In today’s blog, I would like to write about a subject that most of us in the entertainment business care very deeply about- that is Product Management. What most people in this business care about is how to prosper as a product manager.

To begin with, product managers supervise the marketing of the product to the consumer.  An effective product manager must coordinate the activities of everyone who is responsible for the product.  Like the artist manager’s role, you may have many professionals to organize to make sure the product reflects what the consumers relate to and will want to buy into.

Sawhney & Tyagi (2010) did research to find out what caused problems for product managers the most.  They developed a four-part questionnaire after interviewing 20 product managers.  There were 198 survey respondents who had an average of seven years experience, 40 % worked in business-to-business technology and nearly 23% in industrial products.  Most had advanced degrees. They hypothesized that organizational barriers, short-term focus and lack of education led to weakness in a product manager’s performance.  The other hypothesis was that organizational barriers affect roles, responsibilities and competencies.

They found that if product manager were given more authority this would increase their productivity. Sawhney & Tyagi (2010) found that most of the time they must master the art of influence without authority, which is hard to do

They also found that it is too hard for the product manager to get to the people or to the information they need to do an effective job because so many contacts are required with sales, advertising, finance, supply chain and executive management, etc. (Sawhney, 2010).

They found that the biggest problem was organizational structure.  If companies would clarify the role and empower the position, product managers would be more effective.  The study also found that the two most important skills are product knowledge and customer knowledge.

Reference:

Sawhney, M.S., & Tyagi, R. (2010).  How To Prosper As a Product Manager. Kellogg Insight: Online Magazine of Kellogg School of Management. Retrieved from http://Kinsight.Kellogg. Northwestern.edu. /article/how_to_prosper_as_a_product_manager

  The topic I will discuss will be artist management. The first blog that I came across, http://christiangospelmusic.blogspot.com/2012_04_01_archive.htmlArtist Garden Entertainment.  The owners, Keith and Diana Stancil, have 20 years experience in the gospel music industry also.  According to them, the two most important ingredients to successful management is experience and the other is connection to the industry.  The first question that arose in my mind was, if you are just getting started, like I am, how do you get the experience and the connections?  Getting a degree at Full Sail in Entertainment Business will definitely position you to get a job in the field, and with time, you will develop the connections.

Next, I kept searching for an article that would give me more insight on how to become the best gospel music manager and that is when I came across the blog by Monica A. Coates. Monica A. Coates, a 20-year veteran of the gospel music industry monicacoates.com/blog/entry/71(monicacoates.com/blog/entry/71) did an interview with Carla Williams, a 20-year veteran of the gospel music industry and manager of Kirk Franklin. 

In this interview, Monica asked Carla, “What exactly is the role of an artist manager in Gospel?

Carla’s answer was that the Gospel artist manager takes the creative product- the artist’s overall vision, current CD, book, etc. – and build’s a business plan for the artists.  Carla went on to say that there are two primary areas of the manager’s duties.  They are the strategic assessment and management.

Strategic assessment involves the constant state of developing and evaluating the artist’s core gifts and talents.  She said she is always planning and looking for creative outlets to grow and develop the artist.

Management involves daily directing the artist’s affairs in music and ministry, along with the overall business of interfacing with record companies, publishing representatives, attorneys and concert promoters.  She also assists with areas of their personal life, including talking to pastors and advisory board members, among

others.

What I found to be profound was that a gospel artist manager must be in tune with the artist’s spiritual goals, vision, and spiritual needs in order to be able to create a plan for that artist’s career. Once that plan is created, it is the manager’s job to ensure that every aspect of the artist’s career is in line with the spiritual goals, vision and spirit.  What this means to me is that the manager must have a passion for Christ and spiritually connected to the goals, needs, and vision of the artists he or she represents.

The manager’s job is comprehensive.  There is not one aspect of the artist’s business and ministry life that is not impacted by the manager.