Should a manager be involved in all aspects of an artist's income?
With
Judge JulesJudge Jules weighs both sides of whether a manager should take commission on all of an artist's income - modelling, acting, and more - or only their music work.
What's in the course
46 lessons (1h 6m) · 1 free
01. Accounting
Free lesson1:16
02. Termination
1:29
03. Collection societies and letter of direction
0:26
04. Commission structure
2:32
05. Cross platform-multimedia aspects
0:39
06. Expenses
1:10
07. Key man provisions
1:01
08. A manager's obligations
2:33
09. Post term commission
1:30
10. Should a manager be involved in all aspects of an artist's income?
You are here1:40
11. Term
1:46
12. Should a manager manage more than one artist?
1:24
01. Accounting payments and auditing
2:18
02. Ancillary shares
1:58
03. Artist approvals
1:51
04. Artist promotional obligations
1:50
05. Assignment or licence - what's the difference?
3:17
06. Interplay with publishing
0:51
07. Options
1:39
08. Release commitment
1:26
09. Rights in the artist's name and brand
1:26
10. Royalty types
1:20
11. Territory of agreement
1:54
12. Warranties and indemnities
1:37
01. What are the most important areas of a contract for a new artist?
2:11
02. Is it normal that a music lawyer would meet me and listen to my case before charging me?
1:15
03. If a label, publisher or manager approaches me to sign a contract but I dont have the funds to pay for a lawyer, who should pay the legal fees?
1:20
04. Are 360 degree deals good value for an artist?
1:14
05. Am I still protected when it comes to copyright in the NFT or the crypto world?
0:26
06. Should I be wary of a publishing deal?
1:02
07. What protection exists for artists releasing their own music that don't have access to a lawyer?
1:03
Lesson transcript
Commission Negotiations in Artist Management
It's quite a thorny issue, and it's very heavily negotiated whether a manager should just be entitled to commission on an artist's music activities, or if they should also receive commissions for broader activities within the entertainment industry, such as:
- Modeling
- Acting
- Other related fields
Artist's Reputation and Manager's Entitlement
In my view, if any of that other stuff comes from the reputation that the artist has forged as a musician, then it's only reasonable that the manager should have a commission entitlement in relation to all those other activities.
- Even if that might not be the area of specific expertise that a manager has
- Even if the manager might be better at music
- Even if there is a third-party agent who gets involved dealing with those other areas
The Double-Edged Sword
This issue is quite heavily negotiated. You do find certain artists coming to the table with a manager who has certain income streams saying:
"I want to keep that out of being commissioned by the manager."
This stance has its pros and cons:
-
Pros: For an artist entering a management relationship who has handled their affairs efficiently and earned money in certain areas, it might feel painful to suddenly give away 20% of their income from those areas to their manager.
-
Cons: On the other hand, it's very demotivating for a manager to know they won't be able to earn commissions from those areas.
Delegating Responsibilities
The reality is, if you are handing over your affairs to a manager, you want them to be dealing with everything. You don't want to think:
"I'm going to pick up the phone if it relates to matter A, but I'm going to bat it over to my manager if it relates to matter B."
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Jules O'Riordan has over 30 years of experience across the entire spectrum of the music industry. This includes nearly a decade as an A&R for the Universal umbrella of labels, 15 years as a presenter on BBC Radio 1, over 150 record releases and remixes in his own capacity as a recording artist, plus a 30-year career as one of Britain's best-known, globally-travelled DJs (Judge Jules), with over 5000 gigs under his belt, plus extensive experience as an event promoter and artist manager at the highest level.
Suffice to say, Jules knows the music industry inside-out, and his clients regard him as a trusted advisor for whom no legal or business affairs challenge or problem is too large or small.
Jules has been a lawyer for 10 years. His practice takes in the entire breadth of the music-focused entertainment industry. His legal and deal expertise includes management, recording, publishing, distribution and label services, music-based apps, games and tech projects, production deals, producers, featured artists, endorsements, merchandising, neighbouring rights, TV/film scores, live performance, events and venue agreements, plus copyright and rights infringement and many other disputes.
Jules's clients include artists, management companies, record labels, songwriters, event promoters, producers, music tech businesses, production companies, live agents, music publishers and DJs. He has spoken on many panels and seminars including ADE, Brighton Music Conference and AIM events, and has been a guest speaker on legal issues across a number of on and off-line media outlets, including BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Introducing, Financial Times, The Sun, The Times and Mixmag.
Jules speaks fluent Spanish.
Who better to demystify the contracts and deals every musician eventually faces? In his course, Jules turns three decades of hard-won industry knowledge into plain-English guidance, so you can understand the business side of music and protect your work long before you sign on the dotted line.
