Manager Seeks a Few Good Acts

I am looking for a few good acts.  They could be a solo artist, partnership or band.  What am I looking for:

• You must have a single minded focus on success in music without diluting you attention on acting, travelling, careers etc.
• You must have strong vocal skills and the ability to sing harmonies.  If you are a band at least 3 of you need to be able to sing well.  (If you want to know why, listen to most of the music on your iPod.)
• You must be working live or have the ability to put together a quality show and work live within 3 months.
• You should have some funding behind you.  It would be best if that funding was coming from your live performances.  You are trying to start and run a business and to do that you need some capital.  (If you know how to hustle, I can show you how to raise some sponsorship/investment money.)
• You should have minimal personal financial commitments so you can concentrate on your music and promoting it rather than the next mortgage/car/credit card payment.
• You MUST be honest, punctual and reliable.
• Your act should be based in the Sydney region or have a Sydney focus.  (Australia)
• Age is open but generally the younger the better.  (I could even work with 14 year olds if there was strong parental support.  I also manage a 52 year old.)
• Gender and sexuality is unimportant.
• Drug users need not apply.

Great list, unfortunately it rules out everyone I have ever met in the music industry.  Lets treat it as an aspirational list.

I have no interest in managing DJ's or heavy metal bands.  (Sorry, but I can only believe in music I like.)  The artists I want to manage are stylistically compatible with Nova, 2DAY-FM or MMM.

WHO AM I?

I am the Vice Chairman of the Music Managers Forum (MMF) and have been a member of the MMF since 1995.  I was on the board of ACT Music Inc. (an industry advisory and lobby group) for 3 years.

Over the last 15 years (concurrent with other employment) I have worked as a management consultant in the music industry and managed acts including Sophie Serafino, Mike Price Band  and numerous covers bands.  I run the Digital Harmony web site, a resource that offers free information about the music industry for artists and managers.

I have had 2 prior careers one in stockbroking and the other in the computer industry making me a multi-skilled professional with skill sets useful to the musician based business.  While working 11 years in stockbroking I rose to be a branch manager  for Morgan Stockbroking and developed serious business skills.  I have spent over a decade working in the computer industry and have done formal trained as a project manager.  I have managed million dollar projects within large corporations.  The computer skills are very valuable in the music business where music and merchandise is delivered digitally.  Recording studios have gone digital too.  Since 2000 I have owned and operated a recording studio on a part time basis.  My highest selling album to date has been Colliding Worlds by Sophie Serafino that sold 5,000 copies. 

In 1997 and 1998 I managed New Years Eve concerts for the ACT Government in the Civic Square of Canberra (Garema Place).  These were very successful being attended by 6,000 people in 1997 and 11,000 people in 1998.

I have played bass guitar and guitar since age 14 and have played in covers bands for about 7 years.  My studio can be seen on the My Studio page of my web site www.digitalharmony.com.au. 

On an interpersonal level I can be very direct (if you haven't guessed from reading this far.)  I deliver on promises.  I enjoy doing it a lot more than talking about it.

THINGS WE ARE GOING TO DO WITH YOU TO GET YOU STARTED

To establish yourself as an entity in the music world it is likely we will do the things listed below with you:

• First we need to work out the richest revenue streams that we can develop for you quickly as we all need to pay our bills.  There is a lot more from revenue streams than getting advances from record and publishing companies or live gigs.
• We may need to raise some funding through sponsorship or other methods.  I can write sound business proposals and teach you how to raise money.
• Develop an effective Internet marketing strategy that makes the most of your assets.
• We need to build you an effective web site with well thought out keywords for Search Engine Optimisation that is the hub of your digital world and link this with e-commerce sites and product fulfilment companies.
• Build a MySpace.com site providing a large sample of your music.   Linked back to your main web site.
• Put outstanding videos on YouTube.com that are getting lots of views.    Linked back to your main web site.
• Develop a striking visual identity with logo, colours, branding etc. on your web sites, advertising, even your stage presence.
• Be out there playing regular gigs - Not just showcase gigs with "rent-a-crowd" but to real punters who like your music.
• Develop an e-mail lists collected from your web site and gigs etc.  This will become some of your most valuable property.
• Have a regular flow of strong press releases to the media promoting your gigs, your web site and products.  
• Record and release an album distributed via a digital aggregator and physical national distribution for your CD.
• Make sure the CD is stocked by retail stores.

ARTISTICALLY RICH

It is my intention that all the products from the acts I manage are artistically rich including the music, stageware, web site, videos, show and even our cafe posters.  Everything should be beautifully crafted works of art.  Check out David Lachapelle at  http://www.lachapellestudio.com/ for some rich artistic ideas.  Not that there is anything here you should copy but get a feel for what pushing the edge of the envelope means.

INTERESTING LIVE SHOWS

It is fundamental that you start working live and doing really good shows.  This means putting together a band and doing regular gigs in many of the venues listed on the advertisements in Drum Media.

It is a tough world and we have to be good to survive.  Much of live band music market share has been lost to the DJs with the doof, doof music. We need to be something with a decent groove people can dance to.  We will have a stage show the punters haven't seen before.  We will give them some new sounds using samples, computers and electronic percussion.  We should be at the cutting edge of modern music bringing them the sounds of tomorrow.  We will try to push the edges of the envelope musically and culturally. 

I want people with a bucket load of confidence and attitude who can be the stars of tomorrow, not sound like the stars of yesterday.

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Any act can be improved.  There is songwriting, performance, musical skills and quality of products you sell.  A large part of what I do is help you to realise your potential and place your products in the best possible light.  It is essential that you be willing to methodically review your work and strive to improve every aspect of it.

EMOTIONALLY ROBUST

Not every day in the music business is a fun day and some days $h!t happens but you have to be emotionally robust enough to carry on without undue complaint.  Actually, you have to come up smiling and be the centre of attention to fans no matter how bad you feel.

STILL INTERESTED?

Firstly have a good read of each page of my web site at:  http://www.digitalharmony.com.au/ 

If you are interested send me an e-mail and include:

• Send me information on who you are and what you are doing musically.
• Recent photos of yourself or band
• A couple of MP3's so I can get an idea of what you sound like.  Production quality can be low. (Voice and acoustic guitar recorded on a mobile phone would be OK.)

The e-mail address to use is: management@digitalharmony.com.au   Please include your phone numbers in your e-mail.