Younger Artist Managers Have a Great Advantage

Welcome back, friends. This week I will be discussing a theory of mine that shows how a younger generation of Artist Managers and a younger generation of business people can find themselves in a position of advantage. As in many business fields, artist management heavily relies on communication, particularly deal making and negotiations. I am very interested in this aspect of the industry which led to this discussion.
Let us be clear. When I talk about a younger generation of managers and business people in general, I am specifically looking at an age range around 23-30. Why do I believe that these people are in an advantageous position in communication? The answer is simple. This is generally the group of people that grew up in between the old school, traditional way of business communications and the new age, digital communication, social networking style of business communications.

This theory goes both ways. If you are able to understand and implement the strategies of both traditional and newer communication styles, you will be in a great position and will be able to transcend other's age and style. Likewise, if people are not able to operate in both of these worlds of communication they will only limit their potential.

Knowing your counterpart in any business communication process is essential. While the wave of digital communication and smart phone technology has sped up and depersonalized much of business communications, there is still plenty people who use and highly regard traditional communication styles. The people who still adopt these practices often respond quite unfavorably to the newer way of doing things.

What does all this mean? Essentially, the goal for any business person and artist managers in particular is to have strong communication skills. In today's world, however, there is a wide variation of practices that people adopt. First and foremost, it is extremely important to know whom you are communicating with and what style best suits the situation.

The important thing for people that are outside of the age range I have outlined is to understand the other side. The older generations have frantically tried to keep up with new technologies while recent college graduates and people younger have shown to seriously lack basic communication skills.

This brings us to the people inside the 23-30 range. It is important for these people to hold on to their skills in formal communications while adopting and honing new skills in the new world of communications. Being able to handle both of these styles is extremely important for artist managers and it is a skill set that cannot be underestimated.

Thanks again for stopping by, I'll see you all soon.

DK

Cheap Marketing for Artist Managers

Welcome back, friends. In some of my recent studies, I have gained an even greater regard to the distribution of content and how to market that content. When starting a company, the major hurdle that impairs most new companies is their lack of attention to detail in financial decisions and lack of initiative for innovation in marketing and promotion.

Luckily, if you are an artist manager or an artist doing self-promotion, there is a major part of your efforts that can be extraordinarily cheap. The most important one of these is your marketing strategy. The amount of resources at our fingertips is greater now than at any other point in history, and tomorrow will be greater than today's. That is the nature of technology, and this artist management industry.

We all know about the "old-school" fail-safes of social marketing through Facebook, Twitter, etc. Today, however, there are literally hundreds of sites than can have an incredible impact on your artist's career. From sites where you build profiles and message boards, to those where you can post your music, or even sites where you can fund projects, the opportunities are almost endless. This has led to a surge in quick and fleeting trends. New ideas for musicians and their managers are constantly developing and evolving. With the amount of outlets to get an artist's message out there, managers need to be innovative and try out a multitude of small projects and ideas they may have.

Videos have also become an integral part of the artist's portfolio. With the overload of promotional efforts through social media sites, videos are becoming ever more important (sometimes just as important than the song). The video allows a whole new way for an artist to express themselves beyond their music. Building a persona with an artist through series of videos allows fans to feel more connected with the artist, thus making them more likely to purchase music, concert tickets, or other offerings. 

The best part about these solutions is that they are either cheap or free. Social media marketing is a very strong and powerful tool, but only accessing the top sites is just putting your concentrated efforts towards a bigger pool of thousands of competitors vying for the exact same attention. Putting the efforts on newer and more creative sites and using video content is just a few ways to make your efforts more meaningful and more cost effective.

Thanks again for reading,

DK.