Welcome to Music Business Newsletter w/ Matthew Rix!
Sept. 21, 2026

Signed to a Major Label... Why Can't I Find a Manager? || Music Business Newsletter with Matthew Rix

Signed to a Major Label... Why Can't I Find a Manager? || Music Business Newsletter with Matthew Rix
Signed to a Major Label... Why Can't I Find a Manager? || Music Business Newsletter with Matthew Rix
Music Business Newsletter w/ Matthew Rix
Signed to a Major Label... Why Can't I Find a Manager? || Music Business Newsletter with Matthew Rix

A major label deal should unlock a team, not leave you drowning in bio requests, approvals, travel, and questionable manager pitches.
In this episode of the Music Business Newsletter, Matthew Rix breaks down a listener’s question about finding legitimate music management after signing with a major record label. The artist has released five singles, won a Nashville music award, and gained real momentum but is overwhelmed by the business side of their career.
Matthew explains how artists can vet a music manager, identify red flags, and avoid signing bad management agreements. He discusses inflated industry connections, fake client rosters, upfront monthly fees, commission percentages, arena-tour promises, and the difference between a manager who wants to build a career and someone who wants a share of your income.
You’ll learn:
- How to vet a music manager before signing a contract
- Warning signs of fake or inexperienced management companies
- Why upfront monthly management fees can be a major red flag
- How music management commissions typically work
- What a major record label should already be helping with
- The roles of managers, publicists, business managers, booking agents, and lawyers
- Why artists should consult their label team and entertainment attorney
- How to protect yourself from misleading industry claims
If you’re an independent artist, major-label artist, songwriter, musician, or manager building a music career, this episode offers practical advice for finding the right team and avoiding costly mistakes.
Submit your music industry question at https://MatthewRix.com.
#MusicBusiness #MusicIndustry #MusicManager #MusicManagement #MusicCareer #IndependentArtist #RecordLabel #MajorLabel #MusicBusinessAdvice #ArtistManagement #MusicIndustryTips #MusicianTips #MusicCareerAdvice #MusicMarketing #EntertainmentIndustry #SongwriterTips #NashvilleMusic #MusicContract #MusicLaw #MusicArtists


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WEBVTT

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Hey, this is Matthew Ricks, and today on the Music

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Business Newsletter, we're going to label this email, I'm signed

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to a major label, why can't I find a legit manager?

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But before we dive into that, if you have a

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question on the music industry that you'd like for me

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to answer, simply go to MatthewRicks.com, click submit your question,

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give me as many details as possible, and we will

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answer the question here on the channel. Now for the email.

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He says, hey, Matthew, I have been listening to the

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Matrix Minute since 2018. So eight years going on nine.

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Thank you. Thank you. Brand new Matrix Minute's coming out

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this month. He says, and I have a management question

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that I honestly thought would be a much easier problem

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to solve once I got to where I'm at. He says,

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I'm signed to a major record label. I'm not going

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to say which one because I don't want this getting

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back to anybody and making it look like I'm complaining

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about my label because I'm absolutely not. Well, that's good.

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I guess he says, I actually love my record label.

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They've done what they told me they were going to do.

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My music has major distribution. I've released five singles with

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them since the end of last year. Five singles. Jeez.

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On a major in nine months. Okay. I don't. Okay. There, there's, there's,

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there's some things in this email that as the kids

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like to say, Could be a cap. But anyways. He says,

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I've gotten opportunities that I absolutely wasn't getting when I

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was doing everything independently. Well, yeah, that is what happens

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when you sign to a label. They should be able

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to get you opportunities that you couldn't get on your own.

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He says, I also won a pretty big music award

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in Nashville earlier this year, which was honestly surreal. So

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you've released five singles in Nashville. Nine months, ten months,

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we'll give you, he said, the end of last year.

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And you won an award in Nashville earlier this year.

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So your first of five singles was out for like

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a month and you won an award? Good for you.

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He says, so things are happening. I'm not famous or anything,

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but you just won an award. He says, I'm not

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trying to make it sound like I'm some huge artist

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because I'm not. But I'm finally at the point where

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this feels like an actual career instead of me just

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trying to convince everybody around me that someday it might

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become one. Well, that's, I mean, if you're making money

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and people are buying into what you're doing, good for you.

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He says, here's my problem. I don't have a manager.

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I've been managing myself this entire time and I can't

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do it anymore. Or maybe I can do it. But

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I'm realizing that I'm spending so much time doing the

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business that I'm barely being an artist anymore. Okay. He

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says my phone starts going off at like 8 in

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the morning. Shocked. Emails from the label. Someone needs artwork.

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Someone needs a bio. Someone wants to know my availability.

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And then someone needs something approved. Then I'm talking to

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the producer. Then I'm trying to figure out travel. Then

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somebody wants content. Then I'm following up on an interview.

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Then I'm trying to make sure everybody got paid for something.

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Then suddenly it's 7 PM at night and I haven't

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written a song practice or done anything creative all day.

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I know that's a good problem to have, but it's

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still a problem. Um, okay. So I would really like

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to know the email. We can't even figure out who

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it is from the email. I think he created an

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email address to send this to me. Um, So, phone

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starts going off at 8 a.m. I mean, for an

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artist in Nashville, I mean, yeah, that's, you guys, Nashville

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artists are special. I think Nashville artists are worse than L.A. artists.

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They all like to wake up at like 1. Let's

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go get breakfast at 1 p.m. Emails from the label,

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I think you're going to get, you would probably be

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getting emails from the label regardless if you had a manager.

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Someone needs artwork. You don't tell us who that someone is.

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Is it the label for your next single? I would

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think that the major label you're with would have somebody

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doing the artwork. A lot of majors have an artwork department.

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Someone needs a bio. Isn't there a press person at

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the major label who can send them the bio? No.

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Someone wants to know my availability. Someone needs something approved.

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I mean, something approved. A lot of times that's going

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to be you anyways. Then I'm talking to the producer.

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Then I'm trying to figure out travel. So, if you're

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doing shows, why don't you, and you've won an award,

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and you're making money, why don't you have a road manager?

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Someone who handles your travel. Then somebody wants content. Well,

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a manager ain't going to be able to help you

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with your content. Hey, this is Bob's manager. Ain't going

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to happen. Then I'm following up on an interview. I

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would think that would go down the category of the

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person who wants to buy out. That should be our

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publicist or PR department at the major record label. Then

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you're trying to make sure everybody got paid for something.

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So if you're with a major and you've had five

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singles already, And you got shows. Why don't you have

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a business manager? Especially in Nashville. There's like a ton

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of great ones in Nashville. Um, the business manager should

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be handling everybody getting paid. And then it's suddenly 7 p.m.

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at night and I haven't written a song, practiced or

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done anything. I mean, dude, you describe your day. I

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know artists who are big, like massive, who don't have

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a day like this or their managers. Um, Because I

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don't know, I just don't know why in some of

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this artwork, bios, interview requests, all that, why your PR

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department isn't handling that. I mean, especially for a major,

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they should be on it. Like, you've released five singles

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in nine months with a major and they're just kind

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of letting anybody be able to contact you for interviews. Like,

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that's weird. He says the label doesn't provide management. No,

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they shouldn't. And you don't want them to. He says,

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they've been pretty clear that it's my responsibility to build

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my own team. Yes and no. Because when I was

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working at labels, every recording contract basically has, we don't

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like your manager, we can get rid of him. Because

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like if he's, you know, oh, my boy's going to

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manage me. He's going to run interference or. Just be

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a train wreck to work with. The label's not going

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to put up with that. Because at the end of

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the day, your manager doesn't own you. Your booking agent

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doesn't own you. Your publishing doesn't own you. Your record

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label does, especially a major. He says, so I've started

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taking meetings, and that's where things have gotten weird. I've

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had several managers reach out to me since signing. Every

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single one starts the same way. They tell me how

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much they love the music. They've been watching what I'm doing.

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They think I'm positioned perfectly. They have relationships everywhere. They

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start dropping names. One guy told me he had direct

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relationships with basically every major promoter in America. Another one

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told me he could have me opening an arena tour

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within six months. Another manager wanted me to sign an

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agreement before we'd even had our second phone call. That

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one wanted 20% of basically everything I make. Okay, so

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you get signed to a major label, apparently. You win

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an award in Nashville, so probably a songwriting award, I

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would think. The label doesn't have anybody they're recommending. That

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doesn't make any sense at all. Because when you sign

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an artist to a deal, what you would do, especially

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if they don't have management or you want to get

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rid of their manager and get them something new, is

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you have people you work with closely. They might work

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with your biggest artists on the label. They might just

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be easy to get along with and you guys have

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a great rapport. And when somebody's looking, you try to

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see if it's a match. The fact that your major

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record label doesn't have anybody they want to recommend to you,

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that's weird. I'll just say that. Because they should be

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recommending somebody to you. It is your responsibility to build

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your team, but they should– I mean, if you don't

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have a booking agent or a manager, you're kind of

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out in the middle of the ocean just floating, and

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that doesn't benefit the record label. That's why I don't

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understand this. You say they're major, but they're not going

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to point you in the right direction? It doesn't make sense.

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You've had several managers reach out to you. So how

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are they reaching out to you? How do they learn

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about you? Why isn't the label bringing people to you?

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And then if you take a good meeting with an art,

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a manager, why aren't you bouncing this off the label

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and be like, Hey, do you know this guy? What

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do you think about him? Instead of just like trusting

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your gut or whatever they tell you. Um, one guy

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told me they had direct relationships with basically every major

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promoter in America. I mean, that's, usually typically every major manager.

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Another one told me they could have me opening for

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an arena tour within six months. Yeah, probably opening for

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their artist. And they got to get the label to

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pay for an opening spot. Another manager wanted me to

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sign an agreement before we even had our second phone call.

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That's crazy. And that one wanted 20% of basically everything

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I make. 20% is a little high. but it's not astronomical.

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He said the manager that wanted 20% wanted music shows, merch,

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brand deals, everything. Yeah, what did you... Like I said,

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it's a tad high. It's not like scam territory or anything.

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He says, I started asking him about his other clients

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and couldn't really verify half of what he was telling me.

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Why isn't your label... Why... He says another management company

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had this beautiful website with pictures of artists and all

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these industry logos on it. I assume those were their clients.

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Turns out most of them weren't. Yep. But you're with

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a major. See, here's the thing. This is why I

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think that there's some creative license with this email. You

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should have reputable managers. If you're signed to a major

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like you say you are, and I mean, I'm talking

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about like you say they're a major label. A lot

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of times people are signed to like their homies record

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label and they're like, it's major. We're going to do

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big things. But if you're signed to a major, you

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would have legit managers literally lined up out the door

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to work with you. You would have them because they

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want to get in good with that A & R director.

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You would have it because they already work with other

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artists on that roster and it's just an easy pass off.

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The fact that you are telling me you're on a

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major and you got to go through all of this

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on your own and it sounds like you got some

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pretty scammy people hitting you up. How are these guys

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even getting to you? But you've won awards. So then

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the label had to nominate you for an award to win,

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or the publisher did. And you have nobody in the

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industry that you can bounce these people off of before

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you even take a meeting. But you're signed to a

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major and you've won awards. He says about the website

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with all the people that they had apparently worked with

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some of these people in some capacity years ago and

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were presenting it like they managed them. That scared me.

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That's the one thing I, I mean, I've always fought

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my team on when it comes to like the Matrix

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Minute and buyouts for speaking gigs and everything is like,

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mention the artists you've worked with. And I'm like, I'm not,

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I mean, you know, I could talk about how I

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worked with an artist 20 years ago, but I could

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make it seem like I'm best friends with them now.

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I'm like, some of them I haven't talked to in

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10 years. And that's one of the things, like I've

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talked about that before. It's like, I got friends in

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this industry. I will never post a picture with them.

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I never use my friends and I never use my

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past work for my current work or present work. I

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just don't. I just feel I feel very slimy doing it.

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He says, I've also had people asking for upfront monthly fees.

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One wanted twenty five hundred dollars a month plus commission.

219
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Twenty five hundred dollars a month. Maybe that's normal in

220
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certain situations. It's never normal, my guy. It's twenty five

221
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for an artist on a major label who's won an award.

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He says, I feel like I'm in the exact point

223
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in my career where I genuinely need help, but also

224
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at the point where I'm becoming valuable enough that people

225
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are showing up who just want a percentage. Well, it's

226
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a manager. Most managers are lazy. I don't care how

227
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big the artist is. Because you get a big enough artist,

228
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you don't do anything. All you're doing is just blocking

229
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and tackling. You're not striking deals. You're waiting for the

230
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phone to ring. And I mean, the bigger booking agents,

231
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they don't even do outgoing calls. So they're not going

232
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to call on your behalf. He says, I don't want

233
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to sign with somebody because I'm overwhelmed and then spend

234
00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:16.929
the next three years trying to get out of a

235
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bad management contract. Okay. I don't believe you're signed to

236
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a major label. I'm just going to tell you that

237
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right now. I believe this is all crap. I believe

238
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you've probably had some success here in Nashville. You're probably

239
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like a neighbor of mine or something. I believe you

240
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probably had some minor success in Nashville. And you're probably

241
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signed to an indie label. Nothing wrong with that. But

242
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I don't believe you're signed to a major at all.

243
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I think this is crap. Because there is no major

244
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label who's going to let an artist that they've put

245
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enough money in for five singles in one year and

246
00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:58.129
we've got three, four months left in this year that

247
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they're going to let you just float out in the

248
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middle of the ocean and good luck. No way. No,

249
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there's no way. They've got too much invested. And For

250
00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:10.059
you to be able to say you're taking all these

251
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meetings with our managers and you're not passing any of

252
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this off to your record label for their opinion, for

253
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their guidance. And that the record label is just like, yeah,

254
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I don't care who you sign with. Just, you know, whatever.

255
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Just do what you want. It's only our money. We

256
00:15:24.730 --> 00:15:27.509
don't care. No, it doesn't happen. I'm telling you, this

257
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is crap. I think you're trying to play me. He says,

258
00:15:32.070 --> 00:15:33.669
at the same time, I don't want to be so

259
00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:36.669
paranoid that I turn down something who could actually help me. Okay,

260
00:15:36.690 --> 00:15:40.370
so for anybody who's not full of crap, anybody who

261
00:15:40.389 --> 00:15:43.909
wants $ 2, 500 a month plus commissions, boot it. The fact

262
00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:47.919
that this guy is balking at 20% for a manager

263
00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:51.159
to take all money that comes in just shows you

264
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I don't think you're with a major. Because if you

265
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talk to your A & R director, And our directors

266
00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:03.350
always have the phone just with tons of great managers.

267
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They tell you 20%, like, what are you freaking out? 20%?

268
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Negotiate down to 17.5, you know, or 15%. Like, they

269
00:16:12.029 --> 00:16:14.279
wouldn't be like, oh, my gosh, lock the doors. Somebody

270
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wants 20% because you will find managers who do make 20%.

271
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But you have no guidance and no direction here, and

272
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that's why I know you're not. Or you're signed to

273
00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:24.889
a major and they hate your guts and nobody's returning

274
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your phone calls and you're on your own. He says,

275
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I've asked other artists and everybody gives me different advice.

276
00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:31.529
Why aren't you asking your major record label, my guy?

277
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Some people say go with a huge management company because

278
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they have connections. Yes. I mean, bigger isn't always better.

279
00:16:41.009 --> 00:16:43.730
Because they're pulled in a lot of different ways and

280
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they're constantly chasing the money because they live off of percentages.

281
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If you're making $ 1, 000 a night, but they got this

282
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top headlining artist who makes $ 500, 000 a night Who do

283
00:16:57.370 --> 00:17:00.330
you think is going to get more attention? The $ 1, 000

284
00:16:59.850 --> 00:17:01.750
a night or the half a million dollar a night guy?

285
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He said, other people tell me that's the worst thing

286
00:17:04.890 --> 00:17:07.390
I could do because I'll be artist number 37 on

287
00:17:07.410 --> 00:17:10.210
somebody's roster and nobody will care about me. What does

288
00:17:10.230 --> 00:17:13.819
your A & R director say? What does the head

289
00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:15.839
of your marketing at this major label say? What does

290
00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:18.119
the president of your label say? You're talking to all

291
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:22.000
these other artists giving you advice. What's your label say?

292
00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:26.150
You know, the one that you've released a song every

293
00:17:26.150 --> 00:17:31.230
45 days, apparently, with? He says, then people tell me

294
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to find a hungry, younger manager who will make me

295
00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:39.319
their priority. Yes, that was what I would suggest. But

296
00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:42.299
not if you're signed to a major. But I don't

297
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think you're signed to a major. So I would tell

298
00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.319
you to go, yeah, go with the hungry, younger manager.

299
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Because you're not signed to a major. You're lying to me.

300
00:17:49.089 --> 00:17:51.069
He says, that sounds great until I start thinking, okay,

301
00:17:51.089 --> 00:17:53.750
but do they actually know what they're doing? I don't know.

302
00:17:53.809 --> 00:17:57.529
You don't know what you're doing. That's a match made

303
00:17:57.549 --> 00:18:00.410
in heaven. You guys can both learn together. He says,

304
00:18:00.430 --> 00:18:02.329
so what am I supposed to be looking for? Do

305
00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:04.490
I want the person with the biggest relationships? The person

306
00:18:04.509 --> 00:18:07.809
with the most experience? The person who believes in me

307
00:18:07.829 --> 00:18:10.150
the most? Do I want a big management company or

308
00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:12.730
one person? And probably my biggest question, how do you

309
00:18:12.809 --> 00:18:16.150
actually vet a music manager? This is how... Sometimes I

310
00:18:16.170 --> 00:18:17.809
get emails and I think they're full of crap, but

311
00:18:17.829 --> 00:18:19.910
I go, well, I play along because I don't have

312
00:18:19.990 --> 00:18:23.369
enough information to go, yeah, you're lying here. This one,

313
00:18:24.670 --> 00:18:26.819
I actually can tell you, I think this guy is

314
00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:32.220
completely full of crap, but it's good entertainment. What are

315
00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:34.700
you supposed to be looking for? These are all questions

316
00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.200
you would ask your A & R director. These are

317
00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:40.509
all questions you would ask the head of your marketing. Okay.

318
00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:42.549
These are questions you would ask your lawyer. Cause I mean,

319
00:18:42.569 --> 00:18:44.950
if you signed to a major record deal, you would

320
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have an entertainment lawyer. The entertainment lawyer would also know

321
00:18:47.990 --> 00:18:50.960
managers that they could recommend you taking meetings with. But

322
00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.140
you're doing all this alone and telling me you're with

323
00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:57.339
a major record label. There's no way. Okay, so here,

324
00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.519
let's play along. Let's help old Bob here in Nashville.

325
00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:03.400
Like I said, you're probably my neighbor. What are you

326
00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:05.539
supposed to be looking for? Well, if you are signed

327
00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:08.619
to a major record label, you want to have a

328
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.059
manager who's going to be easy to work with with them,

329
00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:16.890
works well with other managers, who knows how a major

330
00:19:16.970 --> 00:19:22.299
record label operates. Financially, board of directors, knowing that tonight

331
00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:24.039
you go to bed with your A & R director,

332
00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:26.880
tomorrow you can wake up and he has fired or

333
00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.039
went into real estate or whatever. That's how you would

334
00:19:30.180 --> 00:19:34.539
operate with a manager on a major. He says, do

335
00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:37.980
I want the person with the biggest relationships? I mean, yeah,

336
00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:39.859
that's a good, I mean, if you're on a major,

337
00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.019
you don't want your manager like, you know, working at

338
00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:46.339
Starbucks part-time. You want the guy to be able to

339
00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:48.349
make deals for you, get you on tours and festivals.

340
00:19:49.130 --> 00:19:51.440
Do you want the person with the most experience? I mean,

341
00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.799
that's why you sign with a major, right? You want

342
00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.559
the experience, you want the connections. The person who believes

343
00:19:56.599 --> 00:19:58.920
in me the most? Yes, you would like somebody who

344
00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:01.599
believes in you. But when you're signed to a major,

345
00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:05.529
they'll drop you in a heartbeat because, you know, they

346
00:20:05.569 --> 00:20:08.730
work with platinum artists. They work with arena size artists

347
00:20:08.750 --> 00:20:11.200
like you will be number 37. But it could be

348
00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.059
worth it, too, as long as you're not full of

349
00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:16.380
crap and a nightmare to work with. Do I want

350
00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:19.299
a big management company or one person? A bigger management company,

351
00:20:19.319 --> 00:20:22.009
when you're signed to a major record label, they can

352
00:20:22.069 --> 00:20:25.650
attack it from different angles and benefit you because your

353
00:20:25.690 --> 00:20:28.490
major record label might have 50 people that all have

354
00:20:28.529 --> 00:20:30.230
a say in your career and one manager could get

355
00:20:30.269 --> 00:20:34.130
bogged down or ran over. And then you ask, how

356
00:20:34.150 --> 00:20:36.390
do you actually vet a music manager? Well, Bob, if

357
00:20:36.430 --> 00:20:38.750
you weren't lying, and you are, but if you weren't,

358
00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:43.079
your A & R director, your lawyer, your head of marketing,

359
00:20:43.619 --> 00:20:47.539
they would know this person already. They would want to

360
00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:51.700
make sure that when you walk in and say, this

361
00:20:51.769 --> 00:20:54.569
is my manager, they're, hey, good to see you again. Not,

362
00:20:54.670 --> 00:20:59.470
who is this joker? Who is this guy? That's if

363
00:20:59.490 --> 00:21:01.329
you're actually telling the truth and you're signed to a major,

364
00:21:01.589 --> 00:21:04.589
but you're not. He says, because everybody looks legitimate when

365
00:21:04.609 --> 00:21:06.799
you're sitting across from them at lunch and they're telling

366
00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:09.700
you what your career could be. That's not true either.

367
00:21:10.230 --> 00:21:12.230
He says, I'm not looking for someone to make me famous.

368
00:21:12.250 --> 00:21:15.670
I already have a label. I already have distribution. Things

369
00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:18.839
are already moving. So if you've released five singles, and

370
00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.119
you haven't mentioned this in here. Okay, so you've released

371
00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:24.140
five singles. You've won an award. The label believes in

372
00:21:24.180 --> 00:21:27.400
you enough that you've put out five singles in eight,

373
00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:31.680
nine months. Why haven't they done anything with radio? You

374
00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:35.710
don't mention anything about radio in here. It's just singles

375
00:21:35.769 --> 00:21:38.029
and meetings, singles and meetings, and apparently you don't talk

376
00:21:38.049 --> 00:21:41.450
to your... Apparently... You lost your record label's phone number.

377
00:21:42.470 --> 00:21:44.069
He says, what I need is somebody who can come

378
00:21:44.130 --> 00:21:47.170
into what's happening, organize it, help me make a good decision,

379
00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:50.599
and hopefully help us turn this little bit of momentum

380
00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:54.119
into an actual career. Wouldn't that be the label's job, too?

381
00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:58.859
You don't have a label. You never mention about my

382
00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:04.230
strategy meetings with the label. I just don't know how

383
00:22:04.849 --> 00:22:07.029
you tell the difference between someone who wants to build

384
00:22:07.049 --> 00:22:10.549
with you And somebody who sees something moving and wants

385
00:22:10.549 --> 00:22:13.589
20% of it. Man, you're really hung up on that 20%.

386
00:22:13.589 --> 00:22:17.930
He said, I'd love to hear how you would handle this. Thanks, Bob.

387
00:22:18.210 --> 00:22:20.180
The artist not signed to a major label, but he

388
00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:24.279
says yes. Okay, so, Bob, you're full of crap. I

389
00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:28.059
can tell you. But, I mean, thanks for the email. But, yeah,

390
00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:31.079
you're absolutely full of crap. You're not signed to a

391
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:36.400
major label. No major label. No even good indie label.

392
00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:39.029
Like I'm talking about a successful indie label. It's going

393
00:22:39.049 --> 00:22:42.309
to let you just be out here just sinking. It's

394
00:22:42.329 --> 00:22:45.369
not going to happen. So I think you're full of crap.

395
00:22:45.930 --> 00:22:49.109
And I think you're lying to me. And probably what

396
00:22:49.150 --> 00:22:53.849
happened is you're probably signed to a small label. You

397
00:22:53.970 --> 00:22:56.670
probably have released five singles, but you're self-funding. You're doing

398
00:22:56.710 --> 00:22:59.279
everything yourself. Because you're A & R director. You know,

399
00:22:59.299 --> 00:23:05.380
you mentioned earlier on that you are doing meeting with producers.

400
00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:07.940
your label should be involved in that. Your A &

401
00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:12.240
R director definitely should be involved in that. Especially a major. Yeah, man,

402
00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:13.700
they're not going to, they got it. They got to

403
00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:15.819
have a hand because no A & R director is

404
00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.400
going to get fired because they just let you like

405
00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:21.819
do whatever you want. And then it blows up in

406
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:24.940
their face. You know, they don't make any money, whatever.

407
00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:28.180
But since you're not signed to a major label, you

408
00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:29.980
do have to do all of this yourself. Cause like

409
00:23:30.029 --> 00:23:32.119
I said, you're probably signed to a small indie label.

410
00:23:32.549 --> 00:23:37.470
You're probably self funding everything. Um, And that's why you're

411
00:23:37.509 --> 00:23:41.170
impressed by a manager who can get you on an

412
00:23:41.269 --> 00:23:45.849
opening spot on an arena tour. Because if you had

413
00:23:45.890 --> 00:23:48.480
a good lawyer when you signed your major label deal,

414
00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:53.940
a lot of times they also will, you know, sweeten

415
00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:58.789
the deal by getting you on one of their artists opening,

416
00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:00.549
you know, the opening spot on one of their major

417
00:24:00.630 --> 00:24:05.259
artist tours. They'll buy on for you as marketing. But

418
00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:07.299
you don't have a major label, even though you say

419
00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:09.559
you do. So that's why you're doing all this yourself.

420
00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:14.480
But I will give you a mulligan, a do-over. And

421
00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:16.579
if you want to email me back and be straight

422
00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:18.720
with me and tell me what you have going on,

423
00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.529
we can answer and help you better. But I thought

424
00:24:21.549 --> 00:24:25.250
this was a good email just for the pure, you know,

425
00:24:27.509 --> 00:24:34.180
full of crap category. But good luck. Because if you're

426
00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.299
going around Nashville telling everybody you're signed to a major

427
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.900
and you don't want to tell us who, you're going

428
00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.589
to have some problems. But thank you for the email.

429
00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:44.589
If you have a question on the music industry that

430
00:24:44.609 --> 00:24:47.450
you'd like for me to answer, just simply go to MatthewRicks.com,

431
00:24:47.509 --> 00:24:50.750
click submit your question, give me as many details as possible,

432
00:24:50.829 --> 00:24:53.390
and we will answer it here on the channel. I

433
00:24:53.430 --> 00:24:56.250
am Matthew Ricks, and until next time, I will talk

434
00:24:56.269 --> 00:24:56.589
to you later.