At some point in your music career, you may find that self-managing isn’t an effective strategy for you anymore. If you haven’t been approached by a manager or management company, you will have to be proactive to secure a manager that’s right for you. This means finding, researching and reaching out to a relevant manager or management company.

The Groundwork

Before you reach out, make sure you’re ready for a manager. For many bands and artists, self-management can get you very far and put you in a better position to secure a management deal at the right time. When you do reach out, make sure you are contacting managers that want to work with your style, genre and type of band. Check out this guide to make sure your efforts won’t fall on deaf ears.

Managers are business people that need work and income, so they generally don’t make themselves difficult to find. However, just as a manager will want to appeal to an artist with their experience and catalogue, so must an artist put their best foot forward to appeal to a manager. Think of your music, band or project as a product and think about how it could be considered a worthy investment for a manager.

Management Contacts

When you are ready to get a manager on board, check out these contacts.

Amour Music
Genre: Singer-songwriters, Contemporary

Authority MGMT

Genre: Singer-songwriters, Pop and Dance

Defenders Entertainment

Genre: R&B, Rap, Drill, Reggae and Dance

dfjArtists

Genre: Jazz

Enzo Music Management

Genre: Rock, Metal

Incendia Music

Genre: Rock, Prog & Metal

Key Music Management

Genre: Alternative

Rock People Management

Genre: Rock, Blues

Young Guns

Genre: Classical, Jazz, Pop and Fusion

Management Contact Directories

Here are 5 directories for finding managers and management companies.

The Unsigned Guide

https://www.theunsignedguide.com

The Unsigned Guide is a UK music industry contacts directory. You can search for over 240 UK artist management companies and band managers. This features allows you to narrow your search by region and get contact information, websites, social media channel links and addresses.

Signing up to The Unsigned Guide costs £5.99 monthly, £10.99 quarterly or £32.99 annually. The great thing about The Unsigned Guide is that the directory doesn’t just cover management, but record labels, studio production, live venues, press, publishing, distribution, media, training, music law and more.

Music Week

https://www.musicweek.com

Music week has an annual directory to help music industry professionals connect with up-to-date contacts. With its finger on the pulse of the evolving nature of the music industry, Music Week brings out an updated directory every year.

You can purchase the directory for £50, or subscribe to the Music Week magazine through one of the 3 options and get the directory free of charge.

The Music Management Forum (MMF)
https://themmf.net

The MMF are the largest representative body of music management in the world. Their members are managers and management companies. Through their website, artists seeking management can submit their details to the members of the MMF using this form.

Association of Independent Music (AIM)
https://www.aim.org.uk

AIM is a not-for-profit representing UK independent music. Find opportunities, jobs and contacts through the website. The AIM friends directory allows you to search for industry professionals such as live music management.

Musicians’ Union (MU)
https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk

The MU provides advice, news and connecting facilities to its members. The members directory allows you to search for other members in your area.

Currently you can access the members directory for £1 for the first 6 months when you sign up to an annual membership. The MU also offers special rates for students.

There’s also the option to seek out a specific manager based on your genre and the bands you know using that manager. If there’s a band similar to yours who has good management behind them, reach out to the specific company or person. Being passionate about being part of their roster, because you appreciate what they already do and want to be a part of it - if coupled with some real growth and movement from your band - could be the personal touch that makes the difference.