Introduction

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Being an artist manager is one of the most fulfilling and respected jobs in the music business, and our popular artist management course will provide you with all the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in the industry today.

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Our experienced artist manager, Matt Errington, has successfully managed bands for over fifteen years, recently winning the BPI and UK Government's ‘Music Export For Growth’ Award, and signing major recording and publishing contracts for his artists. Over four evening sessions, Matt will provide you with the know-how, passion and confidence to oversee every aspect of your artists’ career, including sales, recording and publishing, marketing, live performance, brand partnerships and much more.

If you are an established artist manager, we also run an Advanced Artist Management course here.
 

As one of only a few places to learn this exciting role in the United Kingdom, we’re extremely proud of this course and it’s contents here at SMB - but don’t just take it from us, read some reviews from our happy students below.

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- Available Dates -

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Evening Courses (18:30 to 21:00):

20-23 January 2020 | Monday to Thursday **

17-20 February 2020 | Monday to Thursday 

01-22 June 2020 | Mondays

Weekend Courses (10:30 to 16:00):

18-19 April 2020 | Sat & Sun *

** Limited places remaining

 Speak with a course advisor   | 0207 0784022

Hi, I’m Matt, the Artist Management tutor at SMB: The School of Music Business.  
 

I began my career as a music journalist, working at national publications such as Time Out, Dazed and Confused and Spin magazine. I later became a successful music business entrepreneur and artist manager, running campaigns for a host of successful bands that saw me work alongside the likes of photographer Rankin, sign major international publishing and recording contracts, lead headline tours of the UK, Europe, America and much more. In 2015, I won the Music Export For Growth award from The BPI and UK Trade and Industry, for my work developing UK artists overseas.  

In 2018 I was appointed Expert Board Member for Jump: The European Music Market Accelerator, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, to help develop innovative new business models within the industry. From now until 2022, we will be supporting some of the most innovative music businesses in the world. You can also find me talking regularly at industry events, including SXSW, Liverpool Sound City, Line 6 What's Next Conferences, MIL - Lisbon International Music Network and many others.  I love passing on my knowledge and experience to help artists and new music business professionals find their feet in the business. 

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Artist management is a fast paced job, packed with excitement, opportunity and fulfilment. It's a great privilege for me to work with new managers and help lead them to success.
I look forward to meeting you at SMB: The School of Music Business soon!

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Module 1​

• What is an artist manager and what do they do?

• Management skills and personal traits required for managing artists and bands

• The artist/manager relationship

• How to get into artist management - entry options

• The trick of 'communication' the psychology of management

• How are managers paid?  The commission and consultant model

• The artist management contract: typical artist management contracts, contract negotiation, contract term, percentages, exclusivity, payment of services, power of attorney, expenses, earnings following contract period and financial terms. A sample artist management contract will be given to all students

• Class discussion: Streaming and Spotify - how has streaming impacted our role, what is the future of streaming, and how do we secure revenue and promotional opportunities from streaming today

Module 2

• Artist management as a business: establishing your company

• Artist evaluation: strengths & weaknesses, current landscape

• The first meeting - from both artist & manager perspectives

• Planning a career: short & long term goals and success trajectory 

• Marketing and branding your artist

• Building the team: finding the team members and understanding their roles and obligations (specifically social media managers, booking agents, publicists, pluggers and lawyers) – when they are needed, and how to manage them so they are all working together

• Finding your artists - the art of management A&R

• Class discussion: Brands and Business - how successful 
  partnerships are driving growth in the industry and why they are crucial for your career in managing artists and bands. 

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Module 3

• Introduction to music business revenues

• • sources, structures & future trends

• Impact of streaming on revenues and how we utilise this

• Data analysis - the sources of data we examine and how it's used 

• Entertainment lawyers - what they do, and why they are so crucial

• Income from recording

  • Signing to a major label vs. signing to an independent label​

  • The recording contract

  • Advances - what they are, how they work and how to negotiate

  • Tour support from the record label

  • What the record label pay for and what is recouped

  • Producers - contracts, rates and functions

  • Income - PPD and net receipt deals

  • Royalty basis calculations - net album royalty rates

  • Payments - how money is collected and distributed

  • 360 deals, what is available and how they work in practice

  • Indie deals - working with independent deals on releases

  • Presenting your artist to a label - A&R meeting role-play

• Class discussion: The health and wellbeing of you and your artist

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Module 4

• Income from live performance 

• • Why live music is so important to the industry and it's revenues

  • The hierarchy of responsibility in live music

  • Booking agents & promoters - what they do and how they do it

  • Types of ticket - hard & soft tickets, fee deductions

  • Real example of an artists profit and loss sheet from touring

  • Tour management - day sheets, tech plots & riders

  • The performance contract - a guide to the key clauses

  • Secrets of selling out shows from expert promoters 

  • The business of merchandise 

• Income from songwriting (Music Publishing)

  • How copyright works - a full guide

  • Mechanical licenses and compulsory licenses

  • An overview of music publishing and it's associated revenues 

  • Who are PRS, PPL and MCPS and what do they do?

  • Writer splits - working with multiple writers on a single track

  • Sync - getting music on adverts, film & TV soundtracks& games

• Class discussion: Sources of funding for artists & new music businesses

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