At “The Blogging Boss”, Eric has a great suggestion for us all – even musicians: Talk to Your Manager.
About a month ago, my boss/manager and I drove to Atlanta together. Prior to our trip, I had been feeling out of focus, misunderstood and generally discontent. She had been traveling quite a bit and with the exception of staff meetings, it had been a long time since we had just talked.
Boy, did we need that time.
It didn’t strike me until I read Eric’s post though, how important the same thing is for musicians. I was immediately struck by the fact that I never, if ever, simply spent time with my employers when I played drums. I saw them at gigs, of course, but outside of that? Nothing.
What I SHOULD have done was periodically touched base with them as if they were my manager and I was their employee. Why? Because I WAS!
Eric suggests these topics:
1) Your performance
2) Your growth opportunities
3) Your goals
4) Your job satisfaction
5) Your concerns
As a self-employed musician, I suggest you focus on number 1 with a massive emphasis on what THEIR goals are and how you are supporting them. Remember, you are almost always supporting the business of another person whether that be a club owner, promoter, publisher, producer or another musician.
Find out what they want and make sure you’re doing a good job helping them get it – as if your job depended on it.
