If you have read the past few posts I have made you may start to realize that being a musical artist isn’t always about writing and performing music. Especially if you are a DIY or an independent artist. You have to be your own booking agent, manager, tour manager, publicist and sometimes even your own record label. These dual roles or “wearing many hats” is not easy and sometimes your performance can suffer as a result of it. Many managers also have law degrees, but do not practice. However their education in law helps them read and write contracts for their clients in order to be more effective as representation to their clients. If you would like more information on this topic, I suggest reading this book on Music Law. Here is a musical fact you may not know: Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis & the News actually managed the band he created.
Dual roles in music are so common that nobody even gives them a second thought. How bands do you know engineer their own albums? or book their own tours? How many musicians do you know that are also Djs? Obviously these dual roles are necessary for success and easier to do on your own then to hire someone else to do the other tasks. In my own experience I ended up booking shows for other bands to keep in the loop before my band was ready to go out and perform. I continued to do so, and it came in handy when we were starting to do shows and tour. In an ideal situation a band can delegate certain responsibilities to each member. For Example, the drummer deals with booking shows and provides the rehearsal space, the bass player designs the flyers and merchandise,the guitar player runs the mailing list and promotes the shows,and the singer has the van that takes everyone to the gigs,etc. This way the band operates like a well oiled machine and everyone is able to pitch in and not have too many irons in the fire that prevent them from performing to the best of their abilities.
All of my experience learning the business side of music which includes booking shows,learning publicity,and design is what made me feel I was ready to form my own label, Forever Autumn Records. I also learned how to do video editing from my partner Charles Cudd. I put all of my hats on at once so to speak and created this video to raise funds for our label. We hope enjoy it and please visit our Indie Gogo campaign
Thanks again for reading please enjoy, Nate :