Managers and Artists | ማኔጀሮች እና አርቲስቶች

Picture Courtesy of Yisakal Entertainment

There is a joke that goes something like this: “Hurray It’s Friday! Oh! wait! I’m a musician.” Which is to say the artist is always working. A typical day off for involves learning, practicing, writing, rehearsing, performing, recording, building a positive brand through interviews, making appearances, maintaining a strong social media presence by posting regular and relevant contents, interacting with fans online, reaching out to and collaborating with other artists in the entertainment industry and so on. In all this, playing music should be the easiest part of the craft as that comes naturally to the artists. And yet, the artist gets caught up in every other task but creating.

This is exactly where managers step in to make the artist’s life a little bit easier by freeing up some time. A music manager plays an essential part in shaping an artist’s career. The difference between a successful and a weak music manager can make or break the artist’s career. As the manager is the public representative of an artist, the relationship between them must be built on trust. A strong team mindset is the basis of any successful management deal. However, the lines can be easily blurred between the artist and their manager because of vague communication, lack of trust, and work discipline. And so, clear communication and definition of roles and responsibilities are key to making the most of the artist-manager relationship.

አንድ ቆየት ያለች ቀልድ አለች “ፈጥን በል! ዛሬ አርብ ነው! ውይ… ለካ ሙዚቀኛ ነኝ!” የምትል። ሙዚቃኛ ሁሌም ስራ ላይ ነው ለማለት ነው። የእረፍቱ ቀን እንኳን መማርን ፤ ልምምድን ፤ መፃፍን ፤ ጥናትን ፣ መቅዳትን ፤ መልካም ገፅታን በኢንተርቪው መገንባትን ፤ ጠቃሚ ነገሮችን በቋሚነት ማጋራትና የማህበራዊ ሚዲያ ቆይታን ማጠንከርን እና ከሌሎች አርቲስቶች ጋር ተገናንቶ አብሮ መስራትን ሊያካትት ይችላል። ሆኖም ግን አርቲስቱ ከፈጠራ ጋር ግንኙነት በሌለው ስራ ይጠመዳል።

ልክ እዚህ ጋር ነው ጊዜ በመፍጠር የአርቲስቱን ህይወት ቀለል ለማድረግ ማኔጀር የሚያስፈልገው። የሙዚቃ ማኔጀር አርቲስቱን በመቅረፅ ላይ ወሳኝ ሚና ይጫወታል። በስኬታማ እና በደካማ ማኔጀሮች መካከል ያለው ልዩነት አርስቱን ሊገነቡት ወይም ሊሰብሩት ይችላሉ። ማኔጀሩ የአርቲስቱ ምስል ከመሆኑ አንፃር በመሃላቸው ያለው ግንኙነት በመተማመን ላይ ሊመሰረት ይገባል። ለተሳካ የማኔጅመት ውል የቡድን አስተሳሰብ ወሳኝነት አለው። ነገር ግን መታመመን ፣ ግልፅነት እና ስነምግባር ከሌለ ግንኙነታቸው ሊደበዝዝ ይችላል። ስለዚህ ስራ እና ሃላፊነትን ጥርት አድርጎ መለየት እና ግልፅ የሆነ ንግግር ለሚኖራቸው ግንኙነት መዳበር ቁልፍ ነው።

Picture Courtesy of Yisakal Entertainment

Artists might not need a manager from the start as they have little to deal with. Yet, with more exposure, they need one to deal with all aspects of the marketing themselves as a brand on behalf of them as there is a difference between the musician’s and business person’s mindset. The manager will serve the artist as a voice representing them and looking out for their best interests.

The manager is responsible for contacting potential venues and promoters, marketing and social media, liaising with others, paperwork, managing accounts, networking, artistic direction, connecting with fans, negotiating contracts, collecting, and promotional appearances, among other things.

“The biggest challenge would be managing a number of artists at the same time and dividing my time effectively for all,” says Aziz Yimam.

አርቲስቶች ፤ ብዙም እንቅስቃሴ አይኖራቸውምና ከጅምሩ ማኔጀር ላያስፈልጋቸው ይችላል። ሆኖም ወደብርሃኑ በመጡ ቁጥር የአርቲስቱ እና የነጋዴው አስተሳሰብ አንድ አይሆንምና የሚኖረውን የንግድ ገበያ በራሳቸው መያዝ ይከብዳቸዋል። ማኔጀሩ ጥቅማቸውን በማስጠበቅ ዙሪያ ይወክላቸዋል።

ስራውን ማቅረቢያ ቦታ ማመቻቸት ፤ ፕሮሞተሮችን መነጋገር ፤ ማርኬቲንግ እና ማህበራዊ ሚዲያ ፤ ኔትወኪንግ ፤ ጥበባዊ አቅጣጫን ማስቀመጥ ፤ ከአድናቂዎቹ ጋር ማወዳጀት ፤ ውሎችን መደራደር ፤ ገቢውን መሰብሰብ እና የማስታወቂያ አቅርቦት ከማኔጀሩ ስራዎች ጥቂቶቹ ናቸው።

“ከምንም ነገር በላይ የሚከብደኝ በአንድ ጊዜ ብዙ አርቲስቶችን ማኔጅ ማድረግ እና ጊዜዬን ለሁሉም እኩል ማካፈል ነው” ይለናል አዚዝ ይማም።

Picture Courtesy of Yisakal Entertainment

“The biggest challenge while working with artists would be creating a bond, time management, discipline, and having them know and respect the audience,” says an industry insider who requested anonymity.

When it comes to artists, some refrain from getting managers claiming they interfere with the creative process and out of fear they would eventually give up their creative control. Some say managers are too expensive while others complain that managers don’t want to work with a struggling artist. These artists prefer self-managing where they can define their own look, stage style, get a hand in every step of the process, from choosing the releases, picking a release date, planning the promotion, and working on tours.
When signing, the artists are expected to present their managers background information and clear up any unclosed deals and contracts. Following that, the whole relationship is based on trust that the manager has their best interest at heart. And so, artists are expected to work closely with the managers and accepts deals they are presented with.

“ሙዚቀኛን ማኔጅ በማድረግ ስራ ውስጥ አስቸጋሪ የሚሆነው ነገር ፤ ቅንጀት ፣ የጊዜ አጠቃቀም ፣ ስነምግባር እና አድማጮቹን ምክበር እንዳለባት ማሳወቅ ናቸው” ስሙ እንዳይታወቅ የሚፈልግ የኢንዱስትሪው ውስጥ አዋቂ።

ወደ አርቲስቱ ስምንመጣ አንዳንዶች በፈጠራው ሂደት ላይ ጣልቃ ይገባሉ በሚል ፍራቻ እና በጊዜ ሂደት የፈጠራ ነፃነታችንን እንቀማለን በሚል ፍራቻ ማኔጀር አለመቅጠርን ይመርጣሉ። አንዳንድ ማኔጀሮች ውድ ከመሆናቸው በተጨማሪ ለስኬት ከሚታገለው ጀማሪ አርቲስት ጋር መስራት አይፈሉጉም ሲሉ ይደመጣል። እነዚህ አርቲስቶች ራሳቸውን ማኔጅ ማድረኝ መርጠው የራሳቸውን ስራ መወሰን ፤ የመድረክ አቀራረባቸውን መለየት ፤ ሁሉም ሂደት በእጃቸው ሆኖ ሙዚቃውን ከመልቀቅ ጀምሮ እስከሚለቀቅበት ቀን ድረስ ይወስናሉ።

ውል በሚፈርሙበት ወቅት ግን አርቲስቶች የማኔጀራቸውን የጀርባ መረጃ እንዲያቀርቡ እና የቀደሙ ክፍት ውሎች አለመኖራቸውን ማረጋገጥ ይጠብቅባቸዋል። እሱን ተክትሎ ሁሉም ግንኙነታቸው የሚወሰነው ማኔጀሩ ለጥቅሜ ይቆማል ብሎ አርቲስቱ በማመኑ ላይ ነው። ስለዚህ አርቲስቶች ማኔጀራቸው ጋር በቅርበት መስራት እና በሚቀርቡላቸው ውሎችን መጠቀም ይኖርባቸውል።

Picture Courtesy of Yisakal Entertainment

Even though managers don’t necessarily interfere with the creative process, they consult their artists on wise selection of lyrics, melody, producer under a team dedicated to this purpose.

“The artist’s identity should align with the norms of the country they reside in. In order to serve as public figures, we should have to respect the Ethiopian norms and culture and develop the character accordingly,” says Aziz.
Another factor affecting the relationship between managers and artists would be payment. Depending on the nature of the project, the manager might take 15% to as much as 50% in some cases. While some artists see this as too high, others simply agree as they don’t have the access and connection to help them make a breakthrough in the industry.

The industry needs both the artists with their unique voices and managers who have the eyes and ears to help them gain the recognition they deserve. It’s more than business even though the relationships they have are based on contracts. Each serves as the image of the other; whether to reflect success or failure.

ምንም እንኳን ማኔጀሮች በአርቲስቱ የፈጠራ ሂደት ላይ ጣልቃ ባይገቡም፤ጥሩ ግጥም፣ዜማ እና አቀናባሪ እንዲመርጥ ያማክሩታል።

“የአርቲስቱ ማንነት ከሚኖርበት ሃገር ባህል እና ወግ ጋር ሊጣጣም ይገባል። የህዝብ ተወካይ መሆን እንዲችል ኪትዮጵያ ባህል እና ወግ ጋር የነባበ ማነነትን ሊቀርፅ ይገባል።” ሲል ያስረዳል አዚዝ ይማም።

ሌላው በአሪቲስቱ እና በማኔጀሩ ያለው ግንኙነት አካል ደግሞ ክፍያ ነው። እንደ ፕሮጀክቱ ትልቀት ማኔጀሩ ከ15% በአንዳንድ ሁኔታዎች ደግሞ እስከ 50% ተከፋይ ሊሆን ይችላል። አንዳንድ አርቲስቶች ይህንን እንደተጋነነ ክፍያ ያዩታል። አንዳንዶች ደግሞ በኢንዲስትሪው ውስጥ ነጥረው ለማስውጣት የሚያስችል ግንኙነት እና ችሎታ የላቸውም ይላሉ።

ኢንደስትሪውም ሆነ አርቲስቱ እነሱ የሚገባቸውን እውቅና እና ጥቅም ማገኘት የሚያስችል አይንና ጆሮ ያላቸው ማኔጀሮችን ይፈልጋሉ። በውል ይያዝ እንጂ ነገሩ ከንግድም በላይ ነው። አንዱ የአንዱ ገፅታ ነው፤ነፀባራቁ የስኬት ወይም የውድቀት ይሁን እንጂ።

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on google
Google+
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on telegram
Telegram

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Location

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Our hours

10:00 AM – 22.00 PM
Monday – Sunday

Contact us

Phone: +251-921-296-276

              +251-913-172-187

Email: info@getzmag.com