Topic: MANAGER & RECORDCOMPANIES

I see you have answered the first, the most important in a group, roadie, manager, tourmanager.

Sometimes having a manager looks very bad to me. I have my opinion, you have NOT TO BE A SHARK to be a good manager. You need someone who takes care of business, not easy to find. If I was a prof musician, I should go to an headhunter, if required to increase your chances. Still there are groups with big problems with their manager, and through him with the record company. There are more GOOD managers than bad. I also do understand that there will always be programs on the web,for free like napster was, and audiogalaxy. Even these days are gone, you still have big and important music sites mp3 and no money to pay, and if you pay you pay only for $20 (to be legally) for a lifetime. I am sure it harms the record sale, but studies have also proven the opposite. For starting groups, put your song on youtube, and look the reactions. What I should do is give the people only 50% of the song. If you are and there are already rock groups, that have thanks to that site, are projected as stars. I just don't understand, that you can create a site and not asking money for it, like napster in 2000 and 2001, that when they sell this product for big $$$$$$. Where do they get their money: publicity?

The most terrible joke is the "john Fogerty" case. Young and enthousiast they signed contracts that among other hidden traps, contracts who told that songs written by CCR were property of atlantic. It is disgusting on 1 hand, but if you are a painter you make a beautiful painting sold for a lot of money as a unique piece, you are completely wrong if you paint the same for someone else. All those rights are so difficult, see the case of Michael "wacko jacko" Jackson, who purchased every beatle song, which I still can not understand how this was possiblle. I would say that if you can obtain the rights from a very popular hit, only one, should be enough to live a good life without working. I still don't get it that a record company, like sony, can spend millions and millions of $ to sign an artist, who is supposed to bring out 5 full cd's. To come back on music download for free, check the ticket prices, who are now very expensive, mainly because they sell only 5.000.000 albums in stead of 8.000.000 records. You can discuss about this subject for weeks often without finding a solution <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_biggrin.gif" border=0 alt="Very Happy">  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_eek.gif" border=0 alt="Shocked">

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

Re: MANAGER & RECORDCOMPANIES

Hi Phil, back in the sixties a manager got groups gigs. A venue owner would rarely book a group directly, they'd want to speak to a manager. Also in the sixties the mindset was different, many groups accepted weekly wage deals because it was more money than anyone they knew was earning. In the seventies tax avoidance was another incentive, XTC got right royally sewn up this way. Of course we have bad managers to thanks for the longevity of some groups, Pink Floyd would never have done as many albums if they hadn't been swindled.


The best kind of manager was the friend of the group kind like Chas Chandler, Malcolm McLaren or Bernie Rhodes - not that sparks don't still fly.


Artists who manage themselves have to be part hustler. Clearly powerhouses like James Brown have no problem in this regard but I can't imagine the more fey artist like Nick Drake kicking down too many doors.

'The sound of the city seems to disappear'