When To Find A Music Manager In Hip-Hop

Having a manager is beneficial to hip-hop artists because you can offload some of your day-to-day activities to them, like your administrative task – and focus on aspects of your music career that only you can do, like making music, shooting videos, and etc. Those aspects of your career cannot be completed by anyone else, so the more time you can spend doing those activities, the better.

If you want to become a successful hip-hop artist, you can’t do everything by yourself. However, you don’t always need a music manager – especially during the early parts of your music career.

When To Find A Music Manager In Hip-Hop?

A good time to find a music manager in hip-hop is once you have something to manage.

If you don’t have a lot to manage on a day-to-day basis, you don’t need a music manager. You definitely shouldn’t look for a manager if you’re just beginning to make music and upload it on the internet.

Now, there are times when you might need a manager even if you don’t have that much going on, on a day-to-day basis. For example, if your fanbase is growing at a good pace and your music is getting good responses, your time might be better spent focusing on your music than doing administrative tasks, building relationships with hip-hop bloggers, and trying to get your music on Spinrilla.

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3 thoughts on “When To Find A Music Manager In Hip-Hop”

  1. What would you say would be the ideal sequence of finding a team? I always thought it was (1) Manager (2) Lawyer (3) Booking agent etc. ……

    But I’ll need a lawyer first to sign a contract with the manager right? So does it mean I should always have a rider fee placed down for the services of an attorney, until that right manager comes along and the contract can then be quickly drafted up?

    Reply
    • It depends on the direction your career is going.

      If you’re music starts gaining traction with fans and you’re not making any money yet (or very little), I’d go for a manager first. They’ll help manage the administrative tasks and scheduling that’ll keep your fan building process going in the right direction. A verbal agreement will be fine when working with such small amounts of money.

      Once you start making money ($500-$1k+ per month), have an entertainment lawyer draft up a contract between you and your manager. You don’t need to have the lawyer on your “team”. The same goes for an accountant. You should consult with an accoountant on how to incorporate yourself (most likely a Limited Liability Company / LLC ) and a good way to handle your finances for paying yourself and your manager.

      Then continue the fan building process and split the money per the contract.

      Once you have enough fans and they’re interested in seeing you perform, depending on the skill level of your manager, have them book the show. You don’t need a booking agent to knock out a few shows. This will help you practice & put some extra $$ into your career. Consult with the accountant on how to handle this.

      Once your fans are satisified from your few shows, you’re comfortable with your performance, and have enough money & material to do more live performance – find a booking agent and have an entertainmemt lawyer draft up a contract between you two. Consult with the accountant if you have any finance related questions.

      Then go back to working.

      You’ll follow this process everytime you add a new person to your “team”.

      PS: The reason I keep putting team in quotations is because until you can afford to have someone on salary, they’ll probably be working with a few artists at the same time. So they’re not exclusively attached to you, but you can still utilize their services.

      Reply

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