This Business of Artist Management
Author Xavier M. Frascogna Jr. and H. Lee Hetherington
Published by Billboard/Watson Guptill
Review By Robin Steeley
The fourth edition of This business of Artist Management is a more organized and updated edition to the original. It has been redesigned to cover more comprehensively the newest changes in the business. The focus is still on Artist Representation in the Entertainment realm and bears a host of useful information in its 292 pages. It is still known as the reference bible for managers, but can be just as useful to the musician’s themselves. It outlines the artist-management relationship and the rights and responsibilities of each party. It details creating the artists promotable image, finding the other key players necessary to the team, handling finances, and ultimately obtaining a major record deal.
It does a great job of giving the perspective from both the artist and management angle so that the roles are more clearly defined. Authors Frascogna and Hetherington boast a combined sixty plus years in the music business and share a wealth of information they have gathered over the years.
Overall, the book is a steady read and extremely useful to any band or artist trying to discover the manager’s role in their career, and why they are more then worth the 15% they typically earn. Included within are realistic examples of artists dealing with managers with clear examples and a number of interviews and anecdotes from leading industry professionals.
Some of the topics covered in the chapters within This Business of Artist management are:
The management contract
Hiring a support team
Taking Creative Inventory
Mapping out a career plan
Getting a record deal
Music Publishing
Media and publicity
Live performance
Merchandising
Commercials and Corporate sponsorship
Managing a tour
Contemporary Investment and Money Management
The impact of the internet on the new industry.
