Impresarios, agents, artist managers ? over the past century they have all worked tirelessly to give someone else an artistic career. Atholl Swainston-Harrison outlines the role of the artist manager and presents evidence of a highly skilled set of professionals.
There is currently an immense professional standard in the community of artist managers, as reflected in the distinct change in terminology. What started off as ?impresario? became ?agent?, and is now referred to as ?artist manager?. In a past era, an impresario took great chances by promoting an artist or concert, which often involved huge personal and financial risks. They were dependent on the support of wealthy individuals and the paying public, and at the best of times this was fraught with difficulty and there was a real risk of bankruptcy. During the 1800s such a charge carried great consequences apart from the social stigma, which usually prevented the impresario from working again.
A golden era
The system of private patronage, although a continuing thread through the arts even today, assumed a lesser role with the emergence of state subsidy after the Second World War. The Keynesian economic model was mirrored in many other European countries with a significant impact on the arts including artist representation. This period, lasting about 25 years, is nostalgically referred to as the ?golden era? of the agents. The term became synonymous with a successful artistic career and it was to the artist?s prestige that someone more impressive in status than themselves represented their interests. Agents were well-connected and able to exploit a professional network to their advantage to the point where a career could be made or broken. Business was concentrated in Wigmore Street and gained an association with the area in the same way that Threadneedle Street did in the financial world and Harley Street in the medical profession. The rationale behind representation was that the artist needn?t get involved with the nitty gritty of negotiation or arrangements to support a performance. The artist could simply devote their time to practising and performing. For this service, the agent would be paid a commission out of the performer?s fee, sometimes based only upon a gentleman?s agreement.
Current practice
All these elements are relevant today and there are certainly more artists represented than ever before. The economics of cheaper and faster travel, television, radio and the Internet have all created circumstances that demand performance opportunities at an ever increasing pace. This in turn has produced new complications that need expert guidance and a wider knowledge of society, including expertise in taxation, local, regional and international law, awareness of artistic activity in the world and effective utilisation of professional networks. The profession, like music itself, does not respect national borders, and even today operating within the European Union can pose several challenges apart from any language differences. Clearly, all this can be too much for the artist alone!
Mirroring this evolution is the terminological change to what we now refer to as ?artist management?. It?s a term that has gained wide acceptance in the profession and is deemed more appropriate in describing a complex set of relationships that need to be managed effectively for success to follow.
Imagine that you are an artist manager and that you have a signed agreement with an artist. This agreement will confer rights to represent the artist worldwide; i.e. general management or management for a specific territory such as the UK. Usually, the artist manager prefers general management because it allows more negotiating room in developing an international career, but this does not mean to say that a local manager cannot figure in the broader picture. The agreement drawn up should clearly state the duties and obligations of the two parties, including expenses allowed, publicity obligations, fees, commissions and notice terms. Once an engagement is secured, there are practical details to sort out such as taxation, visa requirements, hotel reservations and timetables. These are all aspects of the work that you need to sort out well in advance so that the artist?s life takes on an organised shape. You might also be responsible for negotiating a recording and/or broadcasting contract, which in itself can require specialist attention. A great deal of time is also spent on marketing and sales.
For all these services, you take a commission out of the artist?s performance fee, which can be typically anything up to 20%, plus agreed incidental charges. All this is a tax-deductible expense.
A professional partnership
The profession today contains elements of the impresario role and that of the agent too, but success in the job is dependent on the quality of the partnership between artist and artist manager. Even within large management companies this is still the essence. Managers today have also diversified into many other related areas, such as touring orchestras, project work and management. These last two can include consultancy, fulfilling advisory roles, sitting on boards and financing artistic enterprises.
Interestingly enough, there is also a growing trend to represent other music genres such as jazz and other world music categories. Some managers have even incorporated representation of opera directors, lighting designers, set designers, producers, ballet dancers, sportspeople, narrators, broadcasters and marionettes! It is now clear that the skills needed to represent someone are becoming increasingly valuable and a necessary part in any successful career development.
Atholl Swainston-Harrison is Executive Director of IAMA. t: 020 7610 4884 e: info@iamaworld.com w:http://www.iamaworld.com
International Artist Managers? Association
The International Artist Managers? Association (IAMA) is the only worldwide association for classical music artist managers and concert agents. Membership is open to any professional artist management company and to those involved in the classical music world.
IAMA?s purpose is to bring good business practice so that confidence is inspired and a measure of security lent to those working within the classical music sector. It seeks to stabilise working relationships and is sometimes called on to act as a mediator for its members in problematic situations. It assists its members through its corporate knowledge and professional helplines, such as a tax helpline in partnership with Baker Tilly, a legal helpline through Taylor Joynson Garrett, the website development scheme, the hotel reservations service through International Reservations 2000.
It acts as a lobbying body in member territories as well as facilitating information exchange within its network of members. Part of this includes hosting seminars covering legal issues, taxation, management development, new technologies, European issues, media rights, and the recording industry. The next seminar will take place in Copenhagen, October 12?14. Since 1991 there has been an annual international conference, now recognised as one of the premier fora for the classical music world.
For the last ten years IAMA has produced an annual Directory of Artists listing all its members and the artists they represent and in 1999 launched a new directory, Classical Music Artists ? Who Represents Whom.