Sigh.
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
What was it the President said a couple years ago? “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, won’t get fooled again.” Something like that. People that religiously read the comments of this site will no doubt recall that I briefly mentioned in a post a couple months ago that I caught my manager of 14 years skimming from the register. I thought I had taken all steps necessary to prevent this from happening in the future, but I just discovered this morning that he managed to overdraft the SMG checking account by a grand, via the judicious method of using the ATM card (which I had turned off) on a cruise ship. Apparently ship-to-shore banking transactions still use semaphores and flags or something.
In any event, the actual instance noted above is beside the point. I want you to learn from my pain, if you’re just starting out. The lesson is thus: if you get to the point where you need a “team,” (in professional terms: a lawyer, a personal manager, a business manager, and a booking agent) watch those motherfuckers like a hawk. Don’t just say “he worries about the business so I don’t have to.” The music business is, first and foremost, a business, and the music is definitely a tertiary part of that operation.
You should pay close attention to what comes in, what goes out, where it goes, and why. It isn’t easy for even a medium sized band, because you’d be amazed at how much money can run through a bank account of a touring band. (To put this in perspective, in 1996 SMG was burning about $75K a month while on tour, and maybe half that while in the studio, and SMG was by no means large, a theatre band at our height.) I didn’t pay attention, and the combined percentage of my manager and lawyer, which should be 20% of my gross income was, in 2007, 63%. I didn’t do all that work so they could go to titty bars and gamble.
As an aside, if you’re in the Chicago metro area, and you’re approached by Michael D. Ryan of 21st Century Management, you’d do well to briskly walk the other way.
10 comments
quote hunter s thompson unquote..
NZ is just small enough that this would ruin the managers rep and they'd have to move to australia.. in america i guess they move 15mins down the road
63% jesusssssssss!
I'll break his fingers for some gear, shit you not!
..second thought I'll hospitalize him for a Analogue Haven gift certificate.
We all know the quote, right?
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Australia is small too and the libel laws would see you in court ASAP for telling it like it might like that
i'm not sure if bassling is referring to the same thing but:
i'm way newer to the music business than you chris, but even at my age and experience i'd be weary about publishing people's names like that - simply cause of that recent incident with the ellen degeneres show and that dog story. there's a lot of messed up people out there!
anyways my age and experience is probably why i personally would be weary, maybe if i was older and had less to lose I could be tempted to do the same thing to the slime bucket. maybe he deserves to be called out on this blog?
aside from watching your team like a hawk, do you have any advice on how this can be done? i mean if you don't know much about accounting, and you hire an accountant to do all this fancy work for you, aren't you pretty much fucked from the word go?
Just to be straight, you're fucked from the word "go" the second you take your gear out of your bedroom. Frankly, I can't give any advice about how to watch 'em, because obviously I didn't.
As for him suing me for libel, fat chance of that. And I'd absolutely welcome it.
-CR
It's not libel if it's true, so Chris is probably okay.
What a dumbass, it makes me glad I left a half eaten ham sandwich under his car seat in 97', and that damn dog committed suicide rather than live with him. Why did he need your dough didn't he get some fat cash when the damn fire truck drug him down the street? What a mook that is all you can say. Nearly 20 years working together and he flushes it for an all you can eat buffet on a carnival cruise. Granted this is a man that would by 6 to 8 pies at Perkins.
sorry i might be able to answer my question - curious if anyone has taken this measure:
apparently it's good business practice to sign your own checks. this often creates a huge hassle for the people managing the money on the team, but apparently it's a good way of keeping people honest since they'd be more weary of doing bad things if they have to run it by you all the time.
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