How do I get a music manager?

Build something that is already moving without one: real listeners, a live show, songs people share. Then find managers who have worked with artists like you, and send a short note with one number that is growing and one link. Managers say yes to momentum, not to potential.

Should I pay someone to be my manager?

No. A manager is paid a percentage of what the artist earns, usually 15 to 20 percent in general industry practice. Someone who asks for a monthly fee up front to manage you is selling a service, not management.

When is the right time to look for a manager?

When the work of running your career is taking time away from making music, and there is real money or real opportunity on the table that needs someone to negotiate it. Before that, a manager has nothing to manage.

How to get a music manager, from the side of the inbox that says yes

Most artists try to get a manager too early. They want one because they think a manager is the thing that makes a career start. In my experience it works the other way. The career starts, and then a manager shows up because there is now something to run.

I get pitched every week. Most of it I cannot take on, and most of it is not bad music. It is music without anything moving around it yet. So here is what I would tell an artist who wants a manager, from the person reading the email.

What has to be true first

A manager takes a percentage of what you earn. If you earn very little, the manager earns very little, and a working manager cannot give real hours to that. This is not personal. It is the math of the job.

So before you look, check three things.

Something is growing without paid help. Streams, followers, ticket sales, saves. It does not have to be big. It has to be moving, and it has to be real. A bought audience shows up in the data fast, and any manager worth having will see it.
You have songs, not one song. One song can get attention. A catalog, or at least a clear next three releases, is what a manager can build a plan around.
You are already doing the work. Releasing on a schedule, playing shows, posting, answering your own emails. A manager multiplies effort. They cannot replace it.

If those three are true, you are ready to look. If not, the most useful thing you can do is keep building until they are. I wrote more about [what the job actually is](/blog/what-a-music-manager-does/) if you want to know what you are asking someone to take on.

Find the right kind of manager

The best manager for you is not the most famous one. It is the one who has done the thing you need done, with an artist like you.

A manager who broke a country act knows country radio. A manager who built a rapper knows the playlist editors, the DJs and the promoters in that world. My lane is international artists in the US market. I was the US managing partner for BTS from 2016 to 2018, working alongside Big Hit Entertainment, and I have managed Monsta X since 2018. If you are a K-pop group or an artist from outside the US trying to work in America, that is the record that matters to you. If you are a folk singer in Ohio, it is not.

To find managers in your lane:

Look at artists one or two levels above you who sound like you. Find out who manages them. Their socials, their press releases and trade coverage usually name the manager.
Read the trades. Billboard, Music Business Worldwide and Music Week report signings and management moves.
Ask the people already around you. Your lawyer, your producer, your booking agent if you have one. Introductions from people a manager trusts get read first.

Do not confuse managers with agents. CAA, WME and UTA are booking agencies. They book shows. [A manager is a different job](/blog/music-manager-vs-booking-agency/), and the manager is usually the one who brings in the agent.

What to send

Keep it short. I read the first three lines and decide whether to keep going.

Who you are, in one sentence. Where you are from, what you make.
One number that is moving, with a time frame. "Monthly listeners went from 8,000 to 40,000 since June." That sentence does more than a page of biography.
One link. The best song, or your streaming profile. Not a folder of twenty files.

That is it. No deck, no long story, no list of every show you have played. If the number is real and the song is good, the manager will ask for more.

What gets ignored

Emails that start with a long biography.
Mass emails with fifty managers in the "to" line.
Attachments, especially large audio files.
"I just need someone to believe in me." Belief is not a plan.
Asking the manager to tell you what you should do next before they have heard anything.
Following up every two days. Once after a week or two is fine. Then move on.

What happens if they say yes

Usually a call first. A good manager will ask about your goals, your money, your current team and what you are willing to do. Then a trial period or a short first term is common, so both sides can see if it works.

Before you sign anything, have your own music lawyer read the agreement. Not the manager's lawyer. Yours. Commission rate, term, sunset clause, what income is commissionable and how you can get out are all things you should understand before you sign, not after.

The short version

You get a manager by building something a manager can see. Then you pick the one whose record matches what you need, and you send them three lines and a link. The artists I have said yes to did not convince me with words. The number had already convinced me before I finished reading.

Questions about US management for international artists can go through [the contact page](/contact).

Eshy Gazit is a US music manager for international artists. US managing partner for BTS 2016 to 2018, manager of Monsta X since 2018, partner at Maverick Management, founder of EG Management, Intertwine Records and LUSIVEX. Billboard International Power Player 2021 and 2022. Contact.