Territories

When you begin to make contacts within the music industry, much is dependent upon which territory you are working in.

In the USA and UK, it's a complete waste of time to contact a record company unless you are a renowned manager or publisher. All the major producers have managers and it's a tough market to get heard in. The artist and the producer are better off contacting managers, and the songwriters would do best to establish a connection with a publisher. Really, these are the bridges that need to be built to get to the real decision makers.

On the European continent, it's a somewhat different story. Managers do not exist to the same extent and are often poorly regarded. At times, it might even be a disadvantage for an artist to have a manager instead of dealing directly with the record company.

However, it isn´t wise for an artist to contact the record company directly, as they will usually be looking for more than just a great voice and good looks. An artist is therefore better off contacting a producer, so the artist is able to present a song to the record companies. This song should be a song meant to be able to break the artist and not just a presentation, such as a cover version.

The role of managers in continental Europe is much disputed. We look positively on the function of the manager, but unfortunately a large number of bad managers have made people stop believing in them. A bad manager is one who is more interested in the spotlight and the glamorous parties than working for you. Make sure yours is organized and can take the administrative hassle, and doesn't suffer from hubris. Because you could undertake many of the managerial functions by yourself, make sure that the manager has exactly what you lack in order to earn his share of your money (usually between 15-25%). An entrance to the record company A&R is probably the most valuable thing he can provide.

In small countries, it's easier to go straight to the record companies. This is not always an advantage, however, particularly if you want to be successful abroad. For instance, if you are living in the Netherlands and want to work with BMG USA, you are probably better off contacting someone in the US who works as a filter to BMG, rather than contacting BMG Netherlands. Communication across the borders within the major companies is usually poor and will help you to do nothing more than get stuck in company politics. Once you are signed to BMG Netherlands, that's where you´re most likely to stay and be managed from, which will limit your progress.

A good way to find out if a company is small-minded is to ask if they accept material from abroad. If they don't, they are not worth bothering about. That is unless your ambition is to make music in the local language and you only care about local success. For those of you who do feel this way, we also feature a local recommendation status, which is assigned to someone who is very skilful but whose skills are only deployed in one territory.

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