot of times people will do deals and expect you to do everything for them. It takes teamwork. So I look for people who have a strong work ethic and are willing to go the extra mile. People approach me often and say "Will you be my manager" and my response is always immediate and I say sure...but what have you managed? And they almost always look at me with a puzzled face!?! lol
I can't manage what you haven't managed yet, if there's something you've built...I can manage it. If your a music artist, do you have a web presence? have you built up a following that requires management? have you performed live? have you booked your own shows? Is your workload so incredibly overwhelming that you need professional assistance?
These are the kinds of people I want to manage and help...
I help people create believability, your act has to have a certain degree of believability already, but I help people buy into it more. In order for this to happen however, there has to be a real strategy behind that act. To break a new musical act, you have to come with two singles and two visuals first to create the definition, to see if people are going to buy into it before you put out an album. You have to come up with a grass-roots marketing campaign to help build the image that surrounds your artistry. All of this is not even possible unless you've established a foot-print for yourself (a mixtape, live shows, web presence, i.e youtube, tumblr, facebook, twitter).
THE NUMBER ONE THING ANY NEW ARTIST MUST DO IS INVEST IN THEMSELVES!!! Don't be ashamed to go out there and get a job, wait tables, bar-tend, drive a taxi...lol...anything that will support your dream, because your going to need a good video director, pay for studio time and mastering, and you'll have to hire a decent graphic designer to do your album art. This is your demo to the world...make it your best effort ever, and when your at this level...THEN you can submit for a manager, a publicist, public relations expert, these people would be more then happy to help you, if that work ethic can be displayed.
And that's my 2 cents for the day...lol
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