Artist Management
Good management is artist infrastructure
Fair music deals are not only about protecting artists from bad contracts. They are also about making sure good managers can do sustainable, ethical work, and that fair labels invest in the people, systems and knowledge that help artists keep ownership for the long term.
MRUK position: We are pro-artist ownership, pro-good management and pro-fair label investment. We are against hidden conflicts, unclear commissions, broad signing authority and rights transfer disguised as support.
Independent advice
The artist's lawyer comes before the deal team
MRUK recommends that artists have an independent music lawyer for serious career decisions. A lawyer acting only for the artist is often the most important protective person in the artist's professional team, even before a manager becomes deeply involved.
That does not make lawyers anti-manager. It keeps the artist's own position clear. Independent legal advice helps the artist understand ownership, exclusivity, approval rights, conflicts, commission, recoupment, exit routes and what they are actually giving away.
Lawyer-first checks
- Choose a music lawyer who acts only for the artist, not the manager, label, publisher, distributor or connected company.
- Bring the lawyer in before rights move, exclusivity starts, commission terms are agreed or signing authority is granted.
- Use legal advice to separate supportive management from control over the artist's catalogue, approvals and future income.
- Treat the lawyer as the artist's clarity layer: the person protecting ownership, leverage, exit routes and informed consent.
Artists need protection
Artists should have independent legal advice, understand what they own, what they are granting, who can approve decisions and how income will be calculated before pressure arrives.
Good managers need economics
Serious management is labour, strategy, care, admin and commercial judgement. It has to be paid for in a way that is sustainable and transparent.
Fair labels should invest
Labels benefit from artists who are organised, advised and prepared. Fair label support should strengthen the artist team without compromising the manager's duty to the artist.
The argument
The artist rights conversation has to include good managers
It is easy to talk about music rights as if the only problem is artists being exploited by managers, labels or companies. That does happen, and artists need better tools to spot bad structures before they sign.
But the stronger argument is more balanced. Great managers are part of the artist's infrastructure. They organise pressure, protect time, ask better questions, coordinate professionals, translate the market and help artists build leverage before a deal is on the table.
If that work is underfunded, only artists with existing money or access get the benefit of strong management. If it is funded badly, conflicts appear. The opportunity is to build models where artists keep ownership, managers are paid fairly and labels invest in artist readiness without buying influence over the artist's advice.
A better question
Do the economics of the deal help the artist build a more durable career, or do they quietly transfer control away from the artist before the artist has enough information to understand the cost?
The 20% question
A percentage is not the whole story
A 20% management commission can be normal and fair where a manager is actively building value. It can also be unfair if it reaches too widely, lasts too long after termination, touches income the manager did not help create, or sits beside hidden conflicts.
The fair question is not only "what percentage?" It is "percentage of what, for how long, in exchange for what work, and with what safeguards?"
Commission questions to ask
- What income does the manager commission: gross, net, receipts, all entertainment income, or only income they help create?
- Does the commission apply to income that existed before the relationship?
- Does it apply to passive catalogue income, grants, damages, hardship funding, unrelated work or side projects?
- What happens after the management term ends? Is there a sunset clause that reduces over time?
- What expenses can be deducted or reimbursed before commission is calculated?
- Does the manager receive any label, publisher, distributor or services-company upside that the artist should know about?
Things to watch out for
Responsibility is part of artist protection
Artists deserve excellent advisers, but the strongest position is not blind reliance. The more an artist can verify the work around them, the easier it becomes to spot mistakes, ask better questions and feel calm in important relationships.
VAT and commission confusion
Even if a manager does not charge VAT on their own invoice, check whether they are calculating commission on VAT-inclusive gross receipts. VAT collected from a payer is usually money to account to HMRC, not artist earnings to be commissioned unless the contract clearly says so.
Read the VAT guideAdvisers are not a black box
Even with a lawyer, accountant or manager, artists should ask what was reviewed, filed, registered, chased or approved. Good advisers should make the work easier to understand, not impossible to question.
Find professional helpAccounts literacy is career protection
An artist who can read basic accounts, invoices, royalty statements and VAT language has more peace of mind in record deals, disputes and negotiations. It is difficult to learn, but the skill compounds.
Contracts should be explainable
Before signing, the artist should be able to explain ownership, term, territory, commission, approval rights, recoupment, exit routes and who has authority to act for them.
Use the signing checklistWhat managers build
Management is more than introductions
The best managers do not simply "get deals". They help artists become deal-ready. That work is often invisible until it is missing.
Fair label investment
Labels should invest in artist infrastructure, not hidden influence
Fair labels benefit from better-managed artists. An artist who understands rights, keeps clean records, has reliable advice and can make decisions calmly is easier to build with.
That means label-side investment in management capacity can be positive. The danger is when support becomes opaque, recoupable without clarity, or tied to pressure on the artist to accept a specific deal.
The standard should be simple: fund capacity, disclose conflicts, protect the artist's independent decision-making.
Transparent
The artist should know who is paying, what is being funded, whether the payment is recoupable and whether it affects advice.
Artist-safe
Support should not create pressure to sign a particular label, distributor, publisher or services deal if another route is better.
Capacity-building
The best investment strengthens planning, rights literacy, admin, data, accounting, release readiness and professional advice.
Conflict-controlled
Any manager-side benefit, referral payment, equity interest or related-company relationship should be disclosed in writing.
Safeguards
How to keep support artist-safe
Support is not the problem. Unclear support is the problem. A fair structure makes the money, authority and loyalties visible.
Practical test
Signs the model is healthier
MRUK view
Raise the standard without flattening the industry
Musicians Rights UK does not need to pretend every manager is a risk or every label is predatory. That is not true, and it would not help artists choose better teams.
The better standard is more useful: artists should keep ownership where possible, managers should be paid fairly for real work, and labels should invest in the infrastructure that helps artists make better decisions.
The future of artist rights is not only defensive. It is about building a healthier market where good support is easier to identify, fund and trust.
Before a management structure feels serious
Related MRUK guides
Bad Music Deals
Spot hidden control, all-income commissions, power of attorney and related-company conflicts.
360 Deals Explained
Understand broad participation deals and the difference between active value and passive income share.
Before Signing Checklist
Review rights, money, term, territory, recoupment, approval rights and exit routes.
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