Advances and recoupment tracking
Advances, recoupment balances and commission statements are reconciled across labels, publishers and live income, and the terms behind each payment must be checked.
For music managers
The dates a music manager cannot afford to miss
A manager runs a client's business calendar, and it is advances, tour settlements and option dates that decide whether the year holds together.
No account needed to see the proposed desk.
The recurring work
What music managers have to keep on top of
Every one of these has a date attached, a document behind it, and somebody who notices when it slips. This is what goes on the desk.
Tour settlements
Each show is settled after the date, with venue deductions, promoter splits and merchandise takings checked against the deal agreed before the tour.
Option and renewal dates
Recording, publishing and management agreements carry option windows, and notice has to be served inside those windows or the deal rolls on unchanged.
Release schedules and delivery dates
Each release has label delivery dates, marketing lead times and artwork deadlines, and every later date depends on the earliest one being met.
Commission and fee invoicing
Commission on each income stream is calculated and invoiced on its own cycle, with the contract terms checked so the percentage applied is the right one.
Visa and touring paperwork
Foreign tours need permits, carnets and withholding forms, and the paperwork changes with the countries on the routing and the size of each fee.
Tour and public liability cover
Cover for the tour is arranged per run with evidence supplied to each venue, and the schedule has to be checked as dates are added or cancelled.
Client financial reporting
The artist expects a clear account of what came in and what was spent, and the reports have to be ready before the questions arrive.
Team coordination across labels and agents
Labels, agents, publishers and promoters all hold pieces of the schedule, and each party has to be updated when a date moves.
What it costs to carry it
A manager is the only person holding the whole picture, and most of that picture is deadlines owned by other people. An option notice that goes out three days late ties the artist to another album on the old terms; a settlement queried after the promoter closes the books is simply refused; a commission calculation based on the wrong contract clause is repaid out of the manager's own pocket. None of it shows up until a statement arrives months later, by which point the window has closed.
What the desk takes over
The desk works this list to its own schedule and reports what it did.
Contract date watch
Option windows, renewal dates and term end dates are held as dated items with lead times, so notice periods are visible well before they close.
Settlement preparation
Tour settlements are prepared from show paperwork and the agreed deal terms, with discrepancies between the two listed before the manager signs anything off.
Income and commission reconciliation
Income from labels, publishers, live and merchandise is logged against contract terms, and commission statements are drafted for checking each cycle.
Client reporting packs
Earnings, expenditure and upcoming obligations are assembled into a periodic report for each artist, ready before the questions start.
Touring paperwork coordination
Permit schedules, cover evidence and venue requirements are gathered per tour, and any step needing a personal signature is handed to the manager.
What stays with the music manager
The judgement stays with the manager: which offers to take, how an artist should be developed, and whether a tour is worth doing at all. The desk holds the dates and reconciles the money around those calls. A manager's value is the decision, not the recollection of a renewal date.
Questions
Can the desk track option windows across several artist contracts at once?
Yes: option, renewal and term end dates are held per agreement with lead times attached, so notice periods are visible in advance. The manager decides whether to exercise or renegotiate.
How does a tour settlement get checked without closing the promoter's books late?
Show paperwork and the agreed deal terms are compared as each date comes in, and the differences are listed while the tour is still running. Queries raised after the books close are usually refused.
What should a manager review first when taking on a new artist?
The existing agreements and their dates, because unrecorded deadlines are the fastest way to inherit a problem. Registration and royalty records come next, since missing works are harder to recover the longer they sit.
Put the music manager's recurring work on the desk
Start with a name, a website and one sentence about what the business does. The desk proposes the list; the music manager corrects it.