Vikki:

Those are good points. I think artist management (or writer management) is not a lot different from other kinds of management--it requires much the same skillset. If you can do labor negotiations with the Teamsters Union, and get away with not only your shirt intact, but pieces of the other guy's shirt, too, you probably have the ability to go head-to-head with The Labels and get something out of it for me.

And--having done the Teamsters thing myself--I have thought about whether that kind of thing might be a niche for me in The Music Biz (even though all I really want to do is write stuff). However, there's an additional consideration that enters into the picture, and that's familiarity with the territory. I regularly tell my collective bosses on the City Council that what's important is not *what* I know, but *whom* I know; that's how come I can Do Stuff that (presumably) justifies my (presumably) high salary.

So when I'm evaluating potential managers, or representers, or whatever they call themselves, I'm asking not only how good t6heir people skills are, but whom they know, and whom they do business with. (And no, Mr. Nashville here doesn't rate very high as far as I'm concerned.) I'm obviously not ready yet to do anything like that, but I'm keeping my eyes and ears open so I'll know where to jump when the time comes.

Joe
www.soundclick.com/bands/7/joewrabek_music.htm

www.soundclick.com/joewrabek
www.soundclick.com/deathgrass
www.soundclick.com/wrabeksworksinprogress
The Writer's Blog: http://nakedspacehamsters.blogspot.com