As an emerging artist, you tend to start your music career as a solo mission. However, as you gain traction you may find yourself needing help and wanting to build a team around you. You may also encounter likeminded people you wish to offer their services. How do you know who will be an asset to you? When is it a good time to start a team?

Here is a breakdown of the different roles you may encounter at the beginning stages of your career and when and why they are important. If you feel like you may need to find some team members after reading this article, don’t hesitate to send your music to current music industry professionals on Groover! There are hundreds of curators & pros on the platform that will help you promote your music and aid you in the development of your career… who knows, maybe you could find some lifelong partners.

1. Manager

One of the most common roles in the music business and very often the first position to be filled is that of the Artist Manager. Traditionally, an artist manager is a representative of the artist that helps build, promote, and direct the artist’s business affairs. The responsibilities of a manager are quite flexible because they essentially adapt to the artist’s needs. They can negotiate contracts and fees, book performance and studio opportunities, help the artist develop their branding, create business plans, provide feedback on music, manage an artist’s social media, promote music and events, and more! The manager is essentially the artist’s go-to person; whatever the artist needs, the manager will figure out how to provide. This usually means that managers are working 24/7 and cultivate one of the strongest bonds with the artist along their journey.

The question is, do YOU need a manger? And if you do, how do you choose the right one? It is completely logical to think that you may not need a manager given how well you’ve been doing on your own. There are a lot of self-managed artists out there, however artist managers allow for artists to focus on their music. By having them cover the business side of things, they allow the artist to have all of the creative freedom and space to create; at the end of the day, who needs a manager if you don’t have music? So, if you’re feeling slightly overwhelmed by the administrative duties you’ve accumulated as your career has progressed, maybe you should consider partnering up with a manager to focus on your craft.

If someone is offering to be your manager, ask them who they know, who they’d introduce you to, and why they want to work together. A manager, just like all other roles within your team, needs to help accelerate your career and not just take a cut of your total earnings. They should believe in you 100% – that is the most important factor. Though it helps to already be well established in the industry, it is not a must to be an effective manager.

The flexibility of a manager’s job is what makes them the ideal first person to get on your team, especially at the beginning stages of your career when they can cover multiple roles at once without too much hassle. A person who loves your music, is willing to fully commit to the growth of your career, and has a good network of contacts (or is willing to go find them) will likely be a great manager to help accelerate your career and be a great asset to your team.

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2. Agent

An essential part of being an emerging artist is playing live shows, and an agent is the person who negotiates and confirms performance opportunities. Along with this, they will oversee touring by planning tour dates and routes, taking care of all aspects of the tour’s contracts (fees, rider, sponsorships, etc) and will find supporting acts for your headlining tour (if necessary).

Contrary to popular belief, there is no right time to find an agent. Agents should actually come looking for you! A vital part of being a successful agent is loving the artist you work for and wanting as many people to hear their music as possible. Therefore, wait until an agent knocks on your door and offers to represent you or your group. This is an easy way to guarantee that the agent is passionate about your career and making sure your music is heard.

On average, agents take a roughly 10-15% cut from the gross revenue made on live shows. Though it may seem like a daunting figure to you now, agents can provide huge profits in return and be well worth that percentage. However, it is very important that they are well connected and have active relationships with venues, festivals, promoters, other agents, and management teams. Therefore, don’t be afraid to ask around about an agent (or any other role for that matter) before officially signing them on. Reputation is everything in the music industry, so make sure all of your team members have positive existing reputations.

3. Marketing and Promotion

Nowadays, an active social presence is a very important aspect of an artist’s career. Typically when starting out, artists are in charge of their own socials and music marketing. However, as things begin to grow, you may have to delegate this responsibility to other people. Within the marketing and promotional world of an artist you may have a publicist, promoter, and/or a social media manager.

A music promoter will broadcast and promote an artist’s live performances or appearances. Their main goal is to bring as many people to your shows as possible. Typically, promoters will negotiate directly with an agent or venue. Therefore, in my opinion, a promoter is not an essential team member, especially for an emerging artist. However, they are a big and common intermediary in the life of any artist so it is important to know what they do and why they are helpful.

A publicist represents the artist in media and finds new media opportunities for the artist. Anything that could be covered by the media, a publicist will be in charge of setting up and carrying through. It is therefore essential for a good publicist to have great media connections. Publicists are usually not full-time team members and will have a fixed-term contract surrounding the publicity of a specific release (album, single, tour dates, etc). As an emerging artist it may not be necessary to have a publicist on your team, but it is necessary to build those relationships with the media. Cultivate personal relationships with writers, bloggers, radios, other media curators and pros. Groover is a great tool to do so. When starting your campaign to pitch your music to professionals, filter and select all types of promotional curators – start building these relationships now.

Last but not least, there is the social media manager. A social media manager will aid the artist in creating a social media strategy and give guidance on content creation, often managing the accounts themselves. They focus on when and where to post content, finding and implementing a voice and tone throughout channels, analyzing metrics and changing strategies accordingly, etc.

Keep in mind that it is also quite common to hire a social media expert in more of a consultant role depending on how developed an artist’s social media presence is. Don’t be afraid to test the waters and create your own presence before reaching out to an expert. There’s nothing an audience loves more than someone being their authentic selves. My personal advice would be to hold out on finding a social media manager or consultant until you have enough of a following for their job to not only be necessary but, will further elevate and accelerate your career.

Check out: How to use Groover to promote your music

4. Lawyer

I think it goes without saying that everyone can benefit from having a lawyer in their corner. As an artist, having an entertainment lawyer can be particularly helpful. Entertainment lawyers will create and review contracts with any and all parties, navigate and negotiate contracts as necessary, help protect your intellectual property, and ensure you collect all of your earnings owed to you which, as an artist, is a key factor. Moreover, if you ever have a weird feeling about anything or anyone, having a lawyer can be quite beneficial. They can take action as necessary or ease any situation.

It is impossible to talk about lawyers without mentioning the grave expense that comes with having one. I suggest reading up on your music rights yourself in addition to having a legal contact that you can rely on whenever you have doubts. There are also many lawyers who will work pro bono or offer special rates if you ever do need their services. Do your research and investigate your options because as an artist that is just starting out, not only is it important to know your legal implications, but you most likely don’t need a lawyer just yet.

Check out: Music rights and how they work

5. Publisher

First and foremost, if you are a songwriter, you need a publisher or some sort of relationship with a publishing company in order to get your music out there and get paid. The question at hand is not whether you need a publisher but rather whether you need a publishing deal, and when the right time is to affiliate yourself with a publishing house.

Music publishing allows for your music to get licensed so the rights belong to you, and therefore the earnings do too. A good music publisher is one with a huge network that may allow for your music to grant licensing to movies, TV shows, ads, video games, etc. … they can even set you up with other artists, producers and songwriters to develop your songs for other artists. One of the biggest roles they take on is that of royalty administration (mechanical, sync and master licenses). Therefore, when signing a publishing deal you are granting the right for your publisher to administer your songs as if they were their own which, can bring many benefits but, as you can imagine, can also be problematic with the wrong partnership. Publishers often take a hefty cut of your royalties if you’ve signed with one.

6. Do you need a label?

Many argue that the acclaim associated with being signed to a label has dissipated since the quick evolution of the music industry in the last decade or so. Nowadays, you don’t need a label to ‘make it’, let alone a major label; many artists opt-out of signing with major labels and choose to associate themselves with independent labels (Adele, Radiohead, Kaytranada, etc) and still reach pinnacles of fame. One of the biggest reasons as to why this is the case is due to the advancement of technology, social media, and the widespread availability of resources.

One of the biggest turnoffs from signing to a major label is the massive cut they take from your paycheck; today, record labels take an average of 85% of the total revenue made by an artist! However, in exchange for the music and brand, major record companies will provide an artist with marketing, distribution, production, salaries, and access to connections that would otherwise be incredibly difficult to get. Thus, the reason why labels still carry a lot of clout: they can move mountains, so being signed to a label as an artist is an asset not only to your career but to your reputation as a whole.

So, do you need a label? No! Especially not as an emerging artist. You can do everything that a label can do from the comfort of your own home without selling your soul to them (record, release and distribute music digitally, market yourself through social media, sell your own merchandising, play live gigs, etc). However, labels can provide funding and access. If you’re at the stage in your career where you need both of those things, then I would recommend you start looking into getting signed by a label, whether major or independent.

| Check out: How to get signed by a label as an independent artist

7. A jack of all trades

As mentioned earlier, you have little to no team when you are just starting out as an artist. However, having people around you is a great asset to your career because you can focus more on your artistry and less on the business side of things (this does not mean that you shouldn’t be well versed in both!) Therefore, it is very common to have a friend or colleague cover the responsibilities of many of the roles mentioned above when you’re starting out. In my opinion, this is the best team member to have because you may not have the funds to employ a number of people just yet, and it’s a great way to guarantee that the person working for you is truly passionate about your career and your music. This is an essential quality in a multifaceted role like this one. So, if you have a trusted friend or acquaintance that is willing to go on the journey with you and grow together, let them!

8. DIY – Be your own team

Though after reading this article it may seem overwhelming to do it all yourself, it is important to start out independently. By familiarizing yourself with the duties of each team member through personal experience, you’ll be able to identify the best person for the job when the time comes and know whether they are doing good work. Moreover, you want to build your own network and fanbase in the early stages of your career by connecting with them on your own to establish an individual relationship, so do the grunt work in the beginning… it will pay off!

Conclusion

Though we recommend starting on your own, that does mean you’re working alone in your efforts to further your career; there are hundreds of tools you can use for advice and assistance! This blog highlights some outside sources that you can use in addition to the hundreds of articles we’ve written that you can always fall back on if you ever have a question.

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Begin to contact some of our curators and pros on Groover now!