Why local bands don’t need to rely on managers/promoters to get somewhere in music…

I understand that local bands and solo acts want to move forward, achieve your dreams and get some successes but you don’t need managers/promoters to do all that. I know some local bands around here rely on managers to do all the work for them like marketing, booking them shows, etc. Sometimes I can’t understand why bands need managers to move forward when they can simply do all that on their own.

I understand that when you’re on a record label like indie/major, you’ll need a manager but when you’re a local band… no. All these successful bands make claims that they got there with hard work and they claim they are a “do it yourself” band… well, when you get a manager/promoter… technically that’s not a “do it yourself”.

When I see bands that rely on mangers to get themselves out there, it gets me thinking that these bands know nothing about marketing. In reality, they’re lazy as hell on the promotion part so they hire someone else to do all the work for them since the band themselves know nothing how music works.

You see, I have seen plenty of successful bands that got to the next level without managers/promoters. They got there with good marketing strategies. They were the best at marketing. I do know that some local bands around Albany hire managers or a promoter… sometimes I even get e-mails from their managers asking me to review a project for my blog site.

In my opinion, I think some bands get managers ’cause they think they’re special. It’s their way of showing off to everyone how successful they are. Instead of having the band/artist themselves contact me directly, they have to have their manager/promoter do it. Why??? It’s because I just think that the band themselves think they’re too important. They think they’re too good to contact you directly if you know what I mean. I just look at managers/promoters as if they are the band’s personal assistant.

Bands don’t want to admit that they are lazy at promoting themselves so they have someone else do it. Marketing yourself without a manager isn’t that hard to do. You just gotta do some planning, thinking and research marketing & promoting skills of your music.

Once again, I’ve seen some bands get some great opportunities without the use of managers. It can be done. You just gotta learn and do the work.

In my opinion, I think bands having a manager is just pretty silly. They’re just playing rock star, that’s the only reason they have one. When bands & artists rely on managers, you gotta watch out for them.

I give the most respect to bands who do all the marketing and booking of gigs themselves. You can still go places with your music without relying on managers. Read and study the industry. You’ll be surprised of where your music takes you if you do all the work yourself.

Kev

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