The roles of the most important people you will work with:
The Manager
When building your music team, the first person to consider is normally a manager or a lawyer.
At the beginning of your career your manager is likely to be a close friend or relative with a lot of enthusiasm for your music. This has its benefits, however the larger record labels generally prefer to work with people they know. This is where an industry lawyer can be a great asset to you. They can get your music heard a lot faster and by more of the important people.
However your manager is the most important person in your professional team. They will help you to make some of the biggest decisions of your career and do their best to keep you on the right lines.
They will assist you with the creative process, helping you to decide which songs to record and how they should be produced, hiring the right musicians when needed and finding the right producers, studios etc.
They will help to assemble your professional team, meeting with the lawyers, agents and business managers etc. They will introduce them to you and most importantly oversee all of their work.
They will be a key part to the publicity of your music and building up the hype. They will make sure you get the most out of your record label and take care of any endorsements and charitable requests.
Your manager will be a huge part of your concert tours, managing your road crews, taking care of the budgets and making sure everything goes according to plan, often easier said then done.
Managers typically get 15% to 20% of your gross earnings.
The Lawyer or Solicitor (UK)
The role of the music industry lawyer has changed over the years. They now do a lot more than just covering the legal issues.
They are involved in all areas of the industry and are a big part of all the deals that occur. This means that they can be a great link to finding the right label or manager for you.
Remember, the lawyers work for you, everyone in the industry wants to keep the lawyers happy so that they don't miss out on a deal.
Because lawyers handle a lot of clients, they get to see a lot of the up and coming artists which keeps them in tune with the industry.
They will simplify any legal contracts for you and make sure you understand everything that you are signing. They are also paid to be there if anything goes wrong.
The first consultation with a lawyer is normally free so take your time in finding the right one for you. Fees after that usually range from £80 to £500 per hour, with the average being around £100- £300.
The Producer
The role of the producer is to help the artist get the perfect sound for their music. This is massively important in the creation of a song let alone a whole album. You will need to work closely with the producer during the whole recording process.
They will help with the arrangement of the song, the sound of each of the instruments, vocals and anything else that they feel is required to make the song a hit.
It is important to find the right producer for your music as this can often determine the success of the album or EP etc.
Part of the producers role is often to book the studio along with the engineers to assist in the recording of your album.
Producers get their own royalties, normally for each record sold. Furthermore recording costs are not taken from these royalties either, they are recouped from the artists royalties.
Agents
Agents in the music business are mainly involved in booking the artists for live personal appearances or gigs. They are sometimes involved in commercials and television appearances too. They normally charge around 10% of the earnings of these events, however this is always negotiable, along with their term of service to you.
Agents usually deal directly with your personal manager, although you should take some take to pick the right one for you because they can be quite influential to your music.