An artist manager is a professional who represents and guides the career of an artist. Their main responsibility is to help a musician achieve their goals by providing them with the necessary resources, knowledge, and support they need. An artist manager typically has extensive experience in the music industry and is well-connected with industry insiders, such as record label executives, producers, and promoters. The experience of an artist manager can vary widely depending on their background, the type of artist they represent, and the stage of the artist’s career. However, there are some common experiences that many artist managers share.
An artist manager is responsible for handling the business affairs of an artist, such as managing their career, negotiating contracts, booking shows, and promoting their work. The specific duties of an artist manager can vary depending on the needs and goals of the artist, but some common responsibilities include:
- Career management: Artist managers help to guide the career of the artist by developing long-term strategies and goals. They may help the artist to plan their releases, tours, and promotional activities.
- Contract negotiation: Artist managers are responsible for negotiating deals on behalf of the artist. This may include negotiating record deals, publishing deals, and licensing agreements.
- Booking shows: Artist managers work to secure bookings for the artist, including live performances, interviews, and appearances. They may also coordinate travel and logistics for the artist.
- Promoting the artist: Artist managers work to promote the artist’s work, including their music, merchandise, and image. They may work with publicists and marketing teams to develop and execute promotional campaigns.
- Financial management: Artist managers are responsible for managing the artist’s finances, including budgeting, accounting, and tax planning. They may also help the artist to secure financing for projects.
- Communication: Artist managers act as a liaison between the artist and other industry professionals, such as record labels, agents, and promoters. They may also communicate with fans and the media on behalf of the artist.
One of the most important experiences an artist manager can have is a deep understanding of the music industry. This includes knowledge of the business side of music, such as contracts, royalties, and marketing strategies, as well as an understanding of musical trends, styles, and production techniques. In addition, an artist manager should be skilled at communication, negotiation, and problem-solving. They must be able to effectively communicate with their artist, as well as with industry professionals, in order to ensure that their artist’s career is advancing in the right direction. They also need to be able to negotiate on behalf of their artist in order to secure the best deals and opportunities, and to solve problems as they arise, such as scheduling conflicts, contractual disputes, or creative differences. In summary, an artist manager plays a critical role in the success of an artist’s career by handling the business aspects of their work so that the artist can focus on their creative output.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, artist manager Sabrina Li grew up around doctors, lawyers, and the like. She wasn’t around any notable music scene and instead was in one of the biggest international financial districts in the world. At 15 years old, Sabrina fell in love with all things Hip-Hop and R&B, scouring the credits on CDs and vinyl for any info she could find on artists and producers, spending her days browsing SoundCloud and discovering new independent production collectives and communities like Soulection. Attending University in the UK, Sabrina surrounded herself with more folks with similar musical affinities, inspiring her to be in the music industry more than ever. Finally, in 2020, she saved every penny to make the big move to LA. As we all know, this was the height of the pandemic and led her to move back to the UK. Fueled by her deep appreciation for one of her favorite R&B artists Emmavie, Sabrina offered to support their career as a musician. The next thing you know, in a week she was on that same artist’s management team. Sabrina then began working closely with artists like Devin Tracy, and Anjali Taneja and connecting with more Soulection-associated artists like ROMderful, IAMNOBODI, and more.
With more industry experience under her belt, Sabrina moved back to LA. After landing in the city of angels, she was hired as a manager for Multi-Grammy-Winning Producer/Artist Frank Dukes (who worked with Camila Cabello, Frank Ocean, Post Malone, J.Cole, and more) overseeing his debut album. Gaining even more experience, she assisted on a 12-city US tour for Grammy-nominated R&B artist Kenyon Dixon, joined the management team of 8X platinum recording artist Che Ecru (who Drake and Chris Brown have sampled), Baby Keem, and has amassed over 300M streams across platforms as well as supporting the management team of 11 Time Grammy Nominated R&B artist Lucky Daye.
Sabrina’s Notable Accomplishments:
- Joined Emmavie’s management team and worked on the release of ‘What’s a Diamond to a Baby,’ which amassed over 2.1 million streams
- Work with 11 Time Grammy Nominated R&B Artist Lucky Daye’s Management Team
- Joined Devin Tracy’s management team and oversaw their first EP release ‘don’t take it personal’, coordinated his performance with Afropunk, facilitated his opening up for serpentwithfeet, and synced placements on ‘Dear White People’ and ‘‘Run The World’
- Assisted in overseeing and executing Kenyon Dixon’s 12-city US tour
- Joined 8X Platinum Che Ecru’s team
- Oversaw Multi-Grammy Winning Producer Frank Dukes on the release of debut album ‘Way of Ging’ (Frank Dukes worked with J. Cole, Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and more)
Sabrina now focuses on artist management and works on artist releases as a Senior Product Manager at Too Lost, a music distribution service. To contact her, reach out to her on IG and LinkedIn, as well as email.
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