All About Women | Women

Imagine this: you’re a huge rockstar.  You’re pool is filled with hotties and your bathtub with champagne.  You have a coffee table made out of your signature guitar and your Cadillac Escalade has beer on tap and a flat screen high definition TV.  Even with all of the expensive toys and extravagant showpieces in your crib, the thing that first draws the attention of press and partygoers alike: the wall lined with your awards.  

Admittedly, human beings, are fascinated with awards.  We love to gawk at the shiny trophies, glossy plaques, and framed certificates of any and every kind of winner.  And, as a species, we place a lot of stock in the importance, abilities and general “coolness’ of those who've come home “the winner.”  So, it’s no surprise that musicians are constantly submitting to the many awards and entering the myriads of contests offered to unsigned artists every year.  After all, with a couple of awards on the wall of your garage, can a hot tub full of babes really be that far behind? 

But what if you continue to enter and never win?  What if time and time again you have to send out the newsletter announcing that you’re not the “Best Band Of The Year” or the “Best Songwriter in the Nation” or even the winner of the “Battle Of The Most Mediocre Bands In The Midwest.”  Will you be branded as a loser?  Will your fans abandon you, asked to be removed from your mailing list, line their birdcages with your CDs?  It is really better to have entered and lost than never to have entered at all?  

The following are a few tips that may help you to fill up your trophy room without becoming the laughing stock of the indie music community:

    1. Enter Contests You Have A Chance Of Winning -- Sounds like a given, but you’d be surprised how many new bands enter Billboard’s contests for the first time and are then amazed when they don’t walk off with a room full of accolades.  Building a resume of award nominations and wins is very similar to building up your reputation as a gigging band or filling up a folder full of press.  Start small, submitting to smaller local and regional contests/ awards that you’re more likely to get a nod for then the national and worldwide events.  Then you can submit to the bigger organizations with a list of awards and wins on your resume.  Everybody loves a winner and seeing that you’ve already won various awards may inspire the powers that be to nominate you for their particular contest. 

    2. Pick The Contest That Will Best Publicize Your Band -- We all love to win.  But more important than basking in the glory of becoming king or queen for a day, awards are fantastic publicity tools for your band.  Nothing shines up a bio, website, email blast or blog like the words “nominated” and “won.”  These vocabulary heavyweights are certain to perk up the eyes and ears of clubs, fans, press and the industry alike.  When deciding which awards/contests to submit for, keep in mind that this organization’s event may well be the flagship of your promotion for months.  Sayings like: “vote for us for…”, “we’re nominated for…” and “we’re the winners of…” will top every mailer you send out during the run of the competition, so make sure you get something great out of it for your band, even if it’s not the gold plated statue you’d hoped for.

    3. Promote A Nomination As A Win -- Even though it sounds like something your high school band instructor would tell you, just being nominated is really a win for you and your band.  So, if you’re lucky enough to garner a nomination for your awards de jour, make sure your promo machine hails you as a winner.  Start your announcement with, “We’ve been honored with a nomination for Best Pop Band” and not “We’re one of six bands that may win this award if we get enough votes.”  The nomination itself is an accolade of its own accord and should be included to any list of band accomplishments.  If, by chance, you happen to win the award or contest, then promote that as another bigger accomplishment. For example: “We’ve been honored with nominations for the Best Music in the Universe Awards in five categories including: Best Drummer, Best Bass, Best Songwriting, and Best Female Vocals, and were thrilled to take home the award for Best Alternative Band.”  To fans and industry alike, this looks like five awards and not one.

    4. A Win For A Band Member Is A Win For The Band -- As creative people, we all have a need to be recognized for our individual talents, and as such, would all like to be nominated and hopefully win for each of our respective specialties.  But awards and contests can be fickle and even though your fans rave about your guitarist or your songwriting, it may be your drummer who walks away with a nomination/award.  Remember always that a band is a unit...all for one and one for all...and that without your killer vocals and great songs, your drummer may never have been noticed in the first place.  Therefore, promote any nominations and awards for your band’s team as a win for the band.  If your singer wins a writing award for his/her lyrics, your band has won.  If your bassist gets a pick endorsement, your band has won.  If your guitar tech gets nominated for Best Tuning, your band has won.

Awards and contests can be tricky when egos, pride, and the eager anticipation to win, mix in with the already delicate balance of the creative temperaments that make-up a band.  Keep this in mind and be careful when entering contests.  Sure, it’s fun to get awards and prizes but not if it means your band will break up two weeks later.  Enter into contests/award shows as a way to publicize your music and further your career as a band but try not to get caught up in the manic frenzy of seeking award wins like a crack addict in rehab.  So, head to the mall, get a plaque engraved that says, “Best Band In The World” and stick it up in your rehearsal room to remind yourself that you’re a winner everyday just for: having the courage to write songs, record them, get up in front of people and play them, deal with critics reviewing your music, weathering rejections from the industry and entering into a very personal creative relationship with three or four other artistic people without murder ensuing.  Then, when the time comes that your wall fills up with trophies and accolades from the industry, get a keg of beer invite the groupies and party like the rockstar you are.

Imagine this…you’re in the local hospital’s pre-op ward waiting for the removal of your pesky rupturing appendix. You wait and wait in side splitting agony while your doctor chats it up with the nurses, gathering phone numbers from the hot ones. After what seems forever, he gets you prepped and begins the surgery. What should have been a 20-minute procedure turns into two hours. He cracks jokes and talks about his cherry red Ferrari, while you’re lying unconscious with your abdomen split open. Finally, you’re sewn up and ready for recovery but super surgeon and his crack anesthesiologist are having a heated discussion about the science of their golf games and have seeming forgotten you’re passed out underneath them with tubes stuck in every orifice. If this were your surgery experience, you’d freak out, sue the hospital and your hot-shot doc would wind up cleaning bedpans at the state convalescent hospital.

Sadly, like our skirt-chasing doctor, many musicians think that the consequences of their actions are immaterial and treat their audience with the same lackadaisical disregard that the before-mentioned doctor treated his poor patient with. These selfish creative types show up to gigs late, set up at their own leisure (roughly the same pace that a 100 year-old tortoise would run the Boston marathon), play as long of a set as they please (regardless of their designated set time) and break down/clear the stage at their own whim with little or no regard to the club’s schedule.

However, if you asked any of these artists, they would say that they consider music to be their career…and shouldn’t a career be treated with the same importance and professionalism whether you’re a budding rockstar or an established surgeon? It should, but often it’s not and bands then find their reputations are tarnished with labels like: slow, lazy, and irresponsible simply because they seem unable to get their show on (and off) in a timely manner. Get branded as a slovenly flake and watch the music industry folks jump ship faster than the rich ladies on the Titanic.

The following are a few tips that will help you to get up, get on and get off in a timely, professional manner that will impress the powers-that-be and leave you fans wanting more:

1. Have Everything Set Up Before You Set Up---It’s not like you just found out you were playing five minutes before. Gigs are booked days, weeks or months in advance so there’s no reason not to be well informed and well equipped prior to your arrival and set up. Guitars and drums should be tuned, drum kits and guitar pedals set up and dialed in, and song lists printed and distributed so that set up time is minimal. Once the stage is free, a professional band will simply haul their gear onstage, plug it in, and do a few last minute tweaks before they’re ready to rock and roll. The ancient tortoise rockers, however, will plunk the road cases down on the stage and then force friends, fans and industry alike twiddle their musical thumbs in anticipation while each piece of gear is pulled out, unwrapped, wiped off, place into position and screwed in slowly but surely. Truthfully, it’s about as interesting as watching paint dry without the guilty pleasure of getting high off the fumes.

2. Sound Check/Line Check Is Not A Mini Concert---You may view your sound check as the concert before the concert but you’re not making any friends dragging out your sound check to an hour and a half while bands are lined up out the door waiting to set up their own gear and check their sound. Same goes for the line check. You may be surprised to know that audiences aren’t all that excited to sit and listen to you work out your live sound in front of their eyes and on their time. Save the lengthy tune-up and checking for the Making Of The Band video. Get your levels quick and get to rockin’!

3. Plan Out Your Set Time Well Before Your Set---The key to a tight set is the prep work that goes on before the night of the gig. Many artists believe that the longer they’re onstage the more the audience gets revved up, but there is something to be said about “too much of a good thing.” Plan out your set, time it and then time it again and make sure that it comes in a few minutes under your designated set list time. Little passive aggressive tricks like cramming in two or three extra songs at the end of the set or coaxing your friends into screaming for an encore only serves to enrage your sound man and confuse your crowd and extensive tuning and chatting amongst yourselves and audience members in between songs is just plain tedious. The tighter your set is the more professional it sounds to the ears of your audience and the happier you’ll make your bookers, promoters and club owners.

4. Tear Down Should Be The Quickest Of All---If you thought your set up was quick, your band’s tear down should be lightning fast in comparison. So much time is wasted every night at a music venue as musicians dawdle after their sets, drinking and chatting with friends, while their gear lies piled up onstage, preventing the next artists from getting set up. Pick up your instruments, haul them of stage, and take them outside or into the green room. There you can wrap your gear up, clean it off, and pack it away into cases and into your cars. Then, it’s time to toss back a few beers and gab with the masses until closing time, without interrupting the flow of the evening.

Imagine this…you’re in a local club waiting to check out an act your label has sent you to scout. You wait and wait, growing more bored and more drunk while the band you’ve been sent to see chats it up with the women in the room, giving t-shirts and CDs to the really hot ones. After what seems like forever, the band takes the stage and begins their set. What should have been a 30-minute showcase turns into an hour or more as the band plays a loose set, stopping often to tune, complain about the sound, yell to the bartender for drinks and crack jokes with select audience members; while you sit unimpressed trying to get a feel for the band’s style. Finally, their set ends and you wait to approach the band on behalf of your label but these super rockstars are still onstage wrapping up endless cords and wiping down each piece of gear while they chat with each other about how much their set rocked. If this were your A&R experience, you’d give up waiting to speak with these lazy musicians, go back to your label and tell them to forget about this particular band and these hot-shot rockstars will wind up working at Starbuck’s until they go on Social Security. This doesn’t have to happen to you. Learn to get up, get on and get off. You’ll soon have the reputation as an easy-to-work-with, professional, reliable band. After all, you never know who might be in the audience to see you on any given night.

By: Sheena Metal

They’re generous, they’re consistent, they’re giving…and most of all...they love your music. They’re your fans and they come to every one of your live shows, fork out money for cover charges, CDs and t-shirts, bring your band gifts, throw you house parties, and spread the word of your music on the internet and beyond. Your fans are the single most important ingredient to the success of your band. Without them, you’d be rocking out in your Aunt’s basement to an audience of none…well, maybe her cat.

But there can be a dark side to the hoards of happy humans drunk on your future #1 hits. Sometimes the folks barreling in to see you play, or flooding your websites with their online presence are causing more harm than good to the reputation of your band. Rude behavior, message board flaming, compulsive sticker-ing and flyer-ing, may all seem like helping to your flock of followers but to club owners, industry and those newly interested in your music, they may seem like trouble-makers, belligerents and vandals.

It may be simply a case of over-exuberant fan zeal. Your fans think they’re preaching the gospel of your band to anyone with eyes and ears: by dropping your postcards all over town like a bird with irritable bowel syndrome, by filling up strangers email in-boxes with bulky MP3s and HTML photo-heavy notices about how much you rock, and by yelling your band’s name at the top of their lungs during another band’s set like a parrot with Turret’s Syndrome. These unsolicited over-promotions…albeit well-intentioned…are hard for the average person to separate from your band’s own promotional efforts and may not be appreciated in the way they were intended. On the other hand, it may be that your fans are so revved up by the love of your music that they’ve become arrogant, aggressive and just plain out of control in any arena (or cyber place) your band inhabits. At any rate, you may find that you need to dial these folks back a bit to create a environment that is fan-friendly without comprising your band’s opportunities.

The following are a few tips that will help you to guide your supporters in their quest to be adamant fans without allowing them to turn into an obnoxious, rowdy, gang of rabid baboons.

   1. Communicate With Your Fans---A lot of problems can be eliminated by simply setting up a line of communication between your band members and your fans. For instance, if you know that a particular club forbids setting around flyers, postcards or other promo materials, post it on your website with the upcoming show info-blast. Set guidelines for your band and for each individual show and let your fans know that they need to follow these simple rules or they’re no longer permitted to attend live gigs and to post on your cyber message boards. A little information can go a long way and your fans will be happy that you let them know what they can and can’t do at any particular show.

   2. Learn From Experience---Sad but true, often the best way to learn what’s not appropriate at shows is for inappropriate things to happen. When fans begin their overblown behaviors, benign-intentioned or not, you will learn by the reaction of the clubs, the industry and your other fans what’s okay and what’s not going to fly. A good example is this…placing bumper stickers on club walls may be encouraged at some places but forbidden at others. The first time you get a call from a red-faced bar owner screeching through clenched teeth that his men’s room walls have to be repainted, you’ll know that it’s time to email your fan base and let them know to leave their reserve of band stickers at home when the band plays that club again. In another example, it may not occur to your band that certain fans are behaving rudely to club personnel or to your other fans, at your shows, until someone makes you aware of it. At that time, you may need to email your naughty fans and let them know that certain bad attitudes are unacceptable at shows, and on your message boards, and that fans who can’t be pleasant will not be invited back.

   3. Friends And Family Are No Exception---As awful as it sounds, often times a band’s family and friends are the most out of control and obnoxious at shows…and on the web. Maybe it’s because they’re more emotionally invested in the band and its members, or maybe because the musicians forget to remind their loved one about fan etiquette. You and your bandmates may think it’s a given, but some of the biggest jerks, idiots, and rebel rousers at gigs are your loved ones. It doesn’t matter it’s the bass player’s ten year-old brother to the drummer’s 60 year-old dad, you don’t want to be banned from your favorite showcase venue because granny kicked the bouncer in the shin. Don’t be afraid to sit your friends/family down and spell out the live show/internet rules for your band. Sometimes you can’t control the fans you don’t know, which makes it all the more important than ever to control the fans you do.

   4. Lay Down The Law---Once you become aware of the “problem” fans, it’s time to explain to them what they can and cannot do at your gigs and on your website. Before banning anyone from visiting the band’s shows and sites, try sending out a polite, but firm, email with some specific guidelines and a serious warning that the next step will be cutting these bad elements out of the band’s loop. It’s important to try not to make the email too harsh, as it may insight further acting up. So, just deliver the message in a casual way, explaining that their actions are hurting and not helping the band…a fact that they honestly may not realize. Honestly, you may need to give it some backbone so that your jerky fans really understand that their jig is up. If you’re having trouble with someone you know well…a particular friend or family member…a phone call or face-to-face meeting might better do the trick. No matter how the message is executed, it’s important to let your fans know that certain behaviors will not be tolerated by the band under any circumstance. Most fans would rather shape up that be cut out of all of the fun, and the band’s reputation will be safe from troublesome followers for the time being.

It’s true that fans are a band’s biggest asset. But left uncontrolled they can also be the biggest liability as your band takes on the responsibility and reputation for the antics that its fans pull at live shows and on websites. Like crazed leprechauns, full of mischief, each fan’s silly stunts and nasty attitude problems will eat away at your band’s good name with tiny bites…like a school of piranha in a stream eating a full sized goat down to the bone in seconds…until your band is left, a former shell of itself, wandering your town trying to figure out why you can’t get booked and no one visits your website. It’s not a good sign when you see a tumbleweed blow through your music career. Nip it in the bud now. Control your fans behavior. Trust me; you’ll be glad you did.

By: Sheena Metal

Imagine this: you’re a huge rockstar.  You’re pool is filled with hotties and your bathtub with champagne.  You have a coffee table made out of your signature guitar and your Cadillac Escalade has beer on tap and a flat screen high definition TV.  Even with all of the expensive toys and extravagant showpieces in your crib, the thing that first draws the attention of press and partygoers alike: the wall lined with your awards. 

Admittedly, human beings, are fascinated with awards.  We love to gawk at the shiny trophies, glossy plaques, and framed certificates of any and every kind of winner.  And, as a species, we place a lot of stock in the importance, abilities and general “coolness’ of those who've come home “the winner.”  So, it’s no surprise that musicians are constantly submitting to the many awards and entering the myriads of contests offered to unsigned artists every year.  After all, with a couple of awards on the wall of your garage, can a hot tub full of babes really be that far behind?

But what if you continue to enter and never win?  What if time and time again you have to send out the newsletter announcing that you’re not the “Best Band Of The Year” or the “Best Songwriter in the Nation” or even the winner of the “Battle Of The Most Mediocre Bands In The Midwest.”  Will you be branded as a loser?  Will your fans abandon you, asked to be removed from your mailing list, line their birdcages with your CDs?  It is really better to have entered and lost than never to have entered at all? 

The following are a few tips that may help you to fill up your trophy room without becoming the laughing stock of the indie music community:

    1. Enter Contests You Have A Chance Of Winning -- Sounds like a given, but you’d be surprised how many new bands enter Billboard’s contests for the first time and are then amazed when they don’t walk off with a room full of accolades.  Building a resume of award nominations and wins is very similar to building up your reputation as a gigging band or filling up a folder full of press.  Start small, submitting to smaller local and regional contests/ awards that you’re more likely to get a nod for then the national and worldwide events.  Then you can submit to the bigger organizations with a list of awards and wins on your resume.  Everybody loves a winner and seeing that you’ve already won various awards may inspire the powers that be to nominate you for their particular contest.

    2. Pick The Contest That Will Best Publicize Your Band -- We all love to win.  But more important than basking in the glory of becoming king or queen for a day, awards are fantastic publicity tools for your band.  Nothing shines up a bio, website, email blast or blog like the words “nominated” and “won.”  These vocabulary heavyweights are certain to perk up the eyes and ears of clubs, fans, press and the industry alike.  When deciding which awards/contests to submit for, keep in mind that this organization’s event may well be the flagship of your promotion for months.  Sayings like: “vote for us for…”, “we’re nominated for…” and “we’re the winners of…” will top every mailer you send out during the run of the competition, so make sure you get something great out of it for your band, even if it’s not the gold plated statue you’d hoped for.

    3. Promote A Nomination As A Win -- Even though it sounds like something your high school band instructor would tell you, just being nominated is really a win for you and your band.  So, if you’re lucky enough to garner a nomination for your awards de jour, make sure your promo machine hails you as a winner.  Start your announcement with, “We’ve been honored with a nomination for Best Pop Band” and not “We’re one of six bands that may win this award if we get enough votes.”  The nomination itself is an accolade of its own accord and should be included to any list of band accomplishments.  If, by chance, you happen to win the award or contest, then promote that as another bigger accomplishment. For example: “We’ve been honored with nominations for the Best Music in the Universe Awards in five categories including: Best Drummer, Best Bass, Best Songwriting, and Best Female Vocals, and were thrilled to take home the award for Best Alternative Band.”  To fans and industry alike, this looks like five awards and not one.

    4. A Win For A Band Member Is A Win For The Band -- As creative people, we all have a need to be recognized for our individual talents, and as such, would all like to be nominated and hopefully win for each of our respective specialties.  But awards and contests can be fickle and even though your fans rave about your guitarist or your songwriting, it may be your drummer who walks away with a nomination/award.  Remember always that a band is a unit...all for one and one for all...and that without your killer vocals and great songs, your drummer may never have been noticed in the first place.  Therefore, promote any nominations and awards for your band’s team as a win for the band.  If your singer wins a writing award for his/her lyrics, your band has won.  If your bassist gets a pick endorsement, your band has won.  If your guitar tech gets nominated for Best Tuning, your band has won.

Awards and contests can be tricky when egos, pride, and the eager anticipation to win, mix in with the already delicate balance of the creative temperaments that make-up a band.  Keep this in mind and be careful when entering contests.  Sure, it’s fun to get awards and prizes but not if it means your band will break up two weeks later.  Enter into contests/award shows as a way to publicize your music and further your career as a band but try not to get caught up in the manic frenzy of seeking award wins like a crack addict in rehab.  So, head to the mall, get a plaque engraved that says, “Best Band In The World” and stick it up in your rehearsal room to remind yourself that you’re a winner everyday just for: having the courage to write songs, record them, get up in front of people and play them, deal with critics reviewing your music, weathering rejections from the industry and entering into a very personal creative relationship with three or four other artistic people without murder ensuing.  Then, when the time comes that your wall fills up with trophies and accolades from the industry, get a keg of beer invite the groupies and party like the rockstar you are.

 

By: Sheena Metal

You can’t throw a rock in any metropolis on Earth without hitting someone claiming to be a manager. Where musicians go, managers follow. It’s as accepted and expected in the entertainment industry as an out-of-control cocaine habit or a failure to pay taxes. When you tell people you’re a musician, one of the first things they’re going to ask you is: Do you have a manager? However, those in the throws of the music business know to ask an even more accurate question: Do you have a good manager?

“What’s the difference?” you may ask. Isn’t any manager better than no manager at all? While it would seem that the answer to that question is unequivocally, “Yes”, in reality it’s a bit like asking, “Isn’t having a herpes-ridden prostitute for a girlfriend better than being single?” In truth, bad representation is far worse than a lack of representation. While, it’s a fact, that there are things your band will probably never achieve without the aid of a manager, agent, entertainment attorney, etc., bad representation can stagnate a career…stop it dead in its hurling climb to the ranks of superstardom or even worse…undo some of the hard work the band has already done.

Sad but true, a bad manager can take a perfectly good band and turn them into a thing so foul that old gypsy women covering their faces with rags will spit and give your band the evil eye as you pass. Ok, that may be a bit dramatic, but seriously…all your band really has is its name and its reputation, so why would take a chance on either of those by putting the whole of your band into the hands of someone that you’re not 100% sure has your best interests at stake?

The following are a few tips that will help you to decipher whether or not your manager can take you to the top or turn your band into a flop:

   1. The Drummer’s Girlfriend Is Not A Manager---Sure, she may get names for your mailing list, invite her girl’s beach volleyball team to all of your gigs and post your latest pictures on your website photo gallery, but she’s not really your manager. She’s a helper, she can be the president of your fan club, the head of your street team and the world’s sexiest roadie but she probably doesn’t know how to put together a press package and make the calls that will get you into an A&R rep’s office for a meeting. This also applies to: boyfriends, wives, husbands, booty calls, one night stands, moms, dads, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbors, nieces, nephews, grandparents, grandchildren, pets and the homeless guy who roots through your trash at midnight. These people may all be well-meaning and you can accept their aid in dozens of ways (it takes a village to build a popular unsigned band) but don’t give them the label or the powers of a manager.

   2. Treasure Your Fans But Don’t Let Them Manage You---This should be a given but you’d be surprised how many over-eager, slightly-obsessed fans move from semi-stalker to mega-manager in a few simple weeks. I cannot stress how simply wrong this entire concept is for two dozen major reasons the most important of which is: fans need to be kept at a distance. There is a reason why that same person comes to all of your shows no matter how many you play, gets there early, sits up front seemingly paralyzed starring at you enraptured. Either they’re in love with someone in the band or they’re insane. These may be reasons to get a restraining order but certainly not reasons to make someone your manager. A band’s manager knows every secret of each musician, every person in each member’s personal life, where you keep your money, where you live, and who’s in your fan/contact database. This is not information that you want someone who has 450 cut-out pictures of you on their bedroom ceiling having at his/her disposal. Enough said?

   3. Don’t Sign A Contract Unless It’s Worth It---Manager’s like control. That why they choose to be managers and not people who macramé wall hangings with the mane hair of ponies. Thus, most managers will try and evoke you into signing a contract. In the entertainment industry, contracts are like marriage certificates…before you sign one be sure your band wants to be tied to the same person for long time (a year, two years, five years, etc.) because they’re much easier to get into than to get out of. For example, if you sign a contract with an efficient, but somewhat green manager, who is helping all he/she can to get you everything possible from what little resources he/she has and then Gwen Stefani’s management team approaches you after a big gig and wants to put you on tour with John Mayer. Do you think if you tell them, “We love to take your tour but we’re under contract with someone else for the next five years, can you hit us up then?” the offer will still stand? Not so much. So, if you must sign contracts, keep them short and make sure they give you room to act, think, play and communicate with others without getting clearance from your band warden (manager). And make it includes an exit clause. Read up on it.

   4. Sometimes Bigger Is Not Better---Although it’s a huge ego stroke to brag to all of the other musicians backstage at the Whiskey A Go-Go that your manager works with Grammy award-winners and stadium sell-outs, sometimes an unsigned band can get lost in a huge management firm. While Mr. Big Stud Manager is busy picking out Madonna’s dress for the American Music Awards, he may forget to ask Quincy Jones to attend your bass player’s birthday gig at Billy-Bob Wang’s Tofu BBQ Shack. The problem with huge managers is that their focus often goes the acts that are making them 15% of 100 million dollars a year. Your 15% of $45.75 a year after expenses is probably not his highest priority now or ever, and what good are his super amazing industry contacts if he never remembers to invite them to your gigs?

      Having a manager is great but only if they provide more benefit to the band than the sum total of your band members and band helpers can do for yourselves. If you find someone who can open doors, take your music places it cannot go on its on and has your best intentions at heart, then grab that contract, sign it and enjoy the benefits. If not, you may find yourself: conned, stalked, ignored and/or legally bound to someone that puts their own agenda (well-meaning or otherwise) and their own ego above what’s right for you band. And whatever you do, don’t sit around waiting for Mr./Ms. Right to wisk your band off its feet and carry it off on his/her white horse to the Fairyland where everyone gets a record deal. You, as its members, know more than anyone, how to do what’s right for your band and nothing will attract the perfect manager faster than seeing musicians who are out there, doing their thing, and making headway in a very difficult business with a great attitude and terrific music.   By : Sheena Metal