For background, I will explain the purpose of an artist manager. An artist manager is the person behind the artist that helps manage their fast-moving career. They professionally represent and advise an artist to make the smartest business decisions. Artist managers work to get their artists to stand out enough to attract labels, music supervisors, playlisters, and others in all sectors of the music industry. They negotiate contracts, set up tours, make marketing plans, promote them, give budgets, and overall help develop the artist. Find more information here.
So if you think that’s cool, or maybe something you’d want to do, many artist management companies, like Olivia Management, have internships available to teach you just that. But what does that mean you’d be doing?
First, before you even land an internship, make sure you are bringing your class knowledge with you. Pay attention in your major classes because it matters more than you think. I use this knowledge almost every day in this internship. I have Belmont’s Music Business program to thank for helping me get prepared for this one!
Now you are prepared professionally and start to look for an artist management internship. What does that mean day-to-day? Like I said previously, this is a fast-paced career. Every day there are different deals to be made and different things to discover in the ever-changing music industry. New ideas come up, new people reach out, new songs are written, all just depending on how people are feeling. This is a pretty unpredictable day-to-day job. But that’s also what makes it so much fun.
Because of the unpredictability, there are sometimes gaps. You never really know what you’ll be working on that day until you step into the office. Sometimes it's a crazy busy day where you can barely get time to eat. Olivia Management specifically gives interns “semester-long projects” of their choosing to discover more about the music business. My semester-long projects are diving into artists’ Youtube and working on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the company, both things I’m interested in. Others are working on merchandising, social media, press releases, sponsorships, etc. It really depends on what interests you!