Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Second Life Manager? Booking Agent? Publicist?

For those of you who don't know by my previous blogs or because you know me personally, one of the things I do in Second Life is Musician Management. Currently I am managing the most recognized rock musician in SL, Mankind Tracer (Seth Regan in RL). Before I managed Mankind, I managed other well known musicians in Second Life.

In my four years in Second Life, I have come to find that not all "managers" are created equal. There are a lot of Musician Managers in SL that are not really managers, they are Booking Agents or Publicist/PR people. Booking Agents and Publicists are very important in the career of the musician as well but they are not managers.

There are many sorts of managers for real life musicians, Artist/Band Manager, Business Manager, Tour Manager, etc. Many times for smaller musicians/bands in RL, one person takes on all these roles, just like in Second Life. However, I think the title of "manager" is not always accurate in some cases in Second Life.

Lets take a look at the possible Second Life positions:

The Manager:

The Artist Manager needs to help direct the career of the artist and research the various people in Second Life such as booking agents, publicists, photographers, machinamists/video directors, stylists/designers, graphic artists and how they play into the artist career plan. The more contacts you have the better equipped you are for the manager job. In managing the career of the musicians they may also help with song selections, sound and give feedback on shows.Unlike in RL, the manager also In SL the manager often assumes the role of the other sort of managers that I have listed. Making sure the artist gets paid and their expenses are covered, checking that the venues have done their parts by listing, promoting and setting up performance space and other details of the show.

The Booking Agent:

The booking agent role is different than what a manager does. The booking agent will work with the artist to agree on dates and times available for performances, how much to charge for bookings and how negotiable that fee is, what the goals are for the "tour" and contact promoters ad venues to pitch the musician and book the performances. They also arrange the contracts regarding fees, equipment (ie the venue must provide a stage) and the rider or terms of the contract. They must have great  communication skills to sell the talent and develop contacts, as well as, communicating with the artist as to when shows are and if anything needs to or has changed with the scheduled shows. In Second Life this role is often taken on by the manager as well or the musician does their own booking.

The Publicist (PR Person):

A Publicist handles the publicity and press needs of the artist in SL. Publicity helps get people to the shows in Second Life. A publicist must be able to get an artist's name out there in as many ways as possible and consistently research new ways to promote.  Sending group notices to as many places as possible including: SL groups, Facebook, Twitter, Second Friends, bloggers or any other avenue they can find. In second life this role can also be done by the "assistant" or "host" and also could fall on the manager. Again this person's communication skills and professionalism are critical because they are the public face of the performer.


It is immensely important for musicians to consider what their needs are for their careers and what people they will need to work with to make their career plan happen. You can have someone who takes the role of Manager and another person for Booking Agent and Publicist or you can find one person who can do it all. Often I have seen in Second Life that the person being titled manager is not really managing but maybe just doing the job of a Booking Agent or Publicist. Some are just Booking Agents or just Publicists. It can de difficult to find someone in Second Life that can take on all roles and do them well and all these roles are very critical to a musician's career. Sometimes you might find that you don't need a Manager or Booking Agent because you are comfortable handling those aspects on your own. Maybe you just need a host that can do notices and work the crowd. Ultimately, it us up to the artist to figure out what they need in the way of representation and I encourage all performers to sit down with their current staff and sort out what is needed and what works for you and the goals you have set.

If you are interested in performing in Second Life, just email me and I can help connect you or point you in the right direction. brandy@maltasmanagement.com

2 comments:

  1. Good explanation of each role and its value.

    -ls/cm

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  2. I have actually done these roles in rl there is a reason they are separated in real life, yu have real transport issues real issues w booking hotels ect, they are not really necessary in second life. The only thing you need eed more of Is time and effort

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