Every successful artist has a manager (perhaps several) and the agreement between the manager and the artist should be clear and in writing. The relationship between an artist and manager may start out informally or may be based on a verbal agreement but should always be thought out and detailed. While the common goal of ensuring the artist’s success can produce a sense of camaraderie and partnership, far too often achieving success (and receiving the money that follows) can result in disputes and even lawsuits.

Early on in the relationship, the terms are often simple: the manager will promote the artist and take a percentage of the artist’s income. But does the manager take his cut before or after the artist’s expenses? And which expenses are calculated into the deal? For example, if a headlining band gets paid $1000 to play a show and the headlining band pays the opening band $200, does the headlining band’s manager take a percentage of $1000 or $800?

The example above is a simple illustration but shows just how many ways things can very complicated very quickly. What are the manager’s responsibilities? And what happens if he fails to fully satisfy those goals? Does he not get his full percentage? Does he not get any commission at all?

Any business deal where money changes hands should be in writing. When a manager begins working with an artist, the manager is investing his time and efforts in the artist’s career. The manager may get the artist a record or movie deal or a sponsorship agreement that continues to pay the artist for many years. For this reason, management agreements often provide for the manager to continue to get paid after the management relationship is terminated. For the artist: do you want to continuing paying your manager after you fire him or he quits? For the manager: do you want to make sure you get paid for your work even if you’re not managing this artist for the rest of his career? All these terms must be in writing or they will be very hard to enforce!

A management contract answers countless questions and lays out the terms of the relationship so that disputes (and lawsuits) can be avoided in the future. While the artist and the manager are on the same “team” for most endeavors, they are potentially adverse parties in the negotiation and execution of a management agreement and therefore should be represented separately. Although a fledgling artist or new manager may not have discretionary funds to spend on a management contract, the money (and resources) it can save in the future makes it a crucial step in any career.

We are part of a “do it yourself” society, where “DIY” is a well-known moniker. DIY is great for many things but drafting legal documents is not one of them. There are lots of form agreements available but they rarely do the job of actually securing a deal, protecting your interests, or otherwise functioning as a truly good contract.

Every deal is different and each deal is unique. If you’re involved in a transaction that requires a contract, it’s important enough that you want the contract to be good. Form agreements may do an adequate job of touching on the major issues (term of the agreement, territory, payment) but usually ignore the details that are so important to every deal. While some forms are better than others, it is virtually impossible to have one form cover all contingencies.

We often talk to people who want to use a form (or “canned”) agreement and then have us “touch it up” or “look it over.” While this may seem to be a money-saving solution, it can take a lot of time to go through a canned agreement and figure out what is missing, where the important terms are, and what may need to be added or edited. In fact, it often takes us less time to do the entire agreement ourselves than it does to fix and fiddle with a form or pre-packaged document. Think of it like building a house: would you try and build the house yourself and then hire a contractor to come in and figure out what is missing and what needs to be changed? It’s just not efficient.

You want your contracts to protect your interests, to accurately explain the deal, and to be properly drafted from the beginning. Canned agreements rarely accomplish these goals. But we can! Feel free to contact us with any questions about your contract.