It’s not a requirement right away, but eventually most professional singers will need a team of music business professionals to support them. The main roles that singers need to fill are: manager, booking agent and music attorney.
Your Manager
A well-connected manager can open doors for you when you are ready. Your manager will provide both business advice and emotional advice. He or she will help you establish your long term vision and goals. A manager usually takes a 15% cut of your earnings, but it can range from 10%-20%.
This is a full-time job that on any given day might include scheduling travel, helping book live shows, securing press, finding producers and songwriters, creating a buzz, encouraging you to create social media content, setting up brand sponsorship, talking with record labels to get the word out about you.
Your Booking Agent
Not to be confused with a “booker,” (who works for a venue), a “booking agent” works for you and helps you get gigs. If you are performing regularly on your own, it might be time to consider a booking agent.
Your booking agent can get you gigs at festivals, clubs, casinos, county fairs, state fairs, corporate events, performing arts festivals. Booking agents usually take a 10%-15% cut of your earnings for a multiple-night engagement, or 20% of a one-time engagement.
If you are not ready to hire a booking agent yet, you might want to hire a promoter for a given show. Promoters deal with tickets, tech details, the rider, and even finding an opening band.
Your Music Attorney
A music attorney might just be your secret weapon. These professionals advise you on legal contracts including distribution deals, publishing deals, collaborations among others. Beyond the legal work, they will often go out of their way to help you in other ways.
A consult with a music attorney will cost you at least $350, and may just lead to a life-long working relationship and even friendship.
This post is an Action Article from the Singdaptive Course, How to Make a Career Out of Your Singing. Sign up for a free Singdaptive account to find out how you can take this course and receive your free, personalized course.
Lisa Popeil is one of LA’s top voice coaches with over 40 years of professional teaching experience. As a singer, she’s performed and recorded with Frank Zappa and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and her album ‘Lisa Popeil’ was a Billboard ‘Top Album Pick’. Lisa has an MFA in Voice, is the creator of the Voiceworks® Method, and is regularly featured in leading music magazines, journals, books and conferences.
