Oh, Factory Records. Oh, how I loved (love) thee. I don't even care that you lost money on every copy of Blue Monday sold and that you let The Happy Mondays blow $500K recording an album in Barbados. Just being Factory makes it all OK. Learn more.

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Pronounced nine-nine, not ninety-nine, this story has punk, no wave, record stores and sampling. If you need more in a story than that, well, you're just being greedy. 99 kind of ended badly for all involved, and may have even been involved in the collapse of Sugarhill Records (depending on which story of that demise you believe), but its influence is undeniable. Check it out.

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Hey, guess what! It's Record Label Profile Week! I know, I know, it's already Tuesday and this is the first you've heard about this record label homage week thing. Fair enough, but go with me here. Oh yes, I also know that record labels are oh so passé these days, but A) I don't believe that and B) I can't think of anything more inspirational as a music fan or music industry person than a good old story of a good old influential indie label. Oh, and C) these stories are also often instructive.

Oh yes, I said "inspirational" AND "instructive".

OK, so we're all on board? Good. Let's get this thing started with this 53rd and 3rd profile. Wow, I'm so excited. Seriously, you have no idea how much I love this stuff. Anywho...

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As promised, we have a guest blogger on deck today talking about the all important task of putting together your team. This blog is part two of a three part series by Rick Goetz on finding strategic partners for your music career. The first part, which focuses on hiring an entertainment lawyer, is on MusicianWages.com.  The third part about finding a booking agent will appear on Rick's blog MusicianCoaching.com in the next few weeks.  This article is about how to attract an accomplished music manager. 

In part one of this series I described my background as an A&R executive for major record labels like Atlantic and Elektra.  What I didn't mention was, my initial start in the music business was playing bass and managing a band I was in during the early 1990s.   Back then I would often attend the exact types of conferences and panels as an aspiring musician on which I would later be asked to speak on as an industry expert.  Ironically I learned more about how to build a following for a band because of my experiences playing in, managing and booking my own projects than I ever did in the role of a so-called expert.  No matter where the conference was or what they called the panel it was always focused on some aspect of how to make it in the music industry.

I never wanted to manage bands, but when the first "real" band I was a part of was just starting out, no one wanted the job.  I wound up taking over the management responsibilities for this project (adding insult to injury, it was an eight piece group) because I became frustrated when numerous missed opportunities fell through because we didn't have a clear-cut understanding of who was responsible for what in our business.  It was that frustration and the feeling that I was less talented than many of the other band members that led me to compensate and take up the role of band manager.   It's funny when I think about it now, because it was that split-second decision to manage that project at age nineteen that would completely change the course of my life; and this decision was also what would later lead me to work in the industry. But I digress... 

When I ask someone - "How is your music going?" I am dismayed by the pure volume of people who say something to the effect of "It's good... I am really just waiting to get a good manager." I think the majority of people who say they need management have a misconception of what an artist manager can really do and in most cases have not even come close to exhausting all of the possibilities for marketing and promoting themselves.  The questions I think that all artists have to ask themselves today are "Do I have a project that needs management?" and "If I were a music manager,  why would I want to manage me?"

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