TED TALK INSPIRATION

I was looking for some inspiration on Brand Marketing on the website Ted talk and after viewing several speakers I came across one that caught my attention. The presentation was called The Greatest Ted Talk Ever Sold. A small filmmaker named Morgan Spurlock gave it. His delivery approach of his content was humorous, funny, honest and explained in the simplest form. His speech on ted was about brand marketing to make a completely sponsored film about sponsorship. So he wanted to sell the concept of brand recognition naming rights of his speech on ebay and he posted ads on Facebook and Twitter. He talked about how when he did projects he always but his self into bad situations. With the whole goal being to examine societal issues to find out what makes them engaging, interesting, entertaining. Breaking them down to be accessible to an audience. For instance he went to prison, worked at a coal mine, filmed in a war zone and ate fast food for 30 days to see the results actually happen to his body directly. After pitching his idea to over 500 plus companies about getting their brand to the masses they all turned his offer down. He later argued that isn’t that the whole objective of Brand Marketing was to get your brand the attention of millions and to the masses.  So he set out to Pittsburgh to a company called Olson Zaltman Associates to find the problem with his idea and to study his internal brand personality.  An after the study was conducted they explained to him the characteristics of his brand which happens to be an up brand. Some of the elements associated with an up brand are playful, fresh/novel, edgy/daring, adventurous, inspiring, contemporary and adventurous. He realized the problem with his pitch was transparency.  The companies turned his offer down because ultimately they had no control over the outcome of the product and it was not sure to be a successful one. So he kept moving onto other companies that were interested and received the sponsors for to make the movie about sponsorship and sold his ted talk for $7100 dollars on ebay. His final thought and words of wisdom for his audience was to encourage an embrace risk, fear, transparency and within that opportunities will come.   

Artist Management Associations

As a result of artist managers and self-managed artist not being well educated in the music business The Indie Managers Association (IMA) was started. Formerly the independent Music Managers Association (IMMA). It was formed in August of 2002 as a private company with the headquarters being based out in the nations capitol Washington D.C. With intentions to educate and promote independent artist managers and self –managed artist they plan to offer a solid understanding/ foundation of knowledge about the music business in an overall sense. So a more efficient business can operate smoother and achieve better results for their clients and/or themselves.

The Indie Manager Association offers information and resources such as link to other relative web sites that are valuable to artist managers and self-managed artist. The IMA also provides a directory with a list of managers for artist seeking representation. The option to buy an e-book called Artist Management Manual for $19.95 is available. The Artist Management Manual covers third-party licensing, merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, national and international touring, international licensing, international sub-publishing, paid digital downloads, creative regional and national distribution, and more. This book is suppose to advise, address questions and problems that come about on a daily in a artist managers and self-managed artist. The roles of music managers and responsibilities are clarified so that they’re no confusion between the titles for people who don’t exactly know which role they want but wish to be in the field of Music Managers.

There is an international organization called The Association of Artist Managers (AAM) based out of Australia. The AAM work along side with other organizations in Australia in the areas of education and mentoring. By partnering with other organizations in Australia The AMM hope to strengthen the management industry in Australia for the benefit of all Australian artist.  

Becoming a Artist Manager and finding talent

Becoming a manager and finding talent both can be a challenge, there isn’t a particular order for the two. It’s just professional and makes more since to start the manger process first so that the talent will take you serious. To represent an artist, there are a couple of different routes. Some people start off by being interns at an entertainment company or a management company. Some people may meet the talent and the talent will bond with them because of similar interest. They both might believe in each other and see the potential for success. So sometimes that’s how the relationship forms. Sometimes it’s the talent, they might be the smartest person the talent knows. So the talent may approach the person like ‘‘you’ve always been business savvy,’’ or ‘‘you’re great with the things that I’m not so I want you to represent me.’’ Finding the talent is the tricky part. First thing you want to do is find that talent that makes good music. I’m referring to the essence of the music. The product must be solid and have meaning if you want to have a successful term. That’s also something to take into consideration because if you’re the manager you are like the spokesman for the product. So try and find an artist that has star potential. Try and find that artist that has a special niche about them. Whether it is through their music, wardrobe or live performance. That special niche is going to make your job easier and separate your artist from the competition. Once you have a talent with the ability and a special niche the presence is there. With a little polishing the battle is half way won. Next thing to look for in a talent is do they have the drive or desire to excel. Everything isn’t always going to go according to plan. Having a talent with desire outweighs a talent with intelligence. Having a talent with drive will take you far and be able to handle obstacles better.  

Customer Satisfaction

To be a good artist manager and satisfy your customers the first thing you need to do is educate yourself about the music industry. You can accomplish this by reading industry professional books, doing intern work, attending seminars, music conferences and conduct research utilizing the Internet and other study materials. As an artist manager you are responsible for the business side of an artist’s career. You must thoroughly know your field inside out in order to convey the business aspects to your client who may only have a music background. It’s the same for communicating from your client to a label. Being intelligent, having good communication and charisma are ways that can benefit you and your client. Representing a client in a professional manner can also lead to customer satisfaction. Planning skills and being able to predict an outcome of a situation is critical. Efficient budgeting is also vital to customer’s satisfaction because planning smart can save your client money and cut down on their expenses. Time management is important because time is money. Knowing how to create a schedule and prioritize the sensitivity of appointments for your client puts they’re mind at ease allowing them to focus on just making good music. So from a business-to-business (manager to artist) standpoint above are some things you can do to make your customer satisfied. From a business to consumers (artist/label to fans) standpoint, it’s still connected with a manager when dealing with customer satisfaction. If a manager doesn’t do their job then an artist can’t do theirs, which is to make good music. A manager works for an artist and is suppose to provide their client with a sense of security. When an artist has a troubled mind and personal issues its affects the quality of projects. Thus creating unsatisfied consumers and fans. Customer satisfaction starts with having a good artist manager.

The life of an Artist Manager

Everyday a star is born and is blessed with the opportunity to enjoy the finer things life has to offer. Television and other media outlets have always portrayed these artists to be a one-man army. As if they have achieved this high level of success all by themselves. This theory is not true, there are many hard working dedicated people behind the scenes that are responsible for these memorable projects and the artist manager is one of them. This blog is an insight on how important and involved an effective artist manger can be in the career of a client.

Having a manager shows the music industry that artist takes their career seriously. A manager is the first line of contact, representation and acts as a liaison between anyone who wants to conduct business with an artist. Artist managers handle a variety of tasks such as promoting, organizing gigs, using platforms, sales and recognition. The role of the artist manager varies widely within the needs of each artist. Which can be a key element of the artist’s success or failure. Most record label and industry professionals will not accept an artist’s work without a manager. So having a manager, if possible, is recommended before the submission of projects.

When a manager and an artist start a business relationship it’s a lot like having a best friend. They both share the same interest, which is to help each other become as successful as they can be in their career. Although, it’s a business relationship it’s similar to a marriage arrangement. They spend a vast amount of time together trading ideas and consulting with each other. Making sure that every move they make is best for the both of them. As with all relationships, communications between the two parties are very critical so that the room for error is low.

One of the most important tools that an artist manager utilizes is a cell phone. The ability to store information in a compact device that is mobile and operate like a computer gives a cell phone greater value. That is where most of the contacts from networking are stored. Also, more than likely, they use more than one depending on how many artists they manage. The workload can cause a manager to invest in a second phone to handle tasks better and be available when needed. A manger phone bill can range anywhere between 1,000 to 5,000 dollars. So it’s not out the norm for the cell phones bill to be one of the major expenses.

Prioritizing is another factor that can be the difference between an extraordinary and a terrible manager. Knowing what gigs or projects to take on at the right time is essential. Whatever task is at hand making as much revenue as possible, cutting down expenses, keeping their clients comfortable and happy is the default plan. That’s why eating as an artist manager are on the go majority of the time.

Resolving conflicts and mediating for the client and a third party can give an artist manager the cutting edge when doing business. The manager is always in the client’s corner when an issue arises but still displays a sense of fairness towards the third party. It does not help the situation to be rude or angry because that doesn’t complete projects. When the client and the third party are unwilling to work because of anger, the artist manger finds a solution that both the third party and artist, can be content with and can move forward.