The Artist Manager

Artist management is the most frustrating job in show business, I know, I’ve done it.
Richard Schulenberg (Legal Aspects of the Music Industry)

In the last few years, and in conformity with the technological development in general, and the field of television and radio broadcast in specific, the world of art witnessed, whether in Lebanon or the Arab countries, a prosperity it hadn’t seen before. The number of artists and people working in the art sector increased noticeably to include producers, poets, composers, concert contractors, directors, distributors, and performing artists (singer, instrument player, etc).

This artistic prosperity in the Arab world had to be accompanied by a development in the legal framework governing the vocational relations between the Performer and the different operators in the Art field, thus attaining professionalism by organizing these relations in specialized contracts.

With this development, and the multiple occupations of the performing artist, (preparing, publishing and marketing songs, shooting video clips, participating in concerts, taking part in television and radio programs and advertising..) it was inevitable that professional artists would require the assistance of a person specialized in business management to aid them in organizing their artistic affairs.
The artist manager’s presence in the life of the professional performing artist has become an axiom, to the extent that some have begun wondering about the possibility of the artist’s professional development in the absence of his/her art manager especially since some artist managers’ fame has surpassed that of the artist’s.

The artist management profession is more than just an administrative profession, so the artist manager must boast many attributes as well as ample experience and culture (in different fields especially in art, music, marketing, management, and even finance and law…) Moreover, he must possess a distinguished artistic sense, since the artist manager can lead the artist to stardom as quickly as he can drive him to failure, especially that the artist management business doesn’t require any license or conditions that protect the artist’s rights, like those applied in some countries such as The United States Of America (State of California) which allows only the legally accredited to exercise artist business management.

Consequently, choosing an artist manager is considered one of the most important choices that the artist makes and which affects his artistic career positively or negatively, due to the significant role that the artist manager plays in planning the performing artist’s future on the long run.

However, it has become a trend, especially in the Arab world, for the artist to choose a member of the family to manage his/her business. The artist ‘Nawal al Zoghbi’ has, for instance, selected her husband to be her manager. Artist ‘Ragheb Alameh’ has accredited his brother to run his business, and so have ‘Rami Ayash’ and ‘Diana Haddad’.

But despite these successful examples, this is not the best or only way to choose an artist manager. A member of the family or a best friend may not necessarily be a suitable artist manager since the latter should possess certain qualifications and experience which qualify him/her to perform the many ramified tasks he is in charge of. Both the artists ‘Amr Diab’ and ‘Nancy Ajram’, for example, have chosen their respective artist managers from outside the family and have both achieved incomparable success within a very short period, as did the musician ‘Guy Manoukian’.

In our opinion, whether the artist manager is a member of the family or not, has no legal effect on the relation between the artist and the artist manager as long as this relation is clearly organized by a written contract that is signed by both parties, stating the rights and obligations of each, and establishing the authority of the manager to avoid any conflict between the two parties.

It is worth mentioning here that the artist/management contracts are not nominated contracts (i.e. formulated under private laws) and thus they remain governed, in addition to the contract, by the general texts as stipulated in the civil and commercial laws and those related to intellectual property in general.

The aim of this study is to give artists and artist managers a summary of what a signed contract should include, with the knowledge that one must engage the help of a lawyer specialized in intellectual property in general, and in artistic affairs in particular, to organize such a contract due to its importance and precision, despite the similarity of most art management contracts.

1- The difference between the Artist Manager and the Agent:

It is important to mention the confusion occurring in some art circles that don’t differentiate between the artist manager and the agent, bearing in mind that both are considered ‘Personal Representatives’ of the performing artist.

The agent specifically undertakes the acquirement of, and/or the offer, and/or the promise of obtaining, and/or the attempt of securing contracts, concerts, and job opportunities through which the artist carries out his performance. The agent’s job generally ends upon signing the contract between the performing artist and the third party (whether a physical or juristic person), with the knowledge that the agent’s name isn’t often mentioned in the contract, despite the fact that the agent has concluded negotiations on his/her terms to get the best possible conditions, taking into account that he/she gets a specific percentage (from 5% to 20% of the contract value) of the performing artist’s productivity, and thus the agent doesn’t have anything to do with the execution of the contract and its ramifications or with monitoring the performing artist’s work or anything of the sort.

As for the artist manager, he/she manages the performing artist’s daily matters that are related to the latter’s development, business management, and guidance, as we will mention in detail later on.
So, the agent and the artist manager have totally different roles from each other, but our Arab world still merges these two concepts whether theoretically or practically, because more often the performing artist deals with a single person who does the agent’s and the artist manager’s work at the same time.

2- The Contract duration:

One of the main points that the performing artist and his/her manager should agree on, is the term of the contract. The former usually wants a relatively short term contract so as to regain the freedom of contracting with another person if circumstances differ.

As for the latter, he wants a long term contract especially if the artist is a novice in the world of art, because the efforts that the artist manager exerts may not bear fruit except on the long run.

The period of the contract usually ranges between three and five years and sometimes might be up to ten years (‘Studio al-fann’ office, for example). It is advisable that the first contractual period is not less than two years since the artist manager’s attempts may not be fruitful during the first year because of the preliminary proceedings.

But one may insert an Escape Clause that allows contract termination before its expiry date if both parties did not reach a requested purpose (which is most probably determined as a specific sum resulting from business operations, or a specific number of songs, etc.) One may also add a clause that allows the implicit renewal of the contract for an additional period unless one of the parties expresses his desire for non-renewal.

3- Obligations of the artist manager:

The daily administrative aspect of the artist’s work falls upon the shoulders of the artist manager who seeks to develop and improve the artist’s performance, market his work and enhance his image. He also has to invest all of his experience, research, specialization, knowledge, art and advertising relations, and skills to convey a special and distinguished image of the artist and to develop and improve this image.

The artist manager has to negotiate on behalf of the artist all the artistic and advertising contracts in order to provide the best contractual conditions that are in the best interest of the artist and with the concern bestowed by a good father. Accordingly, he has to refuse any offer that may harm the performer’s artistic development. It is worth mentioning here the importance of choosing an appropriate artist manager who is ready to reject any lucrative offer in order to preserve the image and skill development of the artist he/she represents.

Furthermore, performing artists are mostly advised to give the artist manager a limited right of signature for short term contracts only (contracts related to concerts or advertisements etc.) As for contracts related, for example, to the concession of artistic rights or the exploitation right of the artist’s image for more than a year for instance, it is better that the performing artist himself/herself signs such contracts to protect his/her interests and preserve the artist manager’s liability.

Within the artist managers’ concerns regarding the artist’s activities, is selecting the people who accompany or/and are related to the performing artist’s work such as the sound engineer, the dancers, instrument players, etc.

The artist manager is directly responsible for selecting the lyrics and tunes from poets and composers and choosing the distributors, production companies and music publishers…

He also decides on the agents and concurs with them on all the conditions including commissions. It must be mentioned in the contract itself whether the manager, in addition to being a manager, holds another status of agent or producer, or not.

Furthermore, the artist manager is concerned with the non-artistic contracts that are included in the performing artist’s work, like selecting the lawyers that will represent the artist in courts, accountants and others… Moreover, what is said for profitable contracts can be said of all the concerts and festivals which are non-profit or for advertising features.

In general, the artist manager reviews all the artistic offers in the wide sense of the word, (concerts, festivals, plays, TV programs, movies, advertisements, commercial investment of the artist’s image etc) that is, everything related to the artist’s work and image.

At this point, one must emphasize on the following: the contract must include, frankly and plainly, any subject that may give rise to a difference in opinion between the performing artist and his/her manager concerning all matters, such as the choice of lyrics, tunes, album title, or production company etc.., the solution in this case can be either by taking the artist’s opinion into account or/and the manager’s opinion, depending on the different circumstances. But some managers refuse to sign a contract that doesn’t give them the full right to manage the business and make all the decisions despite the artist’s disapproval.

The artist manager must strive to provide the artist with the necessary and suitable publicity to market his/her artistic works, as well as take care of all the artist’s publicity campaigns and public relations, and supervise and develop the artist’s personal website, in addition to protecting the domain name( to prohibit exploitation by 3rd parties) .

Besides, he has to maintain the artist’s image by all means such as registering the artist’s name as a distinctive mark for commercial use.

What’s more, the artist manager, as the artist’s consultant, is obligated to offer the artist advice, and give an opinion in all kinds of artistic works and, accordingly, to aid the artist in choosing the most suitable literary, artistic and musical works, and all that relates to his professional life in general.

The artist manager must pay keen attention to the execution of the agreed upon artistic contracts, to ensure the artist’s best interests. For this purpose, he can take all the measures he considers suitable, including all court claims on all levels to ensure the sound execution of the contracts, or for demanding compensation upon non-execution, as well as referring to arbitration when deemed suitable.

The artist manager also collects all the payments resulting from the contracts and the artist’s work, and gives the latter his due financial rights from all the works in which he participated after deducting all the expenditures. It is also possible to add a clause in the contract that determines these expenses and their limits.

For this purpose, he has to keep accounts for the amounts resulting from performing the artist’s contracts, which he keeps at the disposal of the artist who has the right to examine and assess them whenever he/she wants.

It is also worth mentioning that some professional artist managers often don’t accompany the performing artist on his/her trips, or concerts, or shows, but are substituted by road managers who take care of visas, reservations, stage, lighting, sound engineering, etc.., provided that both manager and artist have previously agreed on the party bearing the fees. But this is not the principle, since many artist managers solely perform all the work, despite its ramifications.

The difficulty lurks in determining what is included in the artistic framework and what is considered personal in order to get a clear image of the extent of the possibility of the manager’s intervention in the artist’s personal life, especially with the great effect this has on the artist’s image in general.

4- The performing artist’s obligations:

The artist/manager contract is a mutual contract that situates rights and obligations on each of the parties.
In exchange for the manager’s efforts at executing the contract, it is possible that the artist might pledge to refrain from delegating another manager during the whole term of the contract, and abstain from granting anyone any authority that is deemed among the powers given to the manager, unless with the written approval of the latter.

It is worth noting that most management contracts are exclusive with respect to the artist, whereas the artist manager is entitled to manage other artists’ careers.

The artist commits to refusing any paid or free work that the manager might not approve of, but has the right to refuse any work that the manager agrees upon, provided that this refusal is justified. This justification is given by registered notice to the artist manager with a notification of receipt, or else the contract will be breached at the artist’s liability with all the consequences and responsibilities that this implies for the artist and the penal clause that he/she will have to pay in favor of the manager.

The artist confirms that the signing of contracts is within the power and responsibility of the art manager, but it is advisable that both parties agree that the artist sign the contract drafts or the original copies of long term contracts to ensure the artist’s open approval of their contents (like those related to copyrights, or the commercial investment of the artist’s image for a period exceeding 6 months or 1 year).

The artist alone bears all responsibility for the abstention of executing any contract, or obligation, or for the partial execution of the contract, or violation of the mentioned conditions, signed by the manager, unless abstention is the result of a force majeure or contingency circumstances that are out of his/her control or any other reason that is implemented by the applicable laws.

The artist has to submit all the offers he/she gets, no matter their source, to the manager who carries out the necessary negotiations, accepts or refuses them, and signs the final contracts related to those offers, keeping in mind that any agreement between the artist and a 3rd party, whether direct or indirect, written or oral, with or without payment, is considered void if not approved in writing by the manager, and this may lead to a breach in contract at the artist’s responsibility.

All the above mentioned can be disregarded or agreed against depending on the situation and people involved.

5- The organization of an official mandate:

The artist has become accustomed to organizing an official mandate for the artist manager in front of the public notary to enable the manager to start the execution of the obligations imposed upon him .This mandate must include all the powers granted to the manager by the contract and especially the negotiation and signature of all the contracts with production companies, concert organizers, marketing and advertising companies, as well as registering the distinctive marks, requesting and insisting on all the artist’s physical and moral rights, and collecting all due payments and fees for the artist’s benefit as a result of his artistic work, in one or several installments, whether cash or money transfer or checks, and depositing them in the artist’s bank accounts.

It is also recommended that the contract include a clause which states that in case the artist abusively discharges the manager before the termination of the contract, and with no reasonable justification, the artist is obliged to pay immediately, and without warning or any judicial request, the value of the penal clause agreed upon, as compensation to the manager for this abusiveness.

6- The geographical scope of the contract:

Most often, the contract signed between the artist and the artist manager gives effect in all parts of the world, unless both parties agree otherwise, then they both determine the regions and the countries in which the contract can be applied.

7- The artist manager’s income:

The artist manager usually gets, in return for the work and services that he offers, a percentage of the sums that the performing artist earns. This percentage varies with respect to the artist and the artist manager, and it usually ranges from 15% to 30% of the total amounts received, and it could reach 50% or 60% if the artist is a beginner in the art circles, and the art manager is experienced and famous.

It is worth mentioning here that the commission varies according to the performing artist, his/her fame and the amount of work achieved by the artist manager, as well as the conditions of the contract and its duration.
There is no relation whatsoever between the remuneration that the artist manager receives and that which the agent receives. But the contract should include the situation where the artist manager sometimes also holds the status of agent or/and producer and its result on the remuneration. In our opinion, both parties have to agree in this particular case that the percentages will have to increase.

It is worth mentioning that some artist managers stipulate getting a specific monthly salary in return for their work.

One should also pay attention not to confuse between a business management contract and a labor contract, due to the difference in their conditions and legal effects.

8- The penal clause:

The contract between the artist and the artist manager may state that any violation of the contract or any of its clauses will compel the violating party to pay a penalty, the amount of which is determined by the two parties and is not amendable, and considered an indemnity.

9- Contract annulment:

The contract signed between the artist and the artist manager may end upon expiry date if any of the parties express the desire not to renew it.

Also, specific circumstances may occur that lead to the breach of contract before the expiry date, presuming that these situations are stated in the contract, like the manager who lays his hands on the performing artist’s funds (theft, breach of trust), or when one of the parties attacks the other, physically (hit, harm..), and/or morally, (slander, deprecation, public insult),or cutting percentages without declaration, and/or non-achievement of contract targets such as attaining a specific number of concerts and/or publishing contracts and/or songs etc.

10- Conflict settlement:

Sometimes the contract may include a certain mechanism to settle conflicts such as determining the suitable courts for the settlement of any conflict that may arise between the two parties, or inserting an arbitration clause which states that settlement of conflicts is by arbitration and it may also establish the law applicable to these conflicts.

In addition to all the mentioned above, there are many points that should be included in the contract, such as not considering the artist manager an employee and thus subjecting him to the labor law, (with the awareness that the artist/manager relation may be a work relation and is thus subjected to the labor law and so the contract between them becomes just a labor contract).

Moreover, when the artist reaches fame, he may become in need of several artist managers to organize his work and concerts in different countries, so he may seek the help of an artist manager who organizes his concerts, and another to mind the marketing aspect, and a third to attend to the artist’s image and appearance on TV and radio etc, provided that no previously signed contract with any artist manager is violated at the cost of annulling the contract at his own liability, and paying the penal clause which is most probably very costly.

In the end, one must mention that this study is just a collection of assumptions and ideas, and the result of previous experience and consultations requested by several artists and artist managers, in the hope of contributing to the clarification of the contractual relation between the two. But the most important thing is that the artist and the artist manager have to take their time in studying these contracts before signing them, to protect their interests as well as their physical and moral rights, with the realization that that there are no previously prepared rules or models that can always be applied, since the conditions of the artist/manager contract differ according to the contracting people.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rany Sader & Nisrine Haddad – SADER & ASSOCIATES is the most specialized Intellectual Property law firm in Lebanon (IP Lebanon). It offers its clients advocacy, consultancy and litigation services on all IP and other related fields, especially: Copyright, Trademarks, Patent, Information technologies, Entertainment, Trademark cancellation cases, Media, Copyright and trademarks infringements, unfair competition,and most of all anti-counterfeiting matters.