Artists benefit from having a manager early in their careers, but a manager doesn’t benefit from repping an artist until that artist is bringing in substantial income from music. The traditional contract usually has managers take anywhere from 15-20% of all gross income. This becomes problematic very fast for growing artists. Artists are businesses, and on average it takes around 5 years to start bringing in an income. Which leaves no incentive for managers to work with artists early in their careers. Luckily with social media, access to information has widened significantly. As new generations enter the workforce and with entrepreneurship at an all time high, information about the music industry and the music business is becoming more widely available for artists at early stages.
Once artists are making enough money (or have the potential to make enough money) is when managers are typically interested in getting involved. Artists looking for management, currently have more options than ever. Outside of traditional higher education for music business, social media is filled with accounts offering advice and perspective on the music industry, ranging from music lawyers to music managers. There are many management companies that offer podcasts, consultations and coaching. Artists looking for management help now have so many opportunities, along with managers looking to connect with artists.