Mod_Machine Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Hi, Does anyone have any positive experiences of managers they would like to recommend to us? Not asking for any of you to do any work for us, or recommend us just would feel more comfortable if i new which managers people have had good experience with before i contact them! We are a three piece indie/alternative band in Beds/Herts area signed to an independant label with a small artist roster. Following discussion with a major, the release of our EP, more discussions (and finally a few visits by said major at our gigs) they are all aiming for a dual release of a full album later this year. We have national PR coverage through Sonic PR who also 'service' depeche mode, moby, kraftwork, Django Django etc and are getting us all the right things (Music Week cover CD, music mag spreads, EP/gig/single reviews in the Sun, Sunday Mail plus many a blog site etc We did have a manager a couple of years back but i cant talk about it without having vietnam style flashbacks and we have been self managing for the last 18 months (ironically since things started to happen for us!.) Unfortunately we have pretty much got as far as we can off our own backs and need a manager to help take over those decisions and negotiations that are far too personal to be left entirely up to us etc etc. Any advice greatly appreciated and again if ive posted in the wrong area please do not take insult! Thanks Mod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mod_Machine Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Anyone? Someone somewhere must have had some positive management experiences - the right one is like an honoury memeber of the band after all!?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 Always been self-managed here, have met with a few managers (some with decent track records too) and been generally unimpressed. If you've got a major on board, and the team described above, you've probably had involvement with a lawyer specialising in music - they might be a good start for recommendations. Why not get in touch with some of the other acts on your record labels roster and see if they've got any stories to share? I'd also look at bands who've followed a similar career trajectory to the one you currently find yourself on, and have had reasonable success at that level (or a push up to the next) and try to find out who they're working with - sounds like you'll have a pretty good package to present to a manager with the support you already have around you, so cast your net far and wide. Anyone reputable should happily put you in touch with acts they already represent to get a real reference on how they are to work with. Oh - and congrats on all that you've described above, sounds like your band is a great place to be right now! Good luck with the release Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I always have a sneaking suspicion that any manager that doesn't approach you first isn't worth having... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mod_Machine Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Cheers for the response. The band is a nightmare place to be at the moment! - but only coz we start recording the album on sat and havent actually written one of the songs we declared as finished! yep, tried the other artists on label and the only manager we like the look of is doing it part time AND (more importantly) doesnt want to take another artist on! The others who have shown interest in us we have been largely unimpressed with - mainly as we expect them to at least put a little background work into who we are, what weve done etc. plus the majority of the bands we know locally who are managed use very 'local' managers who have ok 'local' contacts but not alot else - and coming from Bedfordshire thats a BAD bad thing! We have started the usual trawl and the label manager himself has come from a larger label so has some contacts, but we like to do things ourselves up to a point and the idea of the label (no matter how good they have been to us financially) sourcing us management represents potential for future conflict of interest. Just thought id start narrowing our search and contact list through a few trusted recommendations here, though ultimately i guess there is no major rush (after all the album may sound tosh and the need for a manager will be the least of our worries when the label drops us!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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