Imudb's Guide to Managing a Musician

A viral clip, three label calls and no plan. What do you do next? Managing a musician is one of the most demanding jobs in music, and almost nobody teaches it. You are strategist, negotiator, organizer and sounding board, often all in the same hour, and the decisions you make early can shape an artist's whole career. Imudb's Guide to Managing a Musician is a practical handbook for music managers, artists and the teams around them. It walks through the whole job, from the first conversation with an artist to running a management company, in plain language and with ready-to-use tools. Inside, you'll learn how to:

• Understand the music business landscape and what a manager really does day to day
• Become a manager, find and vet artists, and decide who is worth your time
• Negotiate and understand the management agreement, commissions and term
• Build the team: lawyer, accountant, agent, publicist, business manager and more
• Navigate labels, distribution and recording deals, publishing, songwriting and royalties
• Set career strategy and goals, plan releases and campaigns, and build brand and fan base
• Handle press, publicity and playlists, live performance, booking and touring
• Budget, account and manage merchandise, sync, brand deals and fan funding
• Run daily operations, protect the artist relationship and wellbeing, and manage crises
• Cover legal basics, ethics and disputes, and manage artists at every career stage
• Scale a management company and prepare for the future of the music business

Go beyond the basics. Genre playbooks adapt the advice for hip-hop, R&B and urban music; electronic music, DJs and producers; rock, indie, metal and bands; pop, singer-songwriters, country and folk; and jazz, classical, world and devotional music. International chapters map the major regions, including North America and Europe, India and South Asia, East Asia, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Oceania, with the questions to ask before an artist enters any new market. Ten composite case studies put the principles under real-world pressure, each with practice questions and key lessons. Templates you can use on Monday. The appendices include an artist scorecard, split sheet template, management agreement term checklist, one-page career plan, release checklist, show offer review sheet, tour budget template, monthly artist report outline, weekly check-in agenda, one-page crisis plan, a first-90-days checklist, and a glossary. Annotated sample agreements cover management, band, performance and booking, producer and engineer, sync and master use, and non-disclosure and crew agreements, written as plain-language teaching templates to adapt with professional advice. Whether you are a first-time manager, an artist managing yourself, or a team member who wants to understand the whole picture, this is the working reference to keep within reach. Educational guide only. Not legal, tax or financial advice. Sample agreements are simplified teaching templates, not tailored legal documents; have a qualified lawyer review any contract before use.