The Artist Manager's Most Important Role

As I was searching around on the web for some inspirational aspects on artist management, I came across a really good video from Berklee Music’s instructor George Howard. Here, he interviews the former manager of the multi-platinum band Boston, Jeff Dorenfeld.

Mr. Dorenfeld talks about how a manager and artist need to have complete trust in one another in order for their relationship to be fulfilling and prosperous. He also talks about how it’s important for the artist to have a vision of where they want to go, whether that be artistic or financial success or whatever, they need to have a goal so that the manager has an idea of what they need to be aimed at.

Since the band is focusing on the artistic side, the manager is focused on the business side. They guide the band in a way that will make both successful but both opinions need to be accepted. If the band says they don’t want to work with this producer or agent, the manager should respect that choice and vice versa. I liked Mr. Dorenfeld’s analogy of the artist and manager’s relationship being like a marriage. Both parties’ values have to align and it doesn’t take much for either party to lose faith in the other if there isn’t constant communication and trust.

What I liked about this video is that it resonates a lot with my beliefs of how a manager should interact with his clients. A manager needs to handle the business aspects so the artist can concentrate on their work. When the artist starts trying to do both, they loose sight of what got them where they are and it begins to reflect in their work. They begin to see things that aren’t really there or they completely loose sight of what they want because they are too focused on trying to balance everything. I believe that the artist needs to be free of all stress that relates to anything business. Granted, they need to be informed of what is going on and without that trust between them and the manager, they won’t have that freedom. They need to see, believe and understand that the manager is completely on their side, otherwise, neither will get anywhere and something that could have been very beneficial is now ruined.