#023: Seeking Management? This is What I Look For.
"An artist needs to take their career seriously before anyone else will” — Jay Cohen
This weeks article comes via a fan submission and is the question that I’m asked the most… what do you look for when signing a new artist? The short and simple answer is that it comes from the gut and a feeling that I get when listening and/or viewing an artist for the first time. But in reality it is based on various factors that lead to a final decision, including:
The Music: Everything starts with the music. If I don’t have a love and passion for the music itself, the submission is dead-on-arrival. Creating a song that is truly great will impress me more than a budget or social media presence.
Artist Branding & Authenticity: The importance of artist branding comes right behind the music. The artist branding is two parts: 1) the impression that I get when reviewing an artists social media outlets and DSPs. is it professional? does it fit the music? is there a creative angle to separate from the rest of the pack? does the artist understand who they are?, and 2) Is the artist a good fit with the rest of my roster? I always want to be sure to have a diversified roster and artists that express a message that I support. Some managers are fine with having 6-7 pop artists or 6-7 hip hop artists. Some managers are fine with pushing any message that can make money. I prefer to find one artist in each genre that I am passionate about to put my full backing behind and who I am proud to support the music and what they are saying. The artist must always be authentic to who they truly are.
Work Ethic: A manager can’t want success more than the artist. If an artist is truly passionate about the music that they’re making and the message that they want to get out into the world, the work ethic and pursuit for success must be extreme.
Chemistry: The relationship between an artist and manager is very close and borderline familial. I always need to be sure there is chemistry and that I truly like the artist in order to consider a management partnership. There is a lot of down time in-between meetings, when traveling or on the road. Enjoyment of each other and those times is a must.
Forecasting & The Ceiling: The love of the music itself and the journey of achieving an artists dreams are what drive me day-to-day. But forecasting a realistic projection of what level the artist can reach is a part of the decision-making process. This includes how long it will take to break the artist and the time commitment that must be committed to reach those levels.
The X-Factor: While the five factors that are listed above are incredibly important, nothing will surpass the importance of the x-factor or gut feeling that I get when seeing/hearing an artist for the first time. Every music manager has those moments where the data, stream counts or current branding don’t even matter because something truly great was just witnessed. These moments can never be overlooked. There are many quality artists who are safe bets to provide a profit as a manager, but the great and transcendent artists are the ones with a certain x-factor that can’t be described.
Scouting in the music industry is a mix of nature vs. nurturer. There are some artists that have a level of talent that exceeds human capacity and there are other artist that have a capable level of talent, but a work ethic that exceed human capacity. Regardless of what makes an artist great, anyone who is involved on the business side of the music industry can relate to the feeling of knowing when you’ve stumbled upon an artist that is truly special. That feeling and the pursuit of helping build the artist to the highest possible level are the building blocks for all great signings in music history. But that same feeling should always be reciprocated by the artist in terms of their belief and gut feeling for the manager when entering into a management partnership.
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JAY’S SONGS OF THE WEEK:
Dylan Dunlap - “Another Holiday”
Donovan Woods - “We Used To”
Faouzia & John Legend - “Minefields”
ELIO - “hurts 2 hate somebody”
ANNA - “FAST”
