What Does a Music Manager Do?
Welcome to the Music Business
Strategic Leadership
The manager is the central coordinator and strategic partner.
- They are the first core team member and helps you decide on who the rest of your team members are.
- Oversees the entire artist team (producers, engineers, songwriters, PR, booking agents, lawyers etc)
- Keeps communication clear and responsibilities aligned
- Holds the artist accountable to goals and deadlines
- Supports and strengthens the artist’s vision
- Translates ambition into structured action
- Manages and amplifies the existing traction generated by the artist
- Helps to grow the business side
Professional Oversight
The manager safeguards the artist’s interests.
- Reviews contracts and agreements
- Protects ownership, credits, and financial rights
- Oversees negotiations
- Ensures contributors are credited and compensated properly
- Maintains professional standards across the business
- Manages relationships and reaches out/commincates on your behalf
Creative & Operational Execution
The manager builds structure around creativity.
- Provides encouragement and constructive feedback
- Challenges the artist when needed
- Oversees organization and business infrastructure
- Guides budgeting conversations
- Coordinates and assembles team members
- Maintains brand consistency
- Supports sustainable career growth
- Offers mentorship and guidance
Artist's Team Organizational Chart Example
Responsibilities of a Music Manager
- Provide mentorship, consulting, and long-term career strategy
- Maintain consistent communication and ongoing collaboration
- Guide branding, rebranding, and visual identity development
- Help refine the artist’s sound and offer honest, constructive feedback
- Assist in strategic decision-making for sustainable growth
- In person support (at shows/events/meetings)
- Leverage professional networks to create exposure and new opportunities
- Support negotiations, review contracts, and oversee deal conversations
- Coordinate collaborators and help build a strong, reliable team
- Oversee business organization, credits, split sheets, and proper registration
- Help protect financial integrity by monitoring budgeting, ownership, payments, and professional standards
How to Build a Strong Relationship With Your Manager
1. Do Your Part Alongside Your Manager
A manager is one part of the team, not the entire operation. They work with you, not for you. Show up, execute, and match their effort.
2. Work Harder After Signing
Signing a manager should increase your workload, not decrease it. Use their structure and guidance to level up your output.
3. Respect the Partnership
Management is a business partnership. Make sure compensation is clear and fair so everyone is motivated and aligned.
4. Build a Full Team
Most serious artists eventually need 6–8 people around them. A team could consist of a manager, lawyer, producer, booking agent, publicist, content strategist, and more. Build strategically.
5. Communicate & Stay Aligned
Once a team is in place, stay in communication. Big decisions are discussed. Alignment creates momentum.
6. Invest in Your Growth
Every real business requires investment. Put money into your craft, your team, your marketing, and your development. No investment, no expansion.
How Music Managers Are Paid
A manager and artist are business partners. It’s a professional relationship built on shared goals, shared growth, and aligned incentives. Being an artist is a business — and like any business, it requires investment: time, energy, and money.
Commission works for well established artists but not for new artists.
If you’re generating meaningful revenue from streaming, live shows, or brand deals, a manager may operate on 15–20%. Commission makes sense when there’s consistent income to participate in.
No consistent revenue = retainer.
If income isn’t steady yet, a retainer or consulting structure is often more appropriate. This supports the manager’s time, strategy, connections, oversight, and active involvement while helping build toward sustainable revenue.
We evaluate artists holistically.
We don’t base decisions on one metric alone. We consider traction, engagement, consistency, brand identity, growth rate, revenue streams, professionalism, and long-term vision. Every artist’s situation is different.
Examples of Artist career stage.
- Emerging Artist (20 monthly listeners / 500 followers):
Revenue is still in the early stages of development. At this phase, a retainer structure is typically more appropriate while momentum and income are being built. Commission-based pay at this level of your career isn’t practical, there isn’t meaningful revenue to commission from yet. In most cases, you should expect to operate under a retainer until income becomes consistent. - Established Artist (2M+ monthly listeners / 100K+ followers):
There’s already real income and scale in place. At this level, commission-based compensation translates into something substantial, making it a practical structure. When consistent revenue exists, commission is often appropriate because there’s meaningful income to build on and grow together.
A manager isn’t necessarily responsible for creating something from nothing. The manager helps structure it, expand it, and maximize it.
Commission based pay example
Commission-based payment models only work when an artist’s career is already generating consistent revenue.
This structure is typically something you establish before signing with a manager—if you expect them to be compensated purely through commission.
What We Look For in the Artists We Manage
- Long-term mindset
- Career-focused, not hobby-driven
- Business-oriented approach to music
- Coachable and open to feedback
- Strong listener who values experienced guidance
- Comfortable on camera and active online
- Understands the importance of visibility and consistency
- Willing to invest time, money, and energy
- Actively building momentum and audience growth
- Self-motivated and disciplined
If you read this and thought, “That’s me,” we'd love to hear from you
Frequently Asked Questions
A manager does not personally create beats, produce records, mix, master, or provide studio time. Their primary role is to handle the business, strategy, and long-term career direction—guiding opportunities, protecting your interests, and helping your brand grow.
Music production is handled by specialized professionals such as producers, engineers, and studios. With your manager’s guidance, you’ll hire and outsource those roles to qualified team members.
If a manager offers additional creative or production services beyond management, those services are separate and billed independently—they are not included in standard management responsibilities.
The main person responsible for booking shows is a Booking Agent no the Music Artist Manager.
A manager’s role is to focus on building long-term momentum, strengthening your brand, and increasing visibility. By strategically growing your presence and positioning in the industry, they help create the kind of attention and leverage that can naturally lead to more performance opportunities over time.
A music booking agent is the professional responsible for securing live performance opportunities for an artist.
A music manager is not a booking agent.
While a manager focuses on long-term career strategy and overall development, a booking agent focuses specifically on getting the artist on stage.
Here’s what a music booking agent typically does:
Core Responsibilities
- Secures live performances (concerts, tours, festivals, corporate events, club dates)
- Plans and routes tours to maximize efficiency and profit
- Works with promoters to confirm show details (date, venue, payment structure)
- Understands market value — knows what the artist can realistically command in different cities
- Helps grow live revenue by increasing show volume and pay scale over time
When many artists to begin their careers with a parent involved in a management role.
In the early stages, that support can be helpful and sometimes even necessary. Everyone starts somewhere.
However, as an artist grows and begins reaching for higher-level opportunities, that structure often becomes less effective for long-term career development. While there are rare cases where a “momager” or “dadager” dynamic works successfully, it’s uncommon.
Building a sustainable music career requires more than love and encouragement. It demands industry experience, strong professional relationships, a clear understanding of branding and market positioning, awareness of trends and social media strategy, negotiation skills, and the ability to navigate the business side of entertainment with confidence and clarity.
An experienced third-party manager brings something extremely valuable: objectivity. Having someone impartial creates the emotional distance necessary to be honest in ways that parents can sometimes struggle with. A professional manager can give real feedback, make tough calls, and evaluate opportunities without personal bias getting in the way.
Yes. All artists we manage are required to sign a formal written agreement before any management services begin. This contract clearly outlines our working relationship, expectations, responsibilities, and agreed-upon terms in writing. It ensures transparency, professionalism, and mutual understanding from the start. We do not begin management services without a signed agreement in place.
Yes.
Being a Music Manager is a job. They are paid either through a monthly retainer fee/commission (15/20%) or a combination of both.
While a manager may support certain events such as helping you organize a release party, showcase, or private event you’re putting together consistently booking you for outside shows is not their primary responsibility. A booking agent should be a part of your team who's make focus is booking you shows.
A manager’s main focus is long-term strategy, development, and overall career oversight. They help you refine your brand, strengthen your music, build momentum, and position you professionally within the industry. By elevating your image, tightening your sound, improving your visibility, and growing your audience, they indirectly increase your chances of getting booked.
Stronger brand + stronger music + stronger demand = more show opportunities.
So while a manager may assist in specific situations, securing performances is not a core duty of management. Their role is to build the foundation that makes promoters and booking agents want to book you in the first place.
In the music industry, a manager’s commission is the percentage of an artist’s income that a manager earns in exchange for representing and developing their career. Your manager is your business partner therefore they get paid as well.
Most music managers take:
15%–20% of the artist’s gross income
What Income Is Commissioned?
Typically commission applies to:
- Streaming revenue
- Music sales
- Publishing income
- Live performance fees
- Brand deals / endorsements
- Merchandise
- Sync placements (TV/Film)
Some managers negotiate commission on all entertainment-related income, while others limit it to specific revenue streams.
A retainer is a recurring fee paid upfront to secure someone’s ongoing services and availability.
Music managers work in the music industry full time. Managing artists is their profession, not a side job/hobby/gig. It should not be expected that your manager needs to earn income from unrelated work in order to support their role with you.
Most management relationships and agreements require a minimum commitment of at least one year. We require a one-year minimum term, as this allows enough time to build real structure, momentum, and measurable progress. Many artists continue working with their managers for three to five years or longer once the foundation is established.
Email submissions@redvelvetstudio.com
Subject: Artist Management - Your Name
