A question from Derek in Boston

Hi John,
My question is in regards to management. When would you say is the
right time to seek out management? As a solo pop singer/songwriter,
seeking out a manager or talent agent seems like a great way to get my
music into the hands of those in the industry which I could not do on
my own. On the other hand, many people suggest that you should manage
yourself as long as possible. What do you think? What are some
qualities I should look for in a management team? Any suggestions?

Best,
Derek Adams
www.myspace.com/derekjadams <http://www.myspace.com/derekjadams>


Hey Derek,
I'm not sure what the advantage of managing oneself is accept tosave
the 10 to 20% in commission that they might charge. BUT if there
areother reasons; write back & I'll address them. X, The Knitters
&myself have had management almost the entire time I've worked
inentertainment. But that never allows you to be unaware of yr business
orremoved from the other people (record company, booking agent, lawyer,
publisheretc.) that you work with.
Anyone you work with should be someone enough like you that you're
proudto have them speak for you & represent you because that's exactly
whatthey're going to do. You want someone who's organized,
honest,knowledgeable & being good company at dinner doesn't hurt.
Aspowerful or connected as they may be, you don't want some asshole
makingdemands you wouldn't approve of or do yourself if that was yr job.
And ina way it is your job: to make sure you know what's going on &
weigh in onmost all of the decisions, especially the important ones.
The lastquality to look for is someone who's priorities are the same.
Try tomatch the degree of fame & fortune & reasons & methods to
achievethem with you own. Working with friends is OK especially at the
beginningbut that doesn't mean that they can slide on any of the
qualities that I talkedabout above.
Like all relationships it's a great when you find the right person&
keep working together to maintain that. I can also say that I've had
thegood fortune to stay in touch w/ & love almost all the managers that
I'veworked with. Trust your intuition, I know it's not easy.

hope this is some help and as always, thanks for writing.
yrs,
JD





If you have questions forJohn Doe about music, the music business or
life feel free to email them to wwjdd@...
<mailto:wwjdd@...> .


Click here
<http://www.knowthemusicbiz.com/index.php/BIZ-BLOG/View-by-tag/wwjdd/>
to check out all the WWJDD blog posts.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]