In the world of Hip hop, an artist manager still plays a vital role in a musician’s potential to reach success. An artist manager’s role takes in a wide range of tasks from orchestrating projects, planning releases and booking shows, all the way down to taking care of their client’s wellbeing, helping them pursue their goals and much (much) more.
From our friends at Point Blank Music School LA, here are a list of 7 individual traits that matter when deciding whether a music artist is ready to sign…
1. Talent
In the industry, talent speaks for itself. This is a necessity when signing someone to your roster and will reflect positively on your A&R skills to boot. Some artists may be a bit rough around the edges, but your instincts will tell you when you’re onto a winner. Great talent is undeniable and can be strengthened with the right attention.
2. Individuality
As more and more artists begin to emerge each year and tens of thousands of songs are released each day (around 40,000 to Spotify daily, according to Business of Apps), it’s more important now than ever to find a unique-sounding artist with an individual spark. This will help your artists shine bright amongst the competition and entice more distinctive creators to join your team.
3. Drive
Finding an artist with a powerful drive to succeed will make your job not only easier but more exciting. Having a passionate artist will radiate inspiring energy and ensure that they stay on top of your directions when pushing them to further their career.
4. Vision
An artist with a strong vision of where they want to take themselves professionally will help you and your client easily set out goals, a career timeline and help manage expectations. If the vision is clear for both you and your artist, success will come naturally as you will both have the same aspirations for the future. You can spend more time putting the wheels in motion for new projects, leaving your artist to get creative and focus fully on the work at hand.
5. Dedication
Along with drive, dedication is the key to success. You need to find someone who is willing to put in the work, pull out all the stops and be passionate enough to give it their all. Working with a dedicated artist will take the strain off you when it comes to providing direction. It’s not always easy managing and carving out new opportunities when you have to spend time constantly prompting your artist to put in the work.
6. Communication
Like with many professional and social relationships, communication is paramount to keeping everyone happy. Good communication between yourself and an artist will speed up the workflow process and help spawn new ground-breaking ideas. Honesty and respect also play a key role here, as an open dialogue about what you think is best for the artist and the ability to compromise with their needs will build a strong bond. In other words – listen to each other.
7. Success
Last but not least is… success. It’s important to sign someone you think has what it takes to excel both your careers and notoriety simultaneously. Artists with a proven track record of success will certainly possess many of the characteristics listed above and already have a good idea of what works for them musically, as well as what their audience demographic is.
Finding and nurturing great artists is essential to succeed in the artist management industry. If you’re looking to break into the music business and build a career for yourself in the artist management industry, run your own successful record label, become a global booking agent, or work with music copyright law and much more, we’d highly recommend checking out Point Blank Music School’s online Music Industry Management Degree courses. This course is led by industry professionals with years of experience in the field and will provide you with the skills to stamp your mark on the ever-changing music business. For those in the Los Angeles area, to attend their Los Angeles campus in person, learn more about the process of registering by going to their Point Blank LA website.
