How to Manage a Band is not difficult when you have the right knowledge and skills; this article will help you with all you need.
The budget for most independent bands is pretty tight, unless they have parental management and backing like Usher or Beyoncé. But that’s a rarity and can come with its family conflicts. Band directors have a fundamental task that is directly related to the success of the group. They need to coordinate travel, manage the different egos and goals within bandmates, and promote the identity and talent of the band.
How to Manage a Band
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These six tips can help artists take on the challenge of managing their band. They will give you the basics and what it takes to manage a band.
Write down the objectives
To manage your band effectively, you need to work with your bandmates to develop short, medium, and long term goals. Written goals are more likely to be achieved, and this process will encourage discussion and commitment among all involved. Perhaps the short-term goal is to book more gigs and develop some relationships with club owners. Medium or long-term goals could be to save money to pay for study time or to plan a larger-scale tour for next summer. Start a new Google doc with all of these goals so the other gang members can contribute to the plans over time.
Spend money carefully
Managing the band’s budget involves not only finding areas to save (like not eating too much on the road), but also allocating money to the most effective expenses. Think of an executive in a larger company who is always looking for a return on money spent. You might want those high-end mics, but if they don’t produce a noticeable enhancement to your sound on stage, then maybe it’s better to spend the money on promotion. Or you may be considering spending time studying, but the cost is not yet justified by your smaller fan base. Make reasonable decisions that will propel the band toward its goals.
Look at the data and adjust accordingly
You didn’t enter the music business to become a “data scientist,” but there are some insights you can get just by looking at the information. For example, do you notice any trends in ticket sales or merchandise between your different shows? Were personal or geographic demographics different, and how might that influence sales?
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As the band manager, you are also in charge of the band’s social media efforts. Analyze the results of your posts and other content. Do people share all of your Instagram photos, or mainly the ones that show off-the-cuff shots of “life on the road”? Who shares your content? Can you find a way to work with them to help reach their followers? Free merchandise in exchange for someone with 100,000 followers sharing your posts is usually a great deal. You need this if you are going to mage your band effectively.
Intelligent networks
Networking is not just going to meetings and other events hoping to meet the next Jimmy Iovine who will take you to the next level. Networking is fundamentally about connecting with smart people and understanding if you can help them in any way, knowing that the relationship will have value in the future. You can’t approach it with a “what can you do for me?” attitude: you have to see both sides of any relationship, especially if you are the one asking a favor. Think about helping others in the industry, like producers or other upcoming indie bands, and then you’ll develop a group of people to help you when it’s really important.
Make good music
Managing your band is not easy. As you do so, don’t lose sight of your most important task, which is consistently making great music by developing a great band with quality instruments, techniques, and vocals. It’s your job to push the band toward innovation and keep the excitement level high at all times. As a freelance musician, you don’t have the resources of record labels or distribution companies, but you have the flexibility to “wear a lot of hats.” He also has an intimate understanding of his own band’s strengths and weaknesses in a way that an outside manager never could.
How to become a great band manager
Now, this part is where you learn how to become a great band manager with excellence when it comes to manage a band.
Honing the skills of those people
Especially in the beginning, managing the band requires a lot of cold calls and opportunity proposals. You’ll need to network, be willing to be persistent when people don’t return their calls, and generally feel comfortable approaching new people. As a manager, you will have to put a bit of effort in business, so if the thought of calling a promoter over and over again until you finally hear it doesn’t appeal to you, management may not be the best option.
Be the responsible
As a band manager, you’ll be around for some really fun moments, including moments that last well into the time the work is supposed to be on. It’s your job to always make sure the job gets done, even if the band is having a hard time.
You have to make sure everyone is awake when they need to be, in interviews, shows, sound checks, uploads, and everything else, and you have to make sure the band gets on the bus when necessary. In other words, someone has to be an adult. You have to be prepared to stand your ground and not overdo it.
Learning the music industry
Some of the best band managers fully learned the business on the fly. But you must come in with enough knowledge about the music business to know what opportunities to look for your artist.
Understand the basics such as what a label is and does, what an agent is and does, what promoters do, what PR firms do, etc. Read up on the industry and keep up with trends, and never shy away from asking for explanations, help, or advice when necessary.
Handling multiple jobs for a new belt
Most jobs require a bit of juggling, but gang management is in a league of its own. This is especially true when you are working with a band that is in the early stages of its career and doesn’t have a team in place. Once you have an agent who takes care of reservations, a label or a distributor who takes care of sales, a public relations company that takes care of the press and radio, etc. Before that, you will try to build the team while doing all your work yourself. It’s hectic and you can’t let anything get in the way for long.
Be the neutral party in gang disputes
The members of the band have disagreements. As a manager, you can’t get caught in the middle, even if you have a closer relationship with some members than others. You should maintain a position where everyone in the band feels they can come to you with concerns and ideas and that you will listen to them. Don’t play favorites.
You will need to keep personal feelings at bay and distance yourself from the inner drama that can sometimes happen in a band.
