Before seeking out and hiring a personal manager, it’s important to understand the various types of management options that are available to you. The most common choices, depending on how far along you are in your career, are self-management, start-up management (by an individual attempting to break into the music business), and established professional management. In part Two, let’s check out Start-up management.

Start-up Management
So, when is the right time to get a personal manager? Perhaps you’ve reached a point in your career when the time you spend running your business is inhibiting your creative development—or maybe you’ve done everything in your power to advance your career and can’t go any further without a helping hand. If either of those things are true, perhaps finding a personal manager is the right solution. But the reality is that until you’re a signed act or are close to being signed, most managers with any clout or power will not be interested in working with you. These managers are simply too busy handling artists that bring them an immediate return on their investment of time. Surely there are always exceptions to this rule, but it’s likely that your first manager will be:

• A close friend who’s willing to make phone calls and help promote shows without getting paid for the first few months or years. In fact, he may not even be called a “manager” at all, working with the understanding that as soon your career progresses, he will be replaced by an established professional manager and offered some other position in the band.

• An experienced musician who wants to “right all the wrongs” she’s encountered in her professional career and has got all the passion and drive needed to set you on course. Or a businessperson who’s always dreamed of being in a band and has the desire to live those dreams through you.

• A club owner in your hometown who sees hundreds of bands perform each year. This individual has a good idea of what works and what doesn’t and is willing to offer you an objective point of view and career guidance.

• An intern or junior assistant of a professional manager by day who’s looking to cut his teeth on managing his own band on his downtime at night. He’s got the advantage of having his boss’s ear for guidance and observing how a professional office is run all day.

Regardless of the possibilities here, these people all have one thing in common—they are relative newcomers to the management business—or, as I once heard someone devotedly call them, “start-up managers.” Start-up managers are usually young, aggressive, and ambitious individuals who are willing to work their tails off for you. They’ll devote every minute of their day to helping you reach your goals. They’re business savvy, good talkers, and eager to learn. These traits are exactly what you will need from a manager in the early developmental stages of your career.

But take note: The early stages of your career are when you have to be the most careful about picking your manager! A lot of wannabees will feel that they can adequately manage your career. Despite their good intentions, their inexperience and lack of connections may end up costing you time and money. They may promise you everything but deliver absolutely nothing.

Keep in mind, becoming a personal manager does not require getting a license or state certification—anyone from a used car dealer to a snake oil salesman can be one—so proceed with caution when making your choice! There are managers in the business, and there are damagers. Watch out for the damagers.

Many start-up managers who find handling a band whose career is taking off often become overwhelmed because of their inexperience. In these circumstances, it is not uncommon for a less-experienced manager to partner up with a large, more experienced management firm.

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BANGING NAILS BY DAY, HEAD BANGING BY NIGHT. Alan Coffman, later described as having a brain the size of the television character Barney Fife’s, was the first manager of the rock band Mötley Crüe. By day, Alan Coffman ran a successful construction company, but by night, he dreamed of getting into the glamorous music business. Coffman invested in the Crüe, buying them clothes and an apartment above Sunset Boulevard, but he was otherwise a complete nut case. Whenever he drank, he would have flashbacks of the Vietnam War and would search bushes and shrubs for Vietnamese soldiers. When Mötley was getting ready to sign their first deal with Elektra Records, Coffman flipped out during the business meeting, thinking that the enemy was in the restaurant’s kitchen preparing for an attack. He dove under the table, and later that evening, he dove out of a moving car. Coffman eventually disappeared with a good portion of the band’s advance money, never to be heard from again. (For more confessions from the world’s most notorious rock band, check out Mötley Crüe’s book The Dirt: Confessions from the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band. Note: The band also recounts how they went on to be handled by the legendary managers Doug Thaler and Doc McGhee, who also managed Bon Jovi and The Scorpions. Although these two managers are responsible for helping Mötley Crüe sell millions of records, McGhee was reportedly busted for helping smuggle 40,000 pounds of pot from Columbia. Welcome to the world of rock ’n’ roll! It should be noted, though, that Doc McGhee is still one of the most successful rock managers in the business today.

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Hope this quick tip helps. We’ll cover established professional management in the next edition.

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