For many musicians, finding a music manager might seem like something that can’t happen in reality. They think in their minds that it can only happen to the lucky ones.

If you ever hear that little voice of doubt in your head that whispers “Get real with yourself. It can’t happen for you. You don’t have what it takes, keep dreaming” then this article is especially for you.

The first step to finding a music manager is:

Shifting Your Paradigm

Huh? Shift my paradigm?

Simply put, a paradigm is how a person perceives things.

Imagine you have two singers.

One grew up surrounded by friends from her performing arts school who most of which had managers. So this person makes an association with most aspiring artists having a manager as something that kind of just comes along with the territory.

Then we have a music producer who grew up in a family that didn’t have anything to do with music. He sees having a music manager as something that is pretty unlikely to happen for them.

The first mentioned singer has the mindset of “getting a manager isn’t a big, I’m just gonna get online and find look up the manager of some of my favorite artist and hit them up and see if they respond.” She receives two replies back and has a meeting with both the upcoming week.

The producer has the mindset of “I’m not even gonna attempt to contact any managers, it’s not like any of them are going to reply” So he goes another three years doing it alone and eventually gives up on a career in music.

See how these two different paradigms cause one person to take action, and the other to do nothing to do at all and eventually give up completely?

 

Got Music?

To find a manager you’re going to have to have some music to show.
This is where a lot of musicians will try to find an excuse of why they aren’t ready to have a manager.

You don’t have to have music that sounds like top 40 hits, why would help out a lot, it’s not necessary.

You have to have something that is appealing. That could be your voice, and or the song, and or the quality of the music, or your look, or a very impressive fan base.

If you have all of your these, finding a music manager will be much easier but don’t let a lack of any of these make you hesitate with taking action on finding a manager.

The next most important thing that will help you find a manager is to have music.

Next, you need to be good at what you do. Emphasis on the word good, as countless other musicians have been discovered before being considered great or extraordinary by many.

You have to be at least good enough where someone can see the potential of greatness in you.

But how do I know if I’m good or not?

If you haven’t already, you should start putting out your music, and showcase your talents on social media, open mic nights, or on the streets. Use the response you get from people to gauge things. If you’re good, you will gain fans.

This is one of the most common ways that musicians find managers, or better yet, the best way managers find musicians.

It is far easier to promote yourself and let people come knocking on your door, than for you to expend excessive amounts of energy going door-to-door just to see if someone will be interested in you and your music. When people find you, you know they are already interested because they would not have contacted you at all if they weren’t.

With that said, a powerful tip you should strongly consider is using paid Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube ads. For just $10-$20 a day, you can reach more targeted people than you could if you were to sit for 8 hours manually reaching out to people, asking them to check out your music.

Know Your Role

Know your role, and be the best you can at that.

Another thing that is paramount to know is that you have to make your primary focus one thing. That’s not to say that you can’t practice and get good at other things that you have a passion for but while trying to find a manager, you should showcase what you’re primary focus is. What you’re better at over everything else.

If you’re a songwriter first and then the most important thing to showcase is that you can write good songs, not that you just started making beats and spend a lot of your time practicing it.

If you are a producer/beatmaker looking for a manager you’re career as a producer, then your primary focus should be making the best instrumentals you can make. Even if you love songwriting and are good at it, you are splitting your primary focus into two.
You should put in the time to get better at your songwriting, but not nearly as much as you put into producing.

Quality

 

In today’s world with entry-level music equipment being so accessible and affordable, there is no reason not to have good quality. Again, emphasis on the word good. The quality doesn’t have to be superb.

Compared to back in the old days when musicians had to record songs on a little cassette tape player, the quality you get from a simple USB microphone plugged straight into your computer is golden!

For producers and mixers, getting good sound quality is almost always just a matter of skill. Quality isn’t very dependent on the hardware equipment anymore.

Some of the top hits today use background music that was produced completely on a laptop, using no other “quality contributing” equipment except for software.

In a sense, you are just looking to have good demos to show. It doesn’t have to sound like a thoroughly polished masterpiece.

Start Before You’re Ready

If you wait until you’re ready, there is no telling when you will start. So To help you get started, below is a simple list of a few things you can do to work toward finding a manager if you don’t have music or don’t feel ready for whatever reason.

Build A List

Build a list of managers that you are interested in contacting when you’re ready. You can search hashtags on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to search for things that a manager would likely write. Some examples are #artistmanager #musicmanager #songwritermanger #producermanger. You can get creative with anything you want. A few more examples are #happymananger #proudmanager, #managerlife. These will be harder to target music managers alone, so you may have to do some sifting through the results.

You can also find musicians that you like and look up there manager. Major or indie artist, you should create them as equals in your mind.
Almost all major artists were nobodies when they’re manager found them.

Ease Your Way In

Social media is the least intrusive way of contacting someone that doesn’t know you because usually, their profiles are public. If you come across private profiles and send a request that gets accepted, then obviously that person will more likely be open to conversation. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have accepted a friend or follow request from a stranger in the first place.

Once you’ve found some potential managers that you’re interested in, follow them and start getting to know them from afar. When you see them in your timeline, drop a like, or friendly comment. Slow and steady wins the race here. Don’t be intrusive on anyone’s post commenting anything like “Hey, I need a manager. Please contact me at XXXXXXX). Just post a nice comment about their post, or congratulate them when applicable.

This will build familiarity with you, so when you do contact them they think “oh it’s that person that always likes my posts and comments nice things instead of “who is this random person?”

Relocate

Drama Over Los Angeles Sky

If you live in one of the major music cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, or Nashville, then finding a manager can be as easy as performing at an open mic night, or one of the hot spots for upcoming musicians.

Even just walking down the street with an instrument or something that shows you’re a musician can result in you meeting a manager or someone you will meet that leads to a manager. If you live in one of the major music cities, I’m sure you can attest to this happening at least a couple of times. Sweet serendipity.

So while you may not feel ready to have a music manager, getting your ducks in a row to allow for relocating is something you can do in the meantime until you feel ready to be managed. Saving money, minimizing, finding a place, are all things you can do to move you closer to pursuing a manager. Up and making the move and acclimating yourself to the new place could prove productive aswell.

Hone Your Craft

This probably states the obvious, but getting better at what you do, or at your secondary focus is another productive thing you can do in the meantime.

Build a bigger and better catalog of songs and instrumentals.

Practice, Practice, Practice, and Practice some more!

Create, create, create, and create some more!

When opportunity meets preparation, success is inevitable.

When the time comes to start reaching out in pursuit for the right manager, you want to gleam with confidence, and not feel inadequate about your skills and work ethic. To build unshakable self-confidence, you just have to simply do what you know you should be doing whether if you feel like it or not.

Doing this builds high levels confidence because you know that you’re doing something that a majority of the population of the world cannot do on a consistent and ongoing basis. It becomes very evident that you’re doing something extraordinary when you notice yourself staying in to create or to study music when friends ask you to come out. Being social is very important, but not at the mercy of building unshakable self-confidence.

You have to put your head down and do the work. Outings with friends can be used rewards for buckling down and focusing on what’s most important, becoming the best you!

Conclusion: whether if you believe it can happen for you or not, don’t let that stop you because there is nothing different between you and the musicians who you admire. The only difference is that they took action and you hadn’t t until you stumbled upon this article.

Don’t wait until another time to take action. If you don’t feel that you’re ready to have a manager yet, you can utilize the tips from this article to be proactive and productive in the meantime.

So what’s your excuse now?

BachBeats