Not every artist feels the need for working closely with a music manager. However, for an indie artist or for the bigger artists, music managers may be their best partners ever. As stated by the Huffington post, managers simply help artists turn their brand into revenue. They handle important functions that musicians cannot oversee. The role of a music manager is to be a shoulder for artists; to look after the entire business spectrum including managing producers’ relationship with the entire music industry. From time to time, managers may become super close to the musicians they represent, ensuring their success and longevity in the industry are met. Let’s take a look at the role of music managers and how imusify fits in the picture.

Managers create opportunities for musicians

First of all, music managers are industry professionals with a true love for music. As they are connected to multiple stakeholders in the industry — from PR to promoters, from labels to radio hosts — their role is multifaceted. Dealing directly with artists, managers detect opportunities for musicians and ensures that their success has a monetary value. Managers handle promotional campaigns and product placements (TV, radio, magazine), manage relationships with record labels, and oversee gigs and festivals opportunities with booking agents. Depending on the type of artists the manager represents, they will adapt and prepare a plan accordingly. For example, if they represent an artist who needs signing new music, they will focus on scouting for the best labels.

Besides that, music managers further “protect” their artists; they keep an eye on publicity, streaming revenues, and gigs placements, and make decisions regarding the strategic vision for an artist to reach success — or maintain existing acclaim. For example, Troy Carter, Lady Gaga’s manager, spotted Universal Music Group didn’t pay her streaming royalties. But how do managers make money? Music managers have contracts with artists and receive a commission anytime musicians get a gig or streaming revenues, for example. Billboard reports that music managers earn approximately a commission rate of 15–20% of the gross income of what the artists make. Yet, this is very approximate and the rate is likely to change depending on the type of artist (commercial or underground, big or small) and the music genre.

imusify helps managers monitor an artists’ career and more

Music managers may benefit from using a platform like imusify in two ways. First, as a blockchain application, imusify rethinks the entire business spectrum from scratch: by proposing an all-in-one platform that creates new forms of revenues for artists, music managers can monitor artists’ payouts more efficiently. Let’s take the example of streaming revenues, a real pain in the ass for everyone in the industry right now. With imusify, each streaming payout is allocated to the copyright holders of a song, thanks to encryption and smart contracts. Such process rationalizes the music managers’ job since instead of looking for missing royalties, they can establish new strategies for expanding some revenues. Plus, they can decide which streaming platforms to ditch or which ones to start a collaboration with and manage better playlists or music placement with third-parties (stores, TV, and more).

Another area where imusify can truly help music managers is with regards to contracts issuance with record labels for example. Most of the time, small artists may enter into some predatory agreements, ignoring what deals they have with a label. As most musicians’ aim is to sign and release music, they often misunderstand such contracts. With imusify, every data linked to a record deal is encrypted into the blockchain, ensuring each song that gets into the ecosystem is protected not only against fraud or illegal download — which labels should watch out — but is also tracked anytime someone plays it at a radio or in a live venue, ensuring revenues are paid out instantly to artists. Labels then should only a focus on establishing a perfect music connection for the artists they represent and the efficient distribution of their music throughout the entire industry. And music managers can devote themselves to establish more significant connections for the artists they look after.

In short, imusify brings a cutting-edge platform for music managers to rationalize their existing workflow, giving them more room to detect new opportunities. By helping music managers keeping track of artists’ revenues more accurately, and by offering innovative tools to support negotiating agreements, imusify clears up some of the managers’ long-standing issues.