by Brandon Marcel

Created on: June 01, 2007

Your Support Team

As an indie you are left to formulate and strategically plan for many things. Of the many things you will have to do, without a question, formulating your inner circle of support for your career is the most important. The team you form will be just as important to your success as the music you make, if not more. Today's industry is driven by lawyers, publicist, managers, and agents more than ever before. If you cannot put these key elements together right, your chances of making it to the Big Time are slim.

The first key person in your team should be the manager. Naturally, unless you have incredible skills and are already somewhat known you shouldn't expect to reach the top managers of the industry. This is due to the fact that managers are actually hired by you. You are the one that pays them. If you aren't proven to be profitable or able to show that you're an amazing talent, there is no reason for them to pay you any attention early on. However, it is still key to have a manager. A manager is the person that will lay out your course of actions, keep you focused, and go the extra mile to get you out there, again due to the fact that its through your success that they reach their own. In your early days a manager could simply be a relative or friend that you absolutely TRUST to handle all business and financial happenings. They should preferably have at least a little industry knowledge, but most of all believe in you without fail. Many top acts today and many legends have been led by family members and friends into top level success, most recently Usher, who's managed by his mother.

After establishing a manager the next step is to find an agent. This is usually handled by the manager as well as the formation of the rest of your teams key members. The agent is super important to your being known because they are responsible for getting you gigs. Without them or a hard working manager you can find yourself splitting your time between arranging gigs yourself, remembering the gigs you set, handling payment issues with promoters (there will likely be some along the way), along with all the many other tasks you have in the studio and writing and most likely your 9-5. A percentage of your shows' income will also go their way so it is also in their best interest to work hard on your behave, however, the manager should do just that, manager them, to make sure this is happening so that you are not shelved by the agent and also that your money is distributed

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