If you're a songwriter looking for a place to hone your craft, there are thousands of music
schools, private instructors and courses you can take that will make you a better songwriter. If you sing and you aspire to be one of the very best, there are thousands of highly qualified
vocal teachers who can lend you and your voice a helping hand.
But if you're genuinely interested in Personal Management, there's no place to go where you can get real-life,
hands-on experience in the daily chores of being a manager. Sure, you can learn about general business techniques.
You can listen to an instructor read to you from a book about some of the problems you're likely to encounter, but you can't go anywhere to get that real life experience. Except real life, that is.
So whenever someone asks me how to become a Personal Manager, the answer just rolls off my tongue—just go out
there and manage. Make it up. Fall on your face. Get up. Fall down again. Get up again. That's the only way to do it, my friend.
Well, there are some things that will come in handy along the way—like instinct, perseverance, an aggressive attitude,
common sense, great people skills, a shrewd business sense, a general knowledge of the inner workings of the music
business and, of course, connections. But where do you go to learn common sense? Or perseverance? Or instinct? And can you make connections by reading a book? I don't think so!
Wouldn't it be nice if there were a school you could go to that would teach you all of these things? Wouldn't it be cool
if you could sit across an instructor who is role-playing the part of a music business attorney, and you could scream into
his face—"I'm not signing that. That's a deal-breaker. You're trying to screw my artist." Now wouldn't that feel good? Wouldn't that also be a true-to life experience? You bet it would.
So why isn't anyone doing that yet? Why hasn't anyone put together a Personal Manager School? Do I have to do everything around here? Tell me if these courses don't sound cool as all hell:
Negotiating A Deal: Student learns how to bluff an attorney. Deal breakers in a recording contract are pointed out.
Instinct-101:
Instructor gives you various artist-manager situations and you make decisions based on your gut feeling. Results are discussed in class.
Tolerance-101:
How much abuse and incompetence can you take? Other class mates, each portraying an attorney, business manager and agent, make serious career blunders and you see how much you can stand before you shoot
them all. Are you still with me here? I think we're on the right track. Finally.
Personal Management is just something you can't learn from a book because no two artists are ever the same. No two
artists ever have the exact same problems. Or the exact same contracts. They are as different as night from day, so reading about it does little good.
But what can you do until someone does
put that school together? Well, how about finding an artist and managing him? Both of you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Find someone who is looking to take direction with
situations like putting together a professional looking press package, what clubs to play at, how to sequence his live show, what songs to record on his indie CD, etc.
Discuss these topics with him and guide him using your (dare I say it?) common sense and instinct! Original Knack
manager Scott Anderson had little or no industry experience, yet, with his aggressive attitude, killer belief in the
band's sound and music, and perseverance, he managed the band to international success. Bill Aucoin, while working
as an off-Broadway director and partner in a TV advertising company, signed on to manage KISS. Need I say more?
So you see, it can and does
happen. Sure, it's Baptism by fire, but there really is no other way to do it. It seems as if
those people who really are determined, always manage to find a way to be successful. The groundwork you lay with
your indie artist is the foundation of a solid career in the music business. No decision you make is too small or too unimportant. They're all part of someone's career.
The street-level experiences you and your artist will go through are valuable and real. They are true-to-life and
hands-on. But I still believe that a school for Personal Managers is an idea whose time has come.
Can I get an Amen! No? Well can I at least get someone to buy me lunch?
How About A School For Personal Managers?
Kenny Kerner currently heads up Kerner Entertainment, a Hollywood-based Artist management and development company. With 33 years of experience in the music industry, Kenny has worked
with Aucoin Management handling KISS + Billy Idol. He specializes in Artist Development. Over the years, he has managed five local bands and gotten them record deals. He always accepts
material from unsigned artists, and prefers working with young, upstart bands who have no preconceived ideas about the business.
Kenny Kerner is the author of the best-selling book "Going Pro: Developing A Professional Career in the Music Industry" published by Hal Leonard and available at fine bookstores everywhere.
