Live Life Experience Blog | Managers View
From artist manager to booking manager to event manager to road manager, your doing all !! I see you …
…Hats off to the passionate lone rangers and tight-knit teams out there who manage, book, and tour with artists—while also developing and sometimes even producing events. You’re delivering an end-to-end service that often goes unseen, under-appreciated, and rarely fully rewarded… but trust me, I’m all for your support and wellbeing.
“This blog is both a moment of appreciation and my personal journey reflection.”
We know the lack of full recognition is rarely about ill will, it’s simply that most people only witness a slice of what it takes. They enter and exit at different stages depending on their role, and that’s okay. Still, it’s important to remember this as you move through your own management path.
I recently delivered a large-scale event in Europe. From the first email inquiry to showtime, the process spanned a year and two months. That’s 426 days of planning, adapting, negotiating, and executing. And through it all, I realised how the high-level output of my AuDHD can be overlooked because what is “normal” for me can be overloading for others.
Being prepared for it all!
This time, I was acutely aware, some elements you may identify with :
The Familiar Cycle!!
The mental energy of living in constant troubleshooting mode.
Late nights youtube deep-diving into productivity tools.
Rewriting best practices as the project evolved.
The awkwardness of coaching juniors and seniors just to keep things running.
Budgeting is like your own wallet’s at stake (because it often is).
Being the unassigned but called upon project manager solving issues on a show you weren’t even booked for.
Sharing solutions only to find yourself with more responsibilities.
Redesigning systems, forms, and workflows on the fly.
Mapping out every single team movement.
Providing the emotional glue a.k.a. the unspoken on call role of pastoral care.
Sharpening your communication skills just to avoid being misunderstood.
Relying on a mental toolkit of practical hacks you’ve accumulated over years that make you feel weird.
At one point, I was going to break down the actual number of emails, meetings, contract negotiations and T&Cs updates.
But instead of doing that, I’ve built something even more useful: The Professional Pathway Sessions.
An experience guide to managing bookings, artists an client expectations, with over 17 years of lessons distilled into best practise, practical tools, working solutions, workflows and live support towards building systems that work for your capacity!
Be Prepared To Find Out…
When it comes to touring and event management, here are a some guaranteed truths:
That itinerary you obsessed over.. Half the team still won’t read it. #justREAD
The travel checklist you sent…Might as well delete it. You’ll still get 185 questions. #justKEEPreading
You’re not just packing for you. You’re packing for everyone. #tourpack
Some folks don’t realise they’re on the spectrum and this can present at anytime, patience is key. #bepatient
Your host/promoter could be a gem… or completely MIA. #selfserve
Beware of the Ryanair 1-2 punch: Same luggage can have different return home rules = extra fees. #neveragain
If you’re a picky eater going abroad, budget for deliveries. #eatapps
Drop your own top 3 “Be Prepared To Find Out” truths in the comments!
🛍️ See AHN Tour Store for useful recommended products for touring 🛍️
The UK’s first Black Music Export Office, representing the Black music culture and genre representation for global talent.
Post tour due diligence
As a matter of due diligence, we should all be submitting playlist and also considering your future exportability by completing BLACMEX music industry mapping forms. These two form in particular you need to make your new habit.
- For individual music creators interested in talent export opportunities, please register your interest here: BLACMEX MUSIC CREATORS. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
- For artist managers and self-managed artists, please register your live performances at BLACMEX INTERNATIONAL LIVE PERFORMANCE SUBMISSIONS Form.
Shout-Outs & Collaboration Call
I am now actively looking to build new relationships for next stages for a multi award winning choir with performance around a wide range venues (grassroots to arena), corporate and TV appearances, STATS;
24+M HIGHEST YOUTUBE VIDEO VIEWS
8+M TIKTOK VIEWS / 1+M TIKTOK LIKES
241+K TIKTOK FOLLOWERS
580+K SUBSCRIBERS ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA
12+M MUSIC STREAMS
Sponsors aligned with music, culture, creative leadership, justice and wellbeing.
Travel agencies who can support CICs and charities with competitive rates and group travel bookings across Europe and Africa.
Let’s build sustainable touring that promotes well balanced experiences with great meaningful entertainment that actually work for grassroots, not-for-profit and profit teams.
Email: services@artistehub.net
