Managers

Through the use of my Pageflakes, I came across a blogger by the name of Jeff Prillaman who expressed his feelings about the classical musicians in society today and what they need to do in order to be "successful."His post began after he read an article in the New York Times entitled The Manager as Double Agent. The article critiques the launch of the Universal Music Artist Agency, a sub-section of the Universal Music Group, which now offers some of the best artists in the world (including Renee Fleming) for galas, parties, pretty much any event the client is hosting.

I love this blog and article because it concludes that managers are working for both sides of the table in a sense. On one hand, they are trying to help the artist, but on the other, they are trying to create the best deal for the labels. Artists in the music industry, whether they are classical musicians or not, have very little say when it comes to creating a contract with a record company. Most artists have little to no creative input whatsoever. This blog is also very relative because it is written by someone who spent a large portion of their life in the music industry as a classically trained singer. Jeff went to several music schools in his career, including Julliard, and went on to perform in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world. Though he is no longer a full time professional performer, he still demonstrates a passion through music.

Some might say that having a manager to "negociate" for you almost doesn't make sense because they are not completely looking out for the artist. In the end, however, most feel that an artist still needs someone there to protect the few rights they have.