Wendy Day explains when musicians should hire a manager: when they can't handle everything themselves and have real income or buzz to justify a 15-20% commission. Look for proven track record and strong connections, avoid long contracts unless it's someone like Scooter Braun, and never hire inexperienced friends or family for the role.
Chapters
Hey guys, Wendy Day here from Rep Coalition, and I'm bringing you another video. Um, you guys ask me a lot about building a team, so, um, let's talk about that. Let's talk about when it's time to find a manager. I know that, um, the real answer to that is when you need one, and I know you think that's a cop-out as an answer, but it's the truth. When you can no longer do this yourself, that's when you need a manager. Um, and, and basically when there's something to manage. It's really like a timing thing on your part because if you go to hire a manager too soon before they can make some money working with you— and I mean real money working with you, because remember managers get paid like 15 to 20% of your entertainment income. So if you've got no income, the level of manager that you're going to be able to attract is kind of down here. But if you've got a buzz and you're popping and you're starting to do some shows and 20% of your income is actually starting to amount to some, some, some income, the level of manager you're going to be able to attract is up here. And you're going to sign a contract with the manager, so you're going to be with this person for some time. That could be a year, that could be 3 years, that could be 5 years depending on the contract. And I don't recommend that you sign a 5-year contract unless it's Scooter Braun. So you're gonna attract the level of attention at the amount of leverage that you have. And so many times, like, you guys will need help before you really have income. So it's kind of a trade-off. You gotta, you gotta weigh the pros and cons of choosing somebody that doesn't really have have as much experience or as many connections or the ability to help you grow your income. Um, and, and let's talk a little bit about what a manager does so that you have a complete and full understanding of what they do. Because what they don't do is they're not a bank. They don't have to actually go out and get you income. Some of the better managers will. What a manager really does is they help you grow your career. So you're going to sit down with a manager and you're going to discuss your vision. Um, you're going to tell them what your goals are and where you want to be, and they're going to help you to get to that level of your career. Um, you want to make sure that you have communicated your vision properly. You don't necessarily just want a manager to tell you what your vision is, um, unless you truly don't know and you need to start somewhere. But you want somebody that's going to be able to work together with you as a team, and they're going to do some of the work, you're going to do some of the work, but they're going to speak for you. So it's got to be somebody that really has that skill. They got to be a mouthpiece, somebody that has connections and the ability to get you into opportunities that can benefit you, especially for free. A manager isn't somebody that just comes in and spends your money for you. They're not somebody— they're not an ATM. They're not going to put their money up to help you grow your your career, but they are going to help make moves and get you to that next level where you need to be in order to benefit your career. So while I can't sit here, you know, and, and predict when you should hire somebody, I can tell you that the level of manager you're going to attract is far better if you have undeniable talent, which everybody watching this thinks they have undeniable talent. So that, that right there is in the bag, right? You've got undeniable talent, you've got a little bit of a budget already in place to help get you to the next level, and you have an incredible work ethic. You're willing to outwork everybody else. That's going to be what attracts a manager most, because an artist that just— that doesn't just sit back and wait for the manager to make moves, um, is going to get a lot further in their career than somebody who does just sit back and wait for somebody else to make moves. Also, if you're making moves and your manager sees that, they're going to demand more of themselves and step up to meet the, the demand that you're showing. You know, you're kind of, you're kind of a leader in this, so you're showing them what your expectations are. You've got to have full communication with your manager. You've got to meet with them regularly so that you know that you're both on point. And you've got to trust their judgment. You've got to hire somebody that you know knows what they're doing, because the last thing you want to do is hire somebody that kind of goes off and does their own thing and then is putting you in situations to do things that you don't necessarily want to do. So you've got to have great communication, and they're going to get a percentage of your income, so you've got to be willing to kick them down some loop when it comes in. Um, a good manager is worth their weight in gold. There are a handful of amazing managers out there, and then the majority of managers out there are people that call themselves managers that either aren't great at what they do or they have no idea what to do. They just woke up one day and said, okay, I'm a manager. You know, ideally you would like to hire somebody that has a track record of success and has the proper connections, but mostly that has a true understanding of how to build a star, because it's really hard to build a star. It's not, it's not what it looks like. So you can't just sit on the outside looking in and understand what it takes to build a successful career for somebody. You kind of have to have done it before so that you know what it takes and how much work it takes. So maybe find somebody with a little bit of experience. Um, one of the biggest problems I see is folks hire their boy or their cousin to manage them, and the downside of choosing somebody, um, that has zero experience is that they have zero experience. They don't know what they're doing, they don't have the proper connections, and they certainly can't— um, they don't have the know-how to get you to that next level. I understand why artists do it, it's a trust thing. You also want to bring your boys along with you. You want to have people in your circle that you're comfortable with, but certainly not at the expense of your career. There's other positions that you can put them in, like road manager, or, um, you know, Rick Ross does some really cool shit with his entourage, with the guys around him. He has bought different companies, um, like Wingstop, and, um, he owns a couple, I think, Foot Locker or Foot Actions or foot whatever shoe stores. And he's put his friends and family in position to run those businesses so that not only can they make themselves some money, but they can make him money. And they're in a position where it's not affecting his career, because if you can't get to the next level as a rapper, then you can't make enough money to feed yourself and your entire family. So all that helping everybody else is, is out the window anyway if you can't get to a level where you can make some income. And that's the whole point of this, right? You want to have a career in the music business. So that's all on management. I hope I didn't leave anything out. This was just a quick, um, 10 minutes with me. And go do some research, you know, when you're choosing a manager. Don't just trust their word. Go and do the research. You can't just Google anymore and get answers. You need to actually go out into the real world and ask people, you know, hey, do you know so-and-so? What do you think of so-and-so? There's nothing wrong with that. Do the research. Talk to people that they've already managed, people that they've already worked with. Find out what they like about them and what they don't like about them. Having people not like you is not necessarily a bad thing. Having people hate you— not hate on you, but hate you— that's a bad thing. You know, don't hire somebody that's a fuckboy or a fuckgirl. Hire somebody that has a great reputation that you don't mind attaching your brand to, because remember, you've only got one shot. Really to do this right. Okay guys, good luck with the management thing, and I'll be back.
