i've been considering acquiring one for quite some time as I am sick of singlehandedly running my band. I guess what I need to know is if it is truly worth the cost to have one. What are your experiences with band management?

be prepared to have a middle aged man call you, and other men, baby

Astronomer has one.

what exactly are you looking for a manager to do? if you say manage then you probably dont need one.

isn't this what girlfriends are suppose to do?

Girlfriends and friends that don't know how to manage a band but just wanna sound cool.

all you have to do s yell show me the money.

That's all it takes.

don't sign anything.
tell them they cannot make ANY decisions without your input.

signing with a booking agency is all you need. you guys can 'manage' your band yourselves.

never give any amount of control away to anyone. as soon as your manager starts making decisions about 'what's best for your career', it usually means 'what's going to put money in his pocket' and that is not always 'what's best for your career'. there's no escaping that conflict of interest. so don't go there.

i was under the impression that the goal of a manager is to field offers, deal with legal shit (as far as riders and publishing goes), deal with PR, make you a certain amount of money and secure you a record contract in the end. if a booking agency is the best idea, what agency would you recommend?

Unless you're pulling off national tours I (IMHO) don't see any reason for a band to have a manager.

If you're overwhelmed by all the stuff your band is doing then take a page from the BBA playbook... stop doin stuff.

no reason to have a manager unless you're touring nationally for at least 6 months out of the year.

You fucking retarded?! A manager? Go to fucking 7-11 if you need a manager.

I take local bands with managers less seriously.

yes im fucking retarded.

^^^^^^^^^
TRUTH


Why the fuck do want a manager? You're a local band. If you're selling out every show you play then maybe, but is that the case?
Any manager worth having would seek you out if he thought you were worth managing.

They sell managers there?

No one outside of your band will ever have the same vested interest in your band that you will. The only vested interest for a manager is how full his/her pockets get. I know it's tough, juggling a job, house, band and trying to do the pr work, booking, etc. It's just the nature of the beast and I've known too many bands that have been fucked. Just be careful and try and be smart about it.

I was going to say the booking agency thing too. unless you are making enough money to pay another member. All of us get over whelmed by the things that we have to do in this world. If they made the day 30hrs, we would still not finish everything cause we would fill those extra hours with crap.

booking agent at most

you are not metallica

Alex
all of the above is stuff you can do yourselves. If you don't want to do the work, delegate some stuff to the other members of your band. if you have guys in your band who can't or won't do this kind of stuff, you need to find out if their goals are the same as yours. they need to step up or move on.

if i had anything positive about the whole concept of band management, i'd pass it along. I don't!

I don't think your retarded, i think it's a reasonable question. Booking agency is the way to go, but i have known bands who would have one of their friends, usually one that couldn't play any instruments (not the singer) do all the leg work for them. More like an employee than a manager. No big decisions, just promotion and booking. And the couple bands i knew that did that, it seemed like it helped. It makes your friend feel like he's part of something, and it leaves you to practice instead of going to 3-5 shows a week to hand out flyers and cds, or to go into those same clubs every week and try to book shows. I wouldn't worry about a manager until you can actually quit your day job. (which if your posting on here, is very rare.)

I know this guy Benjamin...

show that guy the money

"I know Gwah -- I'm their fuckin' managah."

^^^FAIL^^^ That's 2 tries and 2 fails, I lose.

Some random management group MySpace friended us recently. Apparently they manage Dysentery (at least according to them they do) and a handful of bands I've never heard of. If they're not full of shit I guess maybe hit up Blue and see how its working out? The idea of a manager seems weird to me, but I can definitely sympathize with not wanting to deal with the unfair share of show booking, promoting, etc.

sounds like an elaborate rape scheme if I've ever heard one (I have)

the idea of a manager has always bugged me. throwing your band into the hands of someone else when you aren't a world renowned group is so risky. garage bands are so easy to take advantage of. but if the main reason is to not have to deal with shit, then stop being lazy and do it yourself. its way more gratifying, and you'll do nothing but learn. if its because you don't have the time, well no one said being in a band would be easy. like someone said in a previous thread a while back that a band is your hobby. if you were collecting stamps you'd invest time and money into it. if its something you believe in, then sacrifice is part of the game.

as usual yeti, i agree with you. And want to add to your statement. If being in a band is more than your hobby, if it really is your passion, and your reason for living, (which is sort of pathetic, but that's how it is for me) then never mind not having time, relationships will fail, friendships will fail, jobs will suffer, or you'll get fired, rent will be hard to pay, and numerous other things in your life will suffer. Mostly because the amount of resources (time, money, energy) that being THAT serious about playing takes from you, leaves you with little to none for anything else. And if your like me.... it really wont bother you, it will make you happy. Happier than anything else in the world. When i am playing drums for 6 hours after work, and don't have time for anything besides sleep, and then work again, it doesnt bother me, but you'd better believe that it takes a large toll on everything else. And i am not even touring yet! It's the nature of the beast.

If you want it to be a casual hobby, don't bother with a manager, just split the duties between the band members. But if your doing it for passion, for life, then just make the necessary sacrifices. That is until your making enough money to need a lawyer, THEN get a manager.