How do you find a music manager in the UK?

Do you need a manager yet?

Probably not, if you're still building your first audience. A manager is paid a share of what you earn, so a share of very little is very little, and the good ones know it. About one in five artists who booked a call with us (21%) said management was one of the things they needed. When we went through what a manager would do for them that month, the list was usually a release plan, a few registrations and some emails to promoters. Those are jobs you can do yourself now.

Answer these five honestly:

> Do I need a manager yet? (copy this) > 1. Does music bring in money most months, from gigs, sales, streams or teaching? > 2. Are people booking you without you asking first? > 3. Is the business side, such as emails, dates, invoices and deals, taking time you need for writing and playing? > 4. Do you have a plan for the next twelve months that someone could pick up and run? > 5. Is there an offer on the table, a deal, a tour or a sync request, that needs negotiating? > > Mostly "no": you need a plan and some help building, not a manager. Mostly "yes": you're ready to look, and the rest of this page is for you.

What will a manager do for you?

A manager runs the business of your career. They plan the year with you, bring in and lead the rest of the team, such as an agent, a lawyer, a publisher and a label, negotiate deals, and keep the money and the dates straight. It's a business partnership, and you're signing it for years. Our guide to how the music industry works sets out who does what around them.

What a manager isn't: a social media assistant, someone who makes you famous, or a replacement for your own work. The artists who get the most from a manager are the ones who were already doing the jobs and know what good looks like.

Where do UK artists find managers?

Most managers find artists through people they trust rather than cold emails. So the places that work are the ones where people see you:

• Ask artists one level above you who manages them, and whether they'd introduce you. Managers often take on acts their artists recommend.
• The Music Managers Forum has a form for artists seeking management. Your details are shown in its members' area, where managers looking for new acts can get in touch with you directly. It doesn't match you with anyone, so treat it as one route among several.
• Play live and tell people when. Managers go to gigs and new-music nights in their own scene. A packed local show that people talk about does more than a hundred emails.
• Your existing team. A producer, promoter, publicist or label contact who rates you will know managers, and an introduction from them carries weight.
• Directories and listings of managers exist. If you use one, pick a handful whose acts sound like yours and follow how each one says they want to hear new music.

How do you approach a manager?

Write to one person at a time, about why them. Keep it short:

• One line on who you are and where you're based.
• Your best song as a link, with no attachment.
• Two or three facts that show momentum: monthly income from music, a sold-out show, a playlist or radio play, a growing list.
• Why them: an act they manage that's close to yours.
• What you'd want help with next.

Send a link to a one-page press kit if you have one. Our EPK guide shows what goes on it. Then leave it. If there's no reply after two weeks, one short follow-up is fine. After that, move on.

What does a music manager take?

Commission, as a share of your income. The Music Managers Forum's guide to management deals puts the usual starting point at around 20% of the artist's income, with a sunset clause. Some deals differ: a lower share on live income, a higher one where the manager is putting money in, or a small monthly fee plus commission.

The questions that matter most are what the percentage is taken from and for how long:

• Gross or net: is it a share of everything that comes in, or what's left after costs like touring and recording? On live income, the difference can be most of your profit.
• What's excluded: money advanced for recording or a tour usually shouldn't be commissioned, because it's spent making the work.
• The sunset clause: after you part, how long does the manager keep earning on work made while they managed you, and does the share go down over time?

What should be in a management contract?

Get it in writing and get it checked before you sign. A fair contract usually covers:

• The term, often a fixed period, with a way out if agreed targets aren't hit.
• The commission, what it's taken from and what's excluded.
• The sunset clause, how long it runs and how it steps down.
• Expenses, what they can charge back to you, with a limit before they ask.
• Who signs deals. You should sign your own contracts. A manager who wants to sign for you needs a very good reason and a written limit.
• Your money: where income lands, and that you can see the accounts.

If you're a Musicians' Union member, its contract advice service will have a specialist solicitor look over a management contract at no extra cost. Our split sheets and deal terms guide covers the other papers you'll be asked to sign.

What do you do while you're not ready?

Do the work a manager would do in your first year, and keep a record of it. Make a twelve-month plan, register your songs, set up your list, book your own gigs and keep the numbers. That's what development is: building the thing a manager would one day want to run. It's also what makes you easier to manage when the time comes.

This is the work we do with artists at HyperTribe. We're a development team for independent artists. The artist decides and signs everything; we give options and take no commission.

Where this fits

Bringing in a manager comes late in artist development, after the plan, the audience and the income have started to build. How the music industry works covers every role around a manager. Coach, course, mentor or a plan covers paying for help by the hour. If a deal comes before a manager does, our record deal guide and split sheets guide cover what to check.

• Artist development: what it is, what it costs, and how to tell it's working
• How does the music industry work?
• Coach, course, mentor or a plan? Which comes first
• What is a split sheet? The paper independent artists skip
• How do you get a record deal in the UK?
• How to make an EPK
• How do independent artists make money?
• Artist development stage checkfree tool

Questions artists ask