Music/Recording Industry Insight
Kerry Fiero on Teaching the Music Artist Management Class
Kerry Fiero is an Artist Manager and founder of her company, Strive Management, and an adjunct professor in the SF State Music Recording Industry Program.
The music business today is very different than it was when I entered it ten years ago. Artist Managers have become more essential than ever before. No matter what aspect of the business you are in, you will be dealing with artist managers, as they guide the career paths of their artists. I designed the Artist Management class to prepare students for the challenge of the profession in today’s music industry.
I believe that the epicenter around which the entire industry revolves is the TALENT, that is to say the music artists and their songs. Mangers are an integral part in finding new ways for an artist to effectively compete in the marketplace. They are the rudder steering the ship—the artist—in the right direction for career advancement.
The artist manager is involved in every aspect of the business. Starting with a business plan (which students create as their final project), the manager works on establishing the artist’s career (artist development), promoting the artist’s career (live shows, marketing, CD sales, online presence) and sustaining the artist’s career (growing artistically, making strategic career moves) . Important aspects of the job include live performance (managers determine the right venues, work with press and execute all of the logistics and scheduling) and overseeing the entire process from recording a CD to marketing and distributing the CD. Managers also need to be savvy in the music licensing and branding arenas since those have become important in today’s music industry. An artist manager is a visionary who is organized and executes with tremendous follow through in order to see real results for the artist.
This class is designed for prospective managers (or D.I.Y. self-managed artists) to learn strategies for promoting and advancing the goals of the artist while becoming a competent, knowledgeable music professional.
As a manager, one must be savvy in every aspect of the business, so each class covers a different subject of the business, including Live Performance/Touring, Publishing, Licensing, Marketing, Record deals, etc. Guest speakers such as artist managers, booking agents, marketing gurus, radio personnel or record label staff infuse even more real-life-curriculum. The course is designed like a music business 101 class and is a great start for any student interested in getting more familiar with the music industry and how it operates.
I am passionate about being an artist manager and supporting talented acts—and I’m excited to share my passion with the students to help them get ahead in their business outside the classroom.
"I have learned so much from Kerry’s class that has helped me in my music career. Her artist management class has been the best class I have ever taken and has helped me become a better artist manager, a better music professional and a better person and to not only strive in music but to strive in life in general."
-Joseph Herlihy, MRI student 2006
www.strivemanagement.com
Strive for More
Gian Fiero on Teaching Music Industry Career Planning
Gian Fiero is an accomplished consultant with a focus on business development and music/entertainment industry operations and an adjunct professor at SF State Extended Learning.
I designed the Music Industry Career Planning class at SF State Extended Learning to create awareness; awareness of the challenges and difficulties that students will face in their music industry endeavors, as well as self-awareness of who they are as professionals so that they will embark upon pursuits that enable them to use their gifts, reduce the frustrations that result from being ill-prepared for the music business, and fulfill their visions of happiness.
We use what I call “career building diagrams.” They help reveal the story of who my students really are as people; what their natural competencies and most viable skills are; and the areas of the music industry that best suit their talents. Students have let me know that this is a very effective self-discovery process which leads to the discovery of the appropriate career paths.
The class culminates in thesis presentations in which each student summarizes what music industry direction they’ve chosen as a result of taking the class, why they chose it, and the reasons they will be successful in that endeavor. Their presentations, which are done in front of a panel of industry professionals and the entire class, include the use of visuals and the career building diagrams that they construct during the course of the class.
I invited a panel consisting of my colleagues and associates to the presentations, because I wanted them to help me objectively evaluate the students on professionalism, articulation of industry vocabulary, and clarity of career objectives - all things that we cover in the class. It worked out so well that the panel evaluation is now a staple of the class. The panelists gave crucial feedback to the students to further prepare them for the “real music industry,” and some offered internships and jobs.
I’m very passionate about this course. Pretty soon students everywhere who have questions about where and how to get off to a successful start in the music industry will have the same resounding answer: MRI Program’s Music Industry Career Planning Class.
