Managing Artists in Pop Music: What Every Artist and Manager Must Know to Succeed

Music managers and artists will learn the secrets of successful management with scenarios from a manager’s work life along with the legal and business skills to master them. Through stories of real-life famous artist-manager teams, the authors analyze, criticize, and detail what a manager ought to learn to be an effective advisor and representative.

The book teaches future music managers and artists how to acquire clients, negotiate contracts, develop image, administer taxes and finances, and deal with promoters, media, attorneys, and unions. A special chapter addresses artists, advising them on what to look for in a manager, how to sign fair management contracts, and how to avoid career manipulation. Packed with industry guidelines, sample contracts, and sure-fire career tips from industry icons, this book is a professional springboard for music managers, recording artists, singers, and rock bands alike.

Mitch Weiss has been a manager for musical and theatrical artists for more than twenty-five years and has been a certified ATPAM manager since 1985. In addition to pop and sports icons, his management experience includes Disney Theatricals International, New York Shakespeare Festival, Big Apple Circus, and countless Broadway shows, including Tony Award winners A Chorus Line and The Grapes of Wrath. A graduate of Oberlin College, he currently teaches courses in music management at New York University. Through his company MW Entertainment Group, he also directs and produces a wide variety of shows and events. He lives in New York City.

Perri Gaffney is the author of A Dream Deferred, a novel, and The Substitute, a collection of short stories. She is also a playwright/ screenwriter who has written and contributed to numerous theater plays, independent films, and TV shows. Her coverage of performing arts and cultural events has been featured in Routes and Black Masks. Also an actress, she has performed on radio, television, and film, and in many of the nation’s top theaters. She lives in New York City.