Support (Team for) Your Local Band

Support (Team for) Your Local Band

The Gig Kahuna

by David Himes

Look at any big-name national band, or smaller touring bands, and chances are all you see is the band itself. But what you don’t see, especially in the case of the big names, is a good-size support team working behind the scenes. Sure, you’re probably aware of one or more sound engineers, light techs, and monitor engineers, as well as guitar, drum, bass, maybe backing track techs, tour bus driver(s), semi driver(s), grunts, and other techs.

Yes, the big names can involve quite a few people behind the scenes, all of whom have to be paid. But what about the support team members who don’t travel with the band? You may or may not be aware of them, but they are also very important members of a support team—and even if you’re aware of such people, it’s very common to misunderstand their roles. I’m talking about managers, tour managers, business managers, attorneys, agents, promoters, publicists, producers, and mentor(s).

While an entire book could be written on this subject alone, I’ll try to stay brief and run down the real function of the various support team members.

Manager

Also known as the “general manager,” “band manager,” or “personal manager,” this is arguably the most important—yet one of the most misunderstood—members of the business team. He or she is the person who makes the band’s overall business plan and usually assembles the entire support team, or at least most of it. This person will usually also play a big role in setting your band up as a business, and typically negotiates any deals, contracts, etc., as well.

While the above is just a brief description, the role of the band manager can vary wildly, and can come in several different levels. On the top end, this would be a person who is very well connected and is among the big-name elite. But of course, when you’re on a local level your chances of getting such a manager are slim-to-none, unless somehow such a person has seen or heard of your band and is impressed (or unless we’re talking sheer, dumb luck).

On the opposite (bottom) end, this could be a band member’s dad, girlfriend, or maybe a friend who believes in the band. While meaning well, such a manager will almost always destroy an artist’s career. As I’ll say over and over again, management incompetence is the biggest reason a business fails, and that goes for bands too. So unless you’re lucky enough to have a former rock star or industry heavyweight who is a parent, the low-level band manager will more than likely steer you down the path to failure. I’ve seen this too many times, and it’s sad to see this happen to someone who started with a good potential and good talent.

Then of course, there’s a whole rainbow of levels of band management in between the low and high level. For instance, maybe you started to create a strong buzz in your hometown, and a mid-level manager of some sort has taken notice. Or there might be the guy who started out on the low level and somehow, the right buttons were pushed, the cards were played right, or whatever, and the band—with the manager—ended up on the mid-to-upper level of the national scene. Hey, it has happened…but don’t hold your breath.

Band managers can also come in different forms. For instance: you might have a manager who is also a club owner, or someone else involved in the scene who believes in your band. If you’re lucky enough, it could be some heavyweight, like a radio station program director, high-powered entertainment attorney, etc. But again, don’t hold your breath.

A band manager can, and often does, play more than one role—especially in the entry level. It’s not unusual to see a manager in other roles like tour manager, promoter, etc.

Business Manager

This is the person who begs you to stop lighting your cigars with hundred-dollar bills. But seriously, this person counts the beans, keeps track of the money and where it’s going, etc. More often than not, this person is usually a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), and might have a lot to do with setting your band up as a corporation or other business structure, or might work with your general manager or attorney in doing so. He or she will also work with you on your tax planning.

Tour Manager

This one should be obvious, but is also one the most misunderstood. This is the manager who travels with the band, and oversees the operation of the entire tour. On the upper level, he or she oversees the load-in and out, merch sales, local publicity, and the like, and from previous experience knows where important things are like music stores, hotels, etc. The tour manager also knows the best route(s) from one city to the next, works with the local promoters and venues to make sure everything runs smoothly, and is more often than not the person to go through for artist interviews and other media coverage. The tour manager also makes sure the artist’s contract and rider requirements are met.

On the lower level, the tour manager usually does double or triple duty as another roadie, maybe a soundman or tech, or maybe evens runs the merch table. Like the band manager, the tour manager can very wildly as far as the level. Again, it could be a band member’s dad or someone’s significant other on the lower level.

Agent

Often mistaken and confused with a manager, the agent is the one who books you and arranges a tour. On the upper level, he routes the tour from city to city in such a way as to make geographical sense (hopefully). He has contacts and relationships with local venues, tour managers, band managers, and promoters.

As with the other support teamers, there are different styles of agents. Some actually work in-house at clubs and venues as talent bookers and buyers, while many work independently, usually with a staff behind them. Independent agencies often work with in-house buyers, and some work with other agencies (otherwise known as cross-booking).

Attorney

As you might have guessed, this is the person who handles the legal matters for the band and its support team. The main point about the attorney is you will need an entertainment attorney, not just some family lawyer who dabbles in the music scene. Depending on where in the country you are, you might have to look outside of your hometown for the right attorney. But with today’s technology, much legal work is actually done over the internet, so there might just be someone in your town. Another point is you don’t want a conflict of interest. In other words, if you were hammering out legal agreements with a record label, you wouldn’t want to use the label’s attorney.

Promoter

Like the band manager and agent, the promoter is at the top of the list as far as being the most misunderstood, and also has the potential to wreak havoc on both artists and venues. While many would say the promoter’s job is to, well, promote, it’s actually much more complicated than that.

First of all, there are different styles of promoters at many different levels. A promoter (a real promoter) actually wears several different hats. Some of them work in-house at venues and clubs, and sometimes do double-duty as a house agent, talent booker, or buyer. Some work as an independent. I’ll start with the more upper-level ones. The promoter who works on an independent level maintains business relationships with venues, agents, artist management, and others.

Depending on the city and other factors, a promoter might or might not have to rent the venue, but either way, will need to secure the date with the venue as well as negotiate the dollar amount, contract, rider, and other details with the artist’s agency and/or management. Promoters also make arrangements for advertising and other tactics to ensure as good a turnout as possible. Most events are planned months in advance. In the case of larger events, such as outdoor festivals, we’re talking a year or more of planning.

If done right, a promoter will end up making money on a show. But now more than ever, promotion work is very risky. Many details need to be taken into consideration, and lots of numbers need to be crunched to try to determine the chances of success. Indie promoters are also up against the heavy hitters.

On a smaller level, there are also promoters who work with clubs and smaller-scale touring bands, maybe even local or regional bands. If you’re a local band (or even national), be very careful about working with promoters. While some are credible, many are amateur, wannabe, or just plain shoddy.

Publicist

The publicist’s job is basically to make, and keep, the artist visible in the media. When you see artists in a magazine, on a late-night talk show, hear them interviewed on the radio, see video interviews online or whatever, it’s the work of the artist’s publicist. If someone wants to interview an artist or have them on something like a talk show, they contact the artist’s publicist.

Publicists come in different varieties. Some of them are on a record label’s payroll, while others work independently. And it’s not just recording artists who have publicists. Politicians, professional athletes, celebrities, authors, corporate bigwigs—all of them have a publicist involved.

Producer

Yet another one of the most misunderstood of the support personnel is the producer. When recording an album, the producer is the one who makes the plan on how it comes together. He or she makes the arrangements with studios, usually picks the engineer(s), tweaks the songs, more often than not rearranges them, and basically takes the project from conception all the way to the finished product. With a good, trained pair of “ears,” the producer oversees the tracking, mixdown, mastering, etc.

In the case of the stage production for a major tour, the producer oversees the entire stage operation and is heavily involved from the conception all the way to the final result that the audience sees on stage. The producer works with sound engineers, monitor engineers, lighting and special effect techs, vocal coaches, choreographers, stagehands, grunts, and others, as well as oversees the full stage rehearsals—and has a lot to do with working the bugs out of the set.

Whether recording or live, the producer is basically the mastermind behind the scenes. He or she is the glue that brings—and holds—the entire thing together. Producers come in different levels, and it’s generally best to choose one who works within your musical style.

Mentor

One final support member I’d like to mention is a mentor. While this is more optional, if you can find or are fortunate enough to have such a person, it’s nice to have someone who has “been there and done it” to give you advice. For example if it’s some former member of a known band, ask them what they feel went wrong when the band split up. Of course, you might only get that person’s side of the story, but chances are such a person can still give you good advice.

With today’s online resources and social media, you might be surprised at artists who will gladly help you out if you just send them a message asking for a little advice. You might also be surprised at what you can find out with just a little research.

One final thought is that in this day and age, you are much better off going DYI if you can. But that means taking on many of the aforementioned support team duties, which can be very difficult when you have to work a day job that pays the bills.

All of the aforementioned supporting people get a cut of the artist’s money, or charge a fee for their services (and don’t forget the sound techs, instrument techs, and others mentioned in the beginning). So it should come as little surprise that the artist more than likely sees the least amount of money out of everyone involved, all of whom must be paid. So whenever you hear about multi-million-dollar contracts or mega-buck grossing tours, it’s more than likely the artist actually sees very little, if any, of that big money after everyone involved gets their cut.

Of course, when working locally, you are neither ready nor financially able (unless you were born rich) to have the luxury of such people with you. So guess what? You’re elected! Another point is it can be very hard to distinguish the good ones from the not-so-good ones. And making the wrong choices can—and will be—disastrous. Remember, you are entering a world where everyone is a “manager,” everyone is a “promoter,” everyone is a “producer,” etc. So doing many of these jobs yourself can give you experience and knowledge to make more sound decisions when you are ready to seek out such people in the future.

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David Himes is the author of the book Realities for Local Bands: Talent is not Enough. You can find it at Amazon. For a FREE sneak preview, click here. The book is also available in PDF format. Also, David published a local music scene paper for over 16 years and has held over 400 live shows, giving him a unique insight on the scene. Your feedback and comments are welcome.