How to Build a Team - For Independent Artists, Producers, Labels & Studios (2024)

Building the Team

How to build a team for the music industry.jpg

In this post I’m going to go through the important players involved in managing a successful music business and how to build your dream team.

Whether you're an independent artist, producer, music label or studio, having these professionals on your side will give you that extra support, guidance & the tools necessary to succeed in your career.

Let’s see who the players are.

the Manager

The manager is your go to person. They help you build the rest of your team, form your career plan based on your goals, and get you to that next level.

A good manager will have music industry connections in your area and a good reputation. They will probably have managed or currently manage other talent and have some sort of proof of work.

Many independent artists may start with dedicated friends or family. Just ensure they are organized, keep you on track, and that they understand what it’ll take for your success.

The manager should get paid based on total profits they help you generate. This is common and keeps the manager working to get you paid, so that they can get paid.

The talent also has a duty to the manager, being professional, showing up to sessions and interviews on time, keeping content flowing for the manager to be able to work with are just some of the duties.

For Who: Artists, Labels, Studios

When: As soon as you need more help pushing your music, promoting, or keeping up with demand. Make sure you have professionally produced music ready to take to the market.

the Booking Agent

Like a manager the booking agent should be compensated based on the revenue they generate for you by booking you for live shows, tours & festivals.

The booking agent will be familiar with relevant live events for you to perform at and handle negotiations with the venues.

Keeping your schedule booked and getting out to meet other artists and fans at shows is a fast way to network and share your music.

For Who: Artists, Labels,

When: You have enough music to perform and ready to maximize the amount of shows you get booked for.

the Photographer

Having quality photography of the artists, studio or behind the scenes, gives your fans a great way to connect with you and see what you’re all about.

Having a photographer on your team ensures you’ll be captured well in your sessions, important shows as well as keeping you loaded with fresh content to work with.

For Who: Artists, Labels, Studios, Producers

When: As soon as possible

the Videographer

A videographer will know how to shoot your music videos, promotional ads, or any video cuts you need. (If your photographer can shoot film as well that’s a bonus.)

Artists can benefit most from having a videographer for music videos and live performances.

For Who: Artists, Labels, Studios

When: As soon as possible.

the Accountant

Think of your music career as the business that it is.

There will be a point when you’re making a livable earning and will be set up professionally as a small business owner.

An accountant can help you with allocating your budget, completing taxes on your behalf, and overall business management.

For Who: Labels, Studios, Producers, Artists

When: When you have a business structure setup, you’re earning money separate from employment income, and your finances become complicated.

the Lawyer

With so much collaboration in the music industry and intellectual property or, the music, being the focal point, you can understand why having contract agreements are important.

When we get into royalty splits for producers, artists and songwriters on a song,

Or talk about who owns the master and publishing,

Things can get complicated fast. Having an entertainment lawyer familiar with the music industry on stand-by will give you extra confidence when a contract comes your way, or when crafting your own.

Have things reviewed to make sure you’re not getting screwed over, or if a contract is missing any necessary components.

For Who: Labels, Producers, Studios, Artists

When: Whenever contracts start being used and percentage splits or large sums of money are being transferred.

the Publicist

The publicist will identify your core audience and pitch your brand and product to all relevant media such as – blogs, radio, magazines, interviews, podcasts and playlists in the music industry.

Their job is to professionally promote your music to the media to get more coverage and build a buzz for you.

For Who: Artists, Producers, Studios

When: You have music released or ready to be released and you need help pithing to bloggers and other media outlet.

the Distributor

The music distributor is the one who will get your music into all relevant stores & streaming platforms for fans to listen and buy.

Traditionally, music distributors would work with labels to get their artists music into retail music stores.

Today, distributors work the same way, but most stores are now streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, etc.

It’s also not as necessary for an artist to be part of a label to have their music distributed, though a label can be beneficial in many ways.

Some examples of music distributors are – DistroKid, TuneCore, Landr, CD Baby

For Who: Artists, Producers, Labels, Studios

When: As soon as you have music you need to get streaming on Spotify, Apple, Music, Pandora & all major platforms.

the Social Media all-star

If you’re not a big fan of being active of social media all day engaging with fans, promoting, and posting about your music,

Hiring an assistant to keep your social accounts active might be a good move, especially if social media is where most of your audience hangs out.

There are social media assistants or ‘gurus’ that can help create the best content suited for each social platform and create a custom plan to grow your following and brand your music.

You can also download certain apps to help keep you consistent and organized if you don’t need a dedicated person for your social media plan.

For Who: Artists, Producers, Labels, Studios

When: As soon as you need help keeping a consistent post schedule or would like to grow your social accounts.

Putting it all Together…

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Having these players on your side will save you time and make the journey to a fruitful career in the music industry that much easier.

Even if you don’t work with everyone on a daily basis, building relationships with these industry professionals, and knowing who you can call up when you do need that extra support, is worth gold.

What part of the team are you working on building?