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FAQ: Careers in Music Business/Management

Personal Manager (or Artist Manager, Agent)
Personal managers represent one or more musical groups or artists, and oversee all aspects of an act's career. They deal with and advise the act(s) on all business decisions and many of the creative decisions an artist must make, and attempt to guide the artist's rise to the top.

Booking Agent (or Talent Agent)
Booking agents work to secure performance engagements for musical artists and groups. They work to find talent to book, and may be involved with developing the talent toward a goal. They must possess good communication skills to sell talent and develop contacts in the music industry. They often work closely with an act's Manager, and may be involved in setting the fee and negotiating with promoters or clubs. A booking agent is paid a percentage of the negotiated fee for an act's performance.

Concert Promoter
The concert promoter presents, organizes, advertises, and in many cases, finances concerts at performance venues such as arenas, festivals, clubs, church buildings, auditoriums, etc. The promoter often secures money for the concert by finding others to share in the profits/expenses. However, it is often times the concert promoter who absorbs all the financial risk.

Independent Radio Promoter
The Independent Radio Promoter (IRP) has a similar role as that of a Promotional Staffer at a record label, except the IRP is usually employed by an Independent Radio Promotions Company or they may work freelance. Often times a record label, artist/band or manager will hire the services of an Independent Radio Promotions Company to generate airplay of a particular song or record.

The IRP contacts radio station program directors, music directors, and disc jockeys in a local, regional, national or even an international market. They set up appointments with these station people and bring a number of new album releases as well as a supply of promotional or press material relating to the artist or band. An IRP may socialize frequently with program directors and music directors to help improve the chances that a radio station will add a song to its playlist. An IRP often will often take key radio station personnel out to lunch, dinner, or for drinks. They may also bring a program director to a club in order to listen to a group play a song(s) live and gauge audience response.

Entrepreneur (Music Business)
A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a music business venture. Some common businesses started by music entrepreneurs are: Recording Studio Facility, Private Teaching Practice, Performing Band, Booking Agency, Artist Management, Music Retail, Music Publishing Company, Record Label, etc.

Retail Sales Management
A Retail Sales Manager works, runs and operates a retail music store. Duties would include employee supervision, training, ordering, coordinate the timing and arrival of distribution shipments to the store, budgetary and financial planning, and coordinate sales promotions for specific CDs.

Entertainment Attorney
An entertainment attorney handles any contractual matters conceivable within the Entertainment industry. Entertainment attorneys can be freelance, hired on retainer or as an employee of a company or business within the entertainment industry. Entertainment attorneys generally specialize in one of three separate fields within the entertainment industry: Sports, Film and Television, and Music. An attorney that specializes in the music industry usually has a solid depth of understanding with regard to copyright laws and artist/band agreements with managers, publishers, record labels, booking agents, etc. Successful completion of Law school and a state bar exam are requisites for being an entertainment attorney as well.

Business Manager
The business manager handles the financial affairs of musicians and entertainers. Most have degrees in business administration with concentration in accounting or management. The business manager should have knowledge of negotiating, accounting skills, investments, and a thorough knowledge of tax laws.

Music Supervisor (Music Licensing/Clearance)
A music supervisor may act as an A&R scout to find and license popular songs (as source music) for a film, TV soundtrack or other media format.

Music Business Consultant
The Music Business Consultant advises his/her clients, who are generally artists, music industry professionals or entrepreneurs, on music business strategy for their career or business.

Contractor (or Leader)
A contractor is responsible for hiring musicians or road crew staff and tending to all the necessary contract obligations through the appropriate union organizations. It is in the contractors best interest to procure the best talent possible while working within given budget guidelines.

Record Label Business Careers

Record Company Executive
This person would usually be employed at a record label and be a director, vice-president or president of any of the various departments or areas therein.

A&R Coordinator
The main duty of the Artist & Repertoire coordinator is to find talent for the company to sign. A&R Coordinators search for new talent by visiting clubs, going to showcases, listening to tapes and demo recordings, and watching videotapes of acts performing. He or she is often responsible for helping find songs for the artists signed to the record label.

A&R Administrator
The Artist & Repertoire Administrator works in the Artist & Repertoire Department along with the A & R coordinator. In large companies, the A&R administrators are responsible for clerical functions within the department, planning budgets for artists signed to the label, and working on the annual or semiannual budget for all artists' expenditures. They must analyze previous budgets, and prepare a budget proposal with projected cost estimates for recording current acts. They also monitor the budget in relation to the expenses throughout the year. Staying within a budget means that the A&R administrator is doing his or her job. The individual might work exclusively with one or two studios in order to build up a great volume of studio time. With this volume, the A&R administrator can often receive discounts on time. They also keep track of all money spent for recording studio time, session musicians, talent, and miscellaneous expenses.

Director of Publicity (or Public Relations Director)
The Director of Publicity supervises the record label publicity department and develops and oversees publicity campaigns. As director, this person oversees all the work that is performed by the staff of the department.

Publicist (or Staff Publicist, Press Agent)
A Publicist handles the publicity and press needs of acts signed to a label. Publicity helps the label sell records and produce income. A publicist must be able to get an artist's name in the news (magazines, music trades, TV, radio, etc.) as often as possible. This is accomplished by writing press releases, sending them to the correct media, talking to media about acts, and arranging interviews. The Publicist often arranges a series of print interviews, radio interviews, and TV appearances in conjunction with the release of a new record. Staff publicists spend a lot of time on the telephone, and are usually the first to send out promotional copies of new records and other important materials to the media. After a new record is released, a publicist may work with the A&R or promotional departments on a showcase booking of the group, and make arrangements for a press party.

Assistant Publicist
Assists the publicist, compiling press kits, writing press releases, and double-checking information for accuracy.

Artist Relations Representative (Artist Development Representative)
The Artist Relations Representative's responsibility is to represent the label's interest to the artist/band and the artist/band's interest to the label, and maintain proper communication, cooperation and mutual understanding between the two entities. This person's job is to make the artist feel appreciated by the label by thoughtful gestures such as buying flowers, writing letters, arranging promotional appointments that coincide with a new tour, album release or career milestone such as having a certified Gold or Platinum album. If there is a problem or concern that the label or artist have with the each other, the Artist Relations Representative will seek to mediate the situation. The Artist Relations Representative may also advise the artist on creative/performing related issues as well.

Promotional Staffer
The prime function of the promotional staffer is contacting radio station program directors to generate airplay for the label's records. Promotional staffers will work closely with program directors, music directors, and disc jockeys in these markets. They set up appointments with these station people and bring a number of the label's new album releases as well as a supply of promotional or press material relating to the artist or band. A promotional staffer may socialize frequently with program directors and music directors to help improve the chances that a radio station will add a song to its playlist. Promotion Staffers often take key radio station personnel out to lunch, dinner, or for drinks. They may also bring a program director to a club in order to listen to a group play a song(s) live and gauge audience response.

Advertising Account Executive
An Advertising Account Executive develops advertising campaigns for a record label's products. This person must be creative, aggressive, have good sales skills and may have advertising experience in another area, as well as a strong knowledge of music.

Salesperson (Record Label)
A record label salesperson establishes a relationship with various accounts to sell the company's products, and provide continuing service to the accounts. Accounts may include retail stores, rack jobbers and one-stops.

Regional Sales Manager
The regional sales manager is responsible for supervising the selling of the label's records and tapes to wholesalers and/or retail outlets in a specific region, creating sales campaigns and policies, and overseeing sales staff.

Marketing Representative
The marketing representative is responsible for overseeing specific markets, and reporting sales of records to radio stations and trade publications.

Field Merchandiser (or Merchandiser)
The field merchandiser is in charge of distributing and explaining merchandising promotions to record stores/departments in specific markets.

Consumer Researcher
A consumer researcher researches and analyzes consumer-buying practices for the record company. This person should have knowledge of research and analytical methods, the ability to write reports, and knowledge of the music business and record industry.

College Representative (or Campus Representative)
College Representatives are responsible for promoting a record label's products to students on campus or perhaps to music retailers. They are students working toward a degree who have an interest and/or skill in the music industry, and often times are a music business major in college.

Music Publishing Business Careers

Music Publisher
Music publishers are responsible for acquiring the copyrights to songs and publishing them. They may work for a very large music publishing company and perform one or two specific duties as a music publisher. They may work for a relatively small firm and fulfill a variety of functions. Many individuals in music publishing or songwriting become independent music publishers, running their own music-publishing firm. The goal of the music publisher is to find and acquire potential hit songs (copyrights) and songwriters, promote them for financial gain and serve as copyright administrator whereby tracking, licensing and payment collection can be done efficiently. A good music publisher has knowledge of all facets of the music business, an understanding of music industry dynamics, an ability to hear hit tunes, knowledge of copyrights laws, and contacts in the music business.

Song Plugger (Professional Manager)
Song-Pluggers or Professional Managers work for a music publisher, and perform the administrative functions of music publishers. They also work to add new possible hits to the publisher's catalog, and to find acts to record these songs, generating income for the publisher. Professional managers seek to have a song covered and recorded by as many artists as possible and attempt to make the tune a "standard." Song-Pluggers rely heavily on their contacts in the music business to accomplish their job, and must have great communication skills. The Song-Plugger may provide creative input into a band or artist's demo since they have a good understanding of what the industry is looking for.

Tour/Road Work Business Careers

Tour Coordinator
The tour coordinator is responsible for coordinating the many facets of an act's tour, including travel, lodging, arranging for services, and budgeting for expenses.

Road Manager
Road managers handle the problems that occur while an act is traveling. They supervise equipment, sound, and light personnel.

Tour Publicist
The tour publicist is responsible for publicizing an act's tour to both fans and the media through press releases, press conferences, and special promotions.

Advance Person
The advance person is responsible for arriving ahead of the act to prepare for a concert, and assisting the tour coordinator or road manager with details prior to the show.

Sound Technician
Sound technicians are responsible for high quality sound during the live performance. They usually arrive at the concert sight before the performers and are involved in unloading and setting up the equipment and instruments along with the road crew. The sound technician supervises the placement of equipment, and works with the talent during the sound check to achieve the best sound. They may even work a soundboard during the actual performance

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This page will help you to understand the Discography terms:

Acetate
When a record is made, making the acetate is the second point in the process (the first being a master tape recording). An acetate is a piece of metal, covered in a layer of acetone (therefore causing it to be heavier than a standard record). To make a record, an engineer places a blank acetate on a cutting lathe. The cutting lathe then proceeds to carve a groove into the acetate, based on the sound waves the acetate cutter is receiving from the sound source attached to it (a master tape). When finished, the acetate is then used to press up proper vinyl records. This is achieved by first coating the acetate with a layer of metal. This "metal mother" is then taken off the acetate (both 'a' and 'b' sides), and placed on a vinyl stamper (the machine that actually makers the record). These two metal mothers are then placed on the top and bottom of the machine. A "puck" (a lump of vinyl) is then placed on the vinyl stamper, with paper labels on top and bottom sides. When the vinyl stamper is activated, the metal mothers come down on both sides of the puck, squeezing the vinyl out to the edges. This is how a record is made.

Sometimes, acetates contains versions of songs that are not released. Also, for every record pressed, an acetate exists. An acetate label is usually the label of the manufacturer (not the record label, but the pressing plant used, like Sterling Sound, The Exchange, Bernie Grundman Mastering or Future Disc, for example). The label is usually either hand written, or is typed. They are rarely, if ever, professionally printed.

Catalog Number
Almost every release manufactured has an identifying number. That is the catalog number. As an example, let's use a US pressing of Violator. The release has a catalog number of 26081. To identify whether the release is a record, cassette or CD, the record company will add a suffix to the main catalog number ("-1" is vinyl, "-2" is CD, "-4" is cassette, "-7" is a 7 inch single, and "-0" is a 12" inch single). So, the cassette of the US Violator album has a catalog number of 26081-4. The UK Mute releases handle this the same way, except their base catalog number for that release is STUMM 64, and they use prefixes ("CD" is CD, "C" is cassette, et cetera). So, the Mute CD of Violator would be CD STUMM 64.

"CD-R", "CD-Recordable", "Recordable CD Promo" or "Reference CD"
Starting in the early 1990's, record companies started creating, or "burning", a small number of a release (single or album) on recordable CD's. These promotional items are usually burned in extremely low numbers (25-50), and are created for the following reasons:

a) An advance pressing ("test pressing") for the artist, management, or someone who works for them.
b) A small "additional servicing" to radio stations, after a record label has already distributed a promotional single.
c) "In-house" use by the record label employees.

In regards to item "b", these CD-R's are usually made after an initial "real" promotional single (silver) has been made. They are usually shipped out to "key" radio stations (the bigger, more important ones), and almost always contain mixes and songs not available anywhere else. They almost never contain a catalog number, and because of how common CD recording equipment, they are subject to being bootlegged.

A CD-R is a modern day equivalent of the old vinyl test pressing.

"Cut Out"
A "cut out" release is a commercial release, but it is defaced in one of the following ways:

a) A large hole punched out of the cover (usually over the UPC bar code)
b) A gold stamp on the front cover, stating that the item is for "promotional use only, and not for sale"
c) A "saw cut" on the edge of the cover
d) One of the corners of the cover cut off. These are usually commercial copies that are shipped to record retailers for in-store play, as well as radio stations and magazine reviewers. These pressings are not true promotional items in the eyes of collectors.

Longbox
When CD's were first released in the U.S., the record companies packaged the CD's in a long cardboard box, to prevent theft of the discs. Better theft protection phased out the longbox years ago, making them especially collectible to collectors, though the longbox has started making a appearance again in some American shops (CostCo, et cetera).

Mix Names
After some tracks, it might be noted if it is a 7" Version, Single Version, LP Version, et cetera. Some help on this is below:

•  7" Version, Single Version - Usually refers to the version released on a 7", Cassette or CD single.

•  LP Version, Album Version - The version used on the album. Sometimes, like on the album Speak & Spell, different countries will have different versions of the same tracks. So, saying "LP Version" can be misleading. Case in point - "Just Can't Get Enough", on the original UK pressing, is the actual album version. On the original US pressing, the label used the Schizo Mix, which is actually the 12" Version.

•  12" Mix, 12" Version", 12" Remix - This refers to the remix available on the 12", or CD single. Like the examples above, these terms are pretty much interchangeable. Sometimes, when there is only one 12" version available, the remix will be referred to as the 12" version, even though it might have it's own name (like the "Just Can't Get Enough" example above).

•  Multiple Names - When a song is first remixed, the remixer will write down on the tape the name he or she wants the mix to have on the tape submitted to the record comapny. From there, audio engineers, promotions people, the art department, sales, and many other branches have many opportunities to alter that name. This is how a track like the 1989 remix of "Everything Counts" can be called the "Bomb Beyond The Yalu" mix, the "Tim Simenon / Mark Saunders" mix, and the "Bomb The Bass" mix, yet all actually be the same mix!

Promotional Only Pressings
A promotional only release is a record solely designated to be sent to radio stations. They usually contain special edits for radio use, have a catalog number specific to it's release (usually with a P somewhere in it, like "PRO-A-xxxx" or P12BONGxx"), and they sometimes contain mixes that are not commercially available to the public. They can number anywhere from 1000 to 10,000 in number, depending on the country that presses them. Smaller countries have a smaller area to cover for promotion, hence they press less (sometimes in the hundreds).

Scribe
On vinyl pressing, in the run off groove (the area near the label), pressing plants will carve into the acetate (or "scribe") the catalog number of that particular release. This is done to identify the acetate, and will usually contain a long series of numbers (the main catalog number, as well as additional numbers and letters to signify A and B sides). Some pressing plants (mainly UK ones) have engineers who write little messages in the run off groove area.

Test Pressing (or White Label)
The first records pressed from the vinyl stamper are called test pressings. There are usually only between 5 and 30 test pressings made. These are made, and then sent to the record label and/or recording artist to "proof" the recording (approve that the pressing is satisfactory). Sometimes test pressings of a record are used in the actual promotion of a record. This happens when a record is really "hot", or is being "rush released" (a quick pressing, with little time from the initial test pressings to the final versions that are ready for the public). Usually though, test pressings are just that...tests. Most are disposed of after being pressed, therefore they are very rare. Just like acetates, there is a test pressing for EVERY record ever released (commercial, and promotional pressings). And just like acetates, the label is usually that of the pressing plant. The challenge for a collector is to obtain every test pressing and acetate ever made (a very unlikely happening).

White Label
See "Test Pressing" (they are technically the same thing).

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