Types of Managers & Their Roles in an Artist’s Career

Who is an Artist Manager?

An artist manager is a music industry professional responsible for guiding the careers of artists in the entertainment industry.

The primary role of an artist manager is to ensure that opportunities that encourage the artist's career growth are accessible.

Types of Managers & Their Roles

1. PERSONAL MANAGER

They are the day to day managers that work with the artist across board. They are responsible for overseeing the professional and sometimes personal affairs of the artist.

The personal manager acts as a liaison between the artist and various industry professionals to help advance the artist's career and ensure their success.

Their duties include developing plans to achieve the artist's career goals, building and maintaining relationships to create opportunities for the artist, managing the artist's public image, and coordinating the entire team.

Ultimately playing a crucial role in navigating the complexities of the entertainment industry and fostering artist's success.

2. BUSINESS MANAGER

While a personal manager is involved in every aspect of the artist's professional life, business managers are concerned exclusively with their clients' monetary success.

Business managers oversee the artists' financial affairs. Duties include paying bills, collecting monies owed, and ensuring the proper handling of taxes, budgets, investments, and contracts.

3. TOUR/ROAD MANAGER

Tour/road managers take care of nearly every aspect of the lives of the artist and crew while on the road, providing organizational, administrative, and boots-on-the-ground support for the duration of a concert tour, performance, or appearance.

They make transportation and lodging arrangements; communicate in advance with concert producers and venue management to coordinate load-in, sound check, and set times; convey the artist's hospitality needs (backstage catering and dressing room setup); see to it that artist and crew get to their next stop safely and on time; and ensure that the artist's rider requests are met.

4. A&R MANAGER

An A&R (Artist and Repertoire) manager works closely with artists to oversee their artistic development and ensure their success. This process involves exploring new avenues of creativity, experimenting with different sounds, and evolving the artist’s artistic expression to keep them relevant and exiting to their audience.

Project coordination is a key responsibility of the A&R manager, acting as the central figure in orchestrating every aspect of the artist's releases. This includes selecting the right producers, songwriters, artists, and other creatives to collaborate with, overseeing the recording process, and shaping the overall marketing and promotional strategy to ensure it resonates with the artist's audience and maximizes their exposure.

Maintaining quality control is also the job of an A&R manager. They protect the artist's artistic integrity, providing constructive feedback and guidance to ensure that their music consistently meets the highest standards of excellence. The A&R manager is dedicated to helping the artist deliver their best work consistently.

In the early stages of an artist’s career, the personal manager assumes various roles encompassing the responsibilities typically handled by other managers.

As the artist becomes more successful and the need for advancement arises, additional managers are brought on board to facilitate growth.