How to be a good Product Manager

Jeff Lash says, “if you wan tot be a good product manager, do everything yourself.”  As a product manager you have the final say on pretty much everything.  You are the one answering questions from salespeople, writing press releases, and pouring over details with others.  Being a product manager takes a lot of your time, but that is the name of the game.

One way to be a good product manager is to delegate as many activities as you can to others.  You have a team, and as a team member, more then that an effective team member, you give product knowledge and responsibility and some decision-making responsibilities to other team members.  By doing this you, as the product manager, can focus on the strategic role of product management.

When it comes to being a product manager, it’s hard for you to balance the “strategic and tactical priorities of product manager.”  Just like is any other job the day-to-day tasks can take over.  Consider the metaphor of focusing on the trees instead of the forest.  Well a product manager sometimes focuses on a single “piece of bark.”

Being more strategic and less tactical is sometimes easier said then done for a product manager.  So it comes down to a product manager being a strategic role.  Everybody wants you to do everything.

The truth is, the product manager, “can and should be giving the necessary direction, context, and guidance to allow other people to accomplish these tasks themselves.”  Product managers need to teach their team to be self-sufficient in many ways. 

You have to be careful what you say yes to.  Ask yourself, is it forward thinking and strategic.  So it comes down to thinking about your role, as the product manager, as being strategic and focused. 

Artist Managers

Some could say that “artist look to the manager to take the chaos of a perspective career and organize it into the prospect of success.”  ~Paul Allen

Managers are involved in counseling artist on issues connected to their careers.  Traditionally, mangers focus of shopping for record deals for their clients, and then help them circumnavigate through the deals and more.  In todays, time the role of a manger has progressed into a much more hands-on method.  They help clients reach fans directly and assist clients in running their own recording, publishing, merchandising and performing or touring.  Most mangers are in the area of sponsorship, branding, merchandising and/or licensing. 

Like a lot of things in the music industry, the role of an artist management is changing.  Artist managers must understand their role is business development.  It’s more them just getting their artist signed, rather they should be developing and unlocking value for their brands, basically business development.  Due to the fact, that most managers do not have the proper business training. 

There is so much that an artist manger has to do.  The most important role in shaping their career and keeping the artist frantic lives running smoothly.  The more knowledge the artist manager has the better the manger will be.  A manager should know and have contacts at record label’s, publishing companies, booking agencies, promotion services and publicist agencies.  A manger will also need to communicate with people who provide technical services. 

A manger may make suggestions for enhancements inn a recording or help with instrumental characteristics of the music.  In general they supervise the creative process.  That can mean getting the band together for practice and assessing material the band makes.  As said before an artist manger needs to be a businessperson who has organizational skills.  The manger will have to work with publicists to invent the artist image.