Do You REALLY Want To Manage a Musician in Second Life?

So, you think you want to manage a musician in Second Life?

Photo by Syx Sixpence

I got very lucky when Seth Regan (Mankind Tracer in SL) and I started working together because he had been managing his own career for 3 years already and knew the ins and outs of the SL music industry. He and I both have backgrounds in business and marketing, the same strong work ethic, similar business beliefs and our philosophies about life and work just mesh well. All that lead us to very quickly becoming not only manager and musician, but best friends as well and still are almost two years later. We have even become business partners in The Tracer|Birman Agency and The Village. It is rare that people will get as fortunate as we have been in this area.

Often times a musician will not understand the business side of music and make no mistake, music is a business.  As a musician manager, you need to really have a good grasp of business. The artist and their music are your products and you are selling them. You will sell them to venues, bloggers, magazines, radio stations and the general public. It will be up to you to sit down with your artist and decide how best to brand and market them. You NEED a business plan and a marketing plan.

Communication with your musician and in general is so important, I cannot stress this enough. Seth and I often are on the phone, skype, or SL voice 6 times a day or more but do not expect that from the musician you manage. As I stated, we are business partners and best friends too, so we are very involved in each others lives. I've have heard from other managers in the past that they can have real issues with communicating with their artist. The musician does not log in except to perform, they won't provide a means to get in touch with them outside of Second Life or there could be days between finding time to discuss important business matters. Other people you will need to communicate with will be venues, the press, fans and the public. If you cannot communicate, how can you effectively manage?

Another thing to keep in mind is that the musician is an artist. Sometimes an artist is a bit touchy on certain topics like their music. "Now keep in mind that I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my shit"- Eyrkah Badu, singer/songwriter. Everyone has insecurities or things they are sensitive about but sometimes with an artist they can be more sensitive than others. You might find that your musician cannot take constructive (or any) criticism, they might be sensitive about their age, or feel insecure about their talent even. These are personality quirks you have to decide if you can handle or not. When it comes to Seth and his music I can tell him if he is sounding off or if I don't like a song or if he needs to tweek something here or there and it's okay. An artist needs to appreciate professional input as they should always want to sound their best, but sometimes, need that extra set of ears. Seth knows this and truly appreciates my input. However, some people will not want that input or you need to walk on eggshells and choose your words carefully to express things to the musician. Some musicians want to be "true artists" and do not want any advice at all, so my question is... How do you grow as an artist with out at least listening to the input of the people with your best intentions at heart?

The last thing I want to touch on here is commitment. You HAVE to be really committed to your musician. In the course of the time that I have been managing musicians, even before Seth, I have missed 4 shows. I was in world working a show with 102 degree fever and throwing up but I was there and the audience had no idea that I was sick. If you make a commitment to your musician then follow through on every level.