13+ Sample Music Management Agreement Templates

What Is a Music Management Agreement?

Whether you are an established and well-known musician or not, there will always be a time where events and activities are too much to handle. Hence, you need to have a team that will do some of the things on your behalf. And this is where music management comes to play. Its role is to attend to activities that are beyond your control—social media marketing like Facebook or Twitter marketing, booking gigs and tours, and the likes. But, before everyone does their part, it is essential to secure an agreement first. A music management agreement is a document that presents terms and conditions, job obligations, commission agreement, etc. of both you and the management have discussed. It is an official contract that ensures both parties will do their end of the bargain. 

According to Statista figures, the music industry in the United States placed a revenue of almost $20 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, Statista states that the most popular musician of the year 2019 was the Hip-Hop artist Post Malone with a music consumption of almost 4.36 million times. He was then followed by other well-known artists like Drake, Billie Elish, and Taylor Swift. When it comes to music genre consumptions, hip-hop and rap are the leading and most popular amongst other genres, with 24.7 percent music consumption in the United States.

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The Key Members of Every Music Artist’s Management Team

For every successful music artist, there’s a management team composed of professional and hardworking people behind. Exploring the ever-growing music industry and getting the heart of the people is not that easy. There are a lot of responsibilities and activities that you need to do. That is why it is important to have trustworthy professionals that can do some of the tasks for you. Here are the important members that should be part of the music management team.

Music Manager

Music managers are typically the right hand of every musical artist. They may come from different backgrounds, but they all serve the same purpose, to manage daily business-oriented activities. Some music managers also create marketing plans to advertise a musicians’ musical content. Basically, music managers are the building blocks of your management team. They should know the ins and outs of the music industry. 

Live Agent

Live agents are also known as booking agents. The role of a live agent is essential in the music management team because they are the ones that will pitch and negotiate live shows and concerts on behalf of the music artist. With this, music agents should establish relationships with event and show promoters. Another role of the music agent is to manage tours—from booking flights, creating tour itineraries, and the likes. 

Publicist

Another essential member of the music management team is the publicist. Publicists are also called content strategists and brand builders. Their role is to pitch the story of the music (and, of course, the music piece itself) to well-known writers and publications. They know precisely when and how to drop buzz about the artists’ careers. Publicists should also work closely with photographers and videographers for promotional content. 

Music Publisher

When it comes to music, there are necessary payments that should be made whenever the music artists’ compositions are played. And this is where music publishers are required. Their role is not only to spread words about your music but also to gather royalties—the payment term. Music publishers also work on pairing artists with other recording artists for music collaborations.

Lawyer

It is safe to say that no matter how established a music artist you are, it is always important to have a good lawyer on your team. Entertainment lawyers serve as your eyes when it comes to signing contracts. But much more than that, lawyers also make sure that the artist will receive the exact amount of revenues and royalties. They also ensure to put the artists’ interests at best. 

Distributor

Distributors are much like promoters. Their role is to deliver the artists’ music to thousands of music-streaming websites around the world. Basically, they are music marketing managers. However, most of the established streaming services only accept submissions of music to well-known and big distributors. Hence, it is important to select a distributor that will and can distribute music to big streaming websites.

Benefits of Having a Music Manager

You don’t always need to have people working for you, but it is fair to say that it does something great in your music career. And music managers are at some point good with that. Here are the benefits of having professional music managers.

A Music Manager Ensures Everything Runs Smoothly: Music managers have various duties and responsibilities they need to attend to on your behalf. But, one thing is for sure, they want to make sure that every music activity is perfect. Some even hold people accountable if there are complications. For example, if there are problems in tours or record labels, the manager can straighten things up.A Music Manager Gives Good Career Advice: Your music manager does not only make sure that everything runs smoothly with your music activities, but also provides good career advice. The importance of working with professional music managers is that they are more likely to have a broad knowledge of the music industry than you do. Hence, they will be able to provide you with accurate advice to improve your career.A Music Manager Can Be Your Cheerleader: Besides having family and fans to cheer you up, your music manager also serves as your cheerleader. They put enthusiasm into your music during promotions to the media, producers, booking agents, radio stations, and digital streaming platforms. They make sure that your music will be out and be listened to by the audience.A Music Manager Acts as a Buffer: There are situations or things that you, as a music artist, can’t do, except for your music manager. This is where music managers act as a buffer between you and the people in the music industry, whether in booking gigs, promoting your music, preparing company contracts for advertising, etc.A Music Manager Helps in Time Management: Time management is a skill every music manager should have. They make sure that everything is running on time, including music artists. They ensure that music artists come on time during gigs, shows, promotions, recordings, etc. And this is helpful for someone who has difficulty in managing their time.

How To Make a Professional Music Management Agreement

Before the signing of a contract, you have to understand what goes around your music management agency agreement. So, whether you are the music artist or representative from the music management, you need to understand the essential information that should be present in a music artist management agreement. To help you with that, we have presented you with some simple ideas. Here’s how:

Step 1: Get a Template First

Yes, music management agreements are not that difficult to make, but why not get and download a pre-made music artist agreement template to make the process quick and hassle-free? You just need to download the best template that suits your objectives. With that being said, browse on our well-made music management license agreement templates with professionally written suggestive content that you can easily customize. Utilizing our sample templates will be such a good choice.

Step 2: List Down the Parties Involved

Now that you have already downloaded a music management agreement template, it’s now time to edit out its content. Begin with listing down information about the parties involved in the contract, in this case, the music artist and the music management. Present information that is related to specific terms, such as names, individual titles, contact information, address, etc. Knowing the professionals that are involved in the deal is essential to make the music management agreement clear and accurate. 

Step 3: Discuss Terms and Obligations

Once you have already identified the essential parties in the music management agreement, the next important elements that should be included are the terms and obligations. By this, it is important to discuss the terms and obligations of the music management and the services and responsibilities they cover. It is also necessary to include the music artists’ terms in the music management agreement. Terms of service are important so that both parties will be informed of what should and should not be done.

Step 4: Specify the Agreement Timeframe

Every agreement or contract has an end. That is why the music artist management contract must state the timeframe of the agreements’ effectiveness. Is the agreement for short-term or long-term purpose? Specifying the music management agreements’ timeline is also important to avoid complications once the signing of contracts is made.

Step 5: Secure a Signature

Once you have already incorporated the essential details that should be included in your music management agreement template, the last thing you need to do is to secure a signature from both parties. Signatures are important because it testifies that both parties have agreed to what statements are presented in the music artist contract. Without it, the agreement will be void.

FAQs

When do I need a music manager?

Getting a music manager depends on the music artist or band. When you think that things are getting out of hand like answering emails and calls, bookings, guesting, interviews, promotions, digital marketing activities, etc., then that would be the time to hire a music manager.

What skills should a music manager have?

Well, it is no doubt that music managers come with a handful of responsibilities. That is why it is essential that a professional and excellent music manager should be equipped with skills, among others. A music manager should have the ability to multitask, be honest, financially literate, wide knowledge in music, and a passion and heart for music management.

Is a license necessary to become a music manager?

Based on an article featured in Medium, anyone can be a music manager. In fact, unlike other artist representatives like lawyers and agents, music managers are artist representatives that do not necessarily need experience and license. However, states like New York, California, and Florida have required anyone who pursues employment in the industry should have a license.

How long does a music management contract last?

Usually, the term for music artist management contracts ranges from two to three years. However, possible extensions may be observed once every objective and goal is met. Nevertheless, it is important that both parties, the music artist and the music management, are in the same phase and discuss how long the music management agreement should last. 

And just like the song Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Mindler, music artists will not be able to fly high with their careers without a team of expert music management professionals. And, better music management makes all music artists successful in their career and by that, a booming music industry. But before establishing a strong relationship between music artists and music management, both should need to discuss terms and conditions using a well-written music artist management agreement.