One of the first rules of entering the music business or any
business in the media is to hire a manager.
As an artist, one must research and choose a manager that suits their
career needs. Not only an artist should
researching to see what types of managers are out there, but also looking up
what a manager does for an artist. When
hiring a manager, the artist must read and negotiate an agreement or simply, a
contract. Once the contract is signed,
the artist must abide by the contract or some clauses could come into play.
At times, artists are so eager to release albums and perform
at shows, that they forget or simply don’t pay their managers. For instance, I read a Kings of A&R article about the hip-pop group, LMFAO, getting sued by their former managers. The group supposedly owes their managers
millions of dollars and they were alleged of breach of contract. Artists and managers should have a reasonable
relationship. They should have a partnership
that is partly friendship and fully business.
As for artists, I think they should at least negotiate over
the original contract if a major label or something else comes up that is
better. For example, I read an article
on Contactmusic website about the lawsuit against pop star, Ke$ha. Das Communications were suing her for 14
million dollars for a breach of contract.
They said that she was influenced by the other manager to leave their
organization. It isn’t rare that this
situation happens where an artist finds a better deal with another manager and
he or she just leaves their former manager high and dry.
To avoid confrontations with contracts, artists and managers
must have communication the best way they know how. Without communication, an artist could end up
in more trouble than needed, and managers could end up losing plenty of money.
