Midwest Leak Magazine

Janie Jennings

By: Janie Jennings, Industry Works

Those of you that follow me and my columns know that I am 100% for the independent artist and label. I love the entrepreneurial spirit. But as times get harder and money gets tighter, I am hearing more and more horror stories about artist, labels, manager and promoters going through BS. This business is hard enough to wade through the murky waters and crap. It makes me down right angry when I hear people having to deal with issues that really should not even be taking place. With all that said, what we have to watch is with whom we build our careers and businesses with.

It is amazing how many times a month, sometimes a week I receive a call from an associate trying to contact another industry professional because of bad business. We live in an age that a negative comment, deal, or story can spread like a wildfire in minutes across the internet. The last person we should have to be concerned about when it comes to our careers, are those with whom we are building our business. What is even more insane is that some of this craziness happens over someone attempting to gain a quick few hundred dollars… your phone bill getting paid is not worth loosing an industry’s respect.

There are ways to protect yourself should you be an artist, label, producer or industry professional. Over my years in the industry, there have been times I have had to go beyond the normal to protect my assets and intellectual property (ideas) so that no one else could use them without my permission. As you grow your career and company, you MUST protect what is yours. Sometimes when we hire team members, i.e. viral marketers, Publicist, consultants, promotions teams, A&R’s, security, etc, you have every right to request your team to sign a Non-Disclosure- Agreement. (NDA) What this will do is protect you and allow you to pursue legal avenues should someone discuss or take any of your ideas during the term of the NDA.

You will also want to make sure you structure a contract that covers the exact responsibilities and parameters of what you and the contractor expect from one another. Many times when this is contracted work, the vendor (pr, promo, viral, etc) will provide their own contract for the term of the agreement. Should this happen, you as the artist/label/producer always want to make sure a NDA is put into place as well as defining the role the individual will take in your career or structure of your company.

Another way to protect yourself with employees and contractors is to set a protocol of who must report to whom and who will take care of what part of your career. To many times I hear that “my cousin knows xyz’s artist security and he can hook us up with a good price on a show.” How can security book a show when they are not a booking agent or manager of the artist? Again…”man if we go through my cuz, we won’t have to pay full price…” In the end, going though the friend’s cousin who is a security guard to book a show may end with you the artists not even knowing the money was accepted. Now you are expected to appear in a city for a show you know nothing about. Some artist will blow it off…and possibly lose fans who were planning on attending the show or you may have to do the show and only get your back half of the money cause your “FORMER” security put you in a position that makes the fans far more important than the money.

Make sure that all of your team understands that your manager has final say in what they do. Make sure your manager knows you have “overall” say in what happens with your career and money. As your career grows so will your team. Set the precedence early that you are not going to play with careers. You are more than willing to put all aspects of responsibility in writing.

You must designate and delegate who is responsible for what and who must answer to whom. Time is money and money is time. Don’t waste any of it on foolish things for a few bucks.

Janie Jennings is the owner of Midwest-based management and consulting company Industry Works. Contact her at industryworks@gmail.com with questions or for more info.