The role of music managers – part 1

Nobody has proved this scientifically but it is generally assumed that without Metcalf opening up the doors for Mtukudzi, he probably would still be where he was 15 years ago.

The people in the street do not take into account the fact that Mtukudzi is a talented man and he could have probably done it on his own given time. Whether or not Metcalf came into Mtukudzi’s life to improve his fortunes becomes a question of academic debate.

Many artists do their own things such as booking gigs at venues, advertise, record, negotiate performance fees and even go on tours and become successful without the use of a manager. There are many success stories of artists who manage themselves using the experience of band members to do the job of managers effectively. To the artists who take the initiative to manage themselves, there are two questions I should ask them:

1. Do you have time to manage yourself?
2. Can you deal with promoters, agents and record companies and effectively continue to write music, record and perform live?

If the answer to any of the two questions above is in the negative, then the artist needs a manager.

If Mtukudzi was doing all these things by himself without assistance from Metcalf, he probably would not have written the smashing hits that he came up with from the year 2001 onwards.

Many young artists find time and money to go into a recording studio and come out with brilliant albums, but after that they are lost as they do not know what to do with these albums. A lot of them end up either being ripped off or giving away the products of their hard work as they reach a dead end on completion of recording.

At a Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZIMURA) meeting, I was confronted by a rather angry young musician who remarked, “You only write about established musicians, how about us up-and-coming artists?” To which I replied, “I don’t even know your name or what you have done in music. Send me your biography.” His response was, “How do I do that?”

I also have in my possession CDs from gospel artists Chipo Mukumbira (Mauya Nenyasha), Vatendi Vanhasi (Makatendeka) and other scorchers from Sadadz (Manzvakenzvake), Andrew Mamvura and Daniel Ngwira (Ku Salon) and (Mutoko Centre).

But who has heard of these guys? Radio DJs have either ignored them or they are still yet to be furnished with their products. Their music is undoubtedly out of this world and can be ranked among the top 100 Zimbabwean artists. But without someone pushing it, it will end up nowhere.

These are the guys who need managers to contact DJs and to build websites for them as they cannot do it on their own.

Managers have specific roles to play in order to achieve the success of their artists. Here are a few of those roles:

• Managers need to handle the business side of an artist’s career: bookings, gigs, live shows and negotiating royalty settlements with record companies and publishers.
• They should also know a bit of administration. That means, looking after the band and liaising with lawyers, dealing with accounts, giving press statements to journalists and talking to A&R departments of record companies.

In brief, they need to guide the artist’s career in the right direction.

It must be noted that there are no hard and fast rules for choosing a manager. Everything is subject to negotiation when it comes to the artist choosing a manager and the working conditions thereof.

The idea behind the appointment of any manager is to employ someone who will further advance the artist’s career. It is better to choose someone who has a keen interest in the music of the artist and who understands it as opposed to someone who just sees the band as an opportunity to make money.

Fred Zindi is a music professor at the University of Zimbabwe. This article first appeared in The Herald in 2011. 

Read part 2.