Times Of Swaziland: PROS AND CONS OF ARTIST MANAGERS

PROS AND CONS OF ARTIST MANAGERS
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Mxolisi Dlamini on 14/03/2023 08:21:00


MBABANE – Artist managers play a huge role in helping artists develop their
craft, however, this comes with advantages and disadvantages.
An artist manager is an industry professional who helps artists meet their
goals, find opportunities and market their music. They often act as both
representatives for and advisors to musicians, helping shape their career
direction and professional activities. There are quite a few local artists who
have realised the need to have managers, these include The Scientists, Mandisa
Mamba, Lyrikal Busta, !Sooks, Sarnilo, Young Zesh as well as M Nation. The role
they play is vital, especially when it comes to establishing networking channels
for the artists as well as assisting them in positioning their brand in the
market. However, this comes at a price as there can be advantages that are
associated with the profession.
Managers usually earn a percentage, it can be anything between 10-30 per cent of
the gross income made by the band or artist. In most cases, and depending on the
agreement, this applies only to income that the manager helps to generate. In
some cases, it may apply to all income made by the artist, even if the manager
didn’t actively help generate it. There are some international managers who
have made moves in the entertainment industry by securing artists as clients who
have done well in the entertainment industry. These include; Rene Angelil who is
managing multi award- winning artist Celine Dion, Jonny Shipes who is rapper
Joey Badass as well as Big Krit’s manager. There is also Scooter Braun who
manages Justin Bieber. These artists are all well-known in the international
stage through the management skills of these individuals.
Thembinkosi Mthethwa manages multiple local artists such as Mandisa Mamba. She
has bagged gigs in Maseru, Lesotho. According to Mthethwa, managers are of
significance in an artists career as they handle the business side of the
career. “To have a representative as an artist makes your work easier, you are
taken seriously and people cannot just take advantage of you when you have
representatives. Whenever you have someone doing things on your behalf, you
appear professional. This makes formulation of important aspects such as clauses
easier as this enables the artist to operate based on some certain guidelines
that govern your craft,” Mthethwa said.
“Artist managers further open a lot of doors for the artist. They do not only
represent the artist, but they also secure gigs and manage the market for the
artist. If an artist is operating without a manager, they are exposed to
exploitation where you will find that he or she is underpaid because there is no
one to advocate for them based on the artist’s ratings. Artists are busy
people, naturally they do need extra hands which is mainly from their
managers,” shared Mthethwa.
Echoed
Melusi ‘Zox’ Dlamini echoed Mthethwa’s words to the effect that managers
are important for artists as they assist them in achieving their goals. “Every
artist needs a manager who is going to lead a team that will help them achieve
their goals so they are able to focus on their creative journey, which is their
strength. It is not advisable for artists to dabble as managers themselves. It
is easy for that to happen because of the size of our industry and economics
currently. But I personally wouldn’t advice that. The manager focuses on the
business, both in a day-to-day and long-term sense. They help artists book gigs,
plan album projects, public relations, orchestrate record releases and tours,
create marketing and merchandising strategies.  Being an artist is a business,
and growth is essential in business,” Dlamini said.
Upscale Live artist manager Sibusiso ‘3T’ Simelane, who is currently
managing Lyrikal Busta, Young Zesh as well as Sean Cast HQ, says artists need to
have managers if they are looking to achieve more in the local industry.
“First of all artists are the business, or should I say an investment, so
every business or investment needs to be managed properly for it to succeed and
bring back revenue. With that said, artists need to have managers or a team if
they have a global superstar vision,” Simelane said. He went on to say that:
“Having a manager helps the artist to be more creative and effective. You grow
very fast, because all your behind the scenes day to day duties are taken care
of, which gives you more time to focus on perfecting the craft. Because without
the craft being perfect, the artist will never be a global superstar.
Theory
I very much believe in the 10 thousand hours theory, and now you need more than
that because 10 thousand has turned to be entry level, you got to triple those
hours to be recognised at national level at least, meaning you have to work 10
times the average artist to go international.’’ Simelane further said one
can’t achieve that while they also run their day to day duties. The main duty
for an artist is to create. So a manager helps with the day to day duties. 
Artist managers are music industry professionals with the same passion as
artists. He went on to touch on some of the benefits associated with artists’
managers as well as the job that they do for artists. “Managers often help
oversee an artist to meet their long-term goals, find opportunities and market
their music. They act as both representatives for and advisors to musicians,
helping shape their career direction and professional activities.
Managers also help book gigs, plan tours or create merchandise. Additional
responsibilities could be to help inform producers and labels of their
artists’ work and otherwise strive to grow the reputation of the artists they
manage,” Simelane said. Nhlonipho Dlamini, who is a local artist based in
South Africa (SA), shared with this publication that having a manager may
sometimes block chances of collaborating with random people even if you want to
work with them. “The disadvantage of having a manager is that sometimes you
won’t get to work with random people even if you like them. A good manager
knows when to say no to features that won’t add value or improve your brand.
At the same time I feel like it is good to protect the artists’ brand.
However, it is very important to have a manager, someone who takes care of your
business while you focus on the creative side.” He went on to say that a
manager hunts for opportunities to improve the brand while an artist focuses on
making more songs. “I feel like having a good manager helps reduce stress for
an artist,” Dlamini shared.