As an artist manager, articulating your diverse skill set and accomplishments in a concise yet comprehensive manner can be a daunting resume challenge. Our guide provides tailored strategies to help you seamlessly showcase your unique expertise, ensuring your resume resonates with the creative industry's dynamic demands.
- Sample industry-leading examples to learn how to write your best resume yet.
- Improve the experience, education, and achievements section of your resume with insights from resume-writing professionals.
- Curate your technical expertise and personality to stand out amongst the pool of candidates.
- Succinctly focus on your unique skill set all through your artist manager resume.
If the artist manager resume isn't the right one for you, take a look at other related guides we have:
The importance of format and layout in your artist manager resume
Consider you're an HR professional at company X, evaluating two artist manager candidate resumes. John Smith presents a simple, traditional, and easy-to-read resume. Edward Price, however, uses a non-conventional, often illegible format. Whose resume would you spend more time on to understand their experience? This scenario underscores the importance of your artist manager resume’s design. It should be simply formatted and clearly communicate why you are the ideal candidate for the role.Achieve this balance by:
- Listing your experience, beginning with the most recent and relevant, in reverse chronological order;
- Ensuring your header contains essential information, such as contact details, a headline, and a portfolio link. Include a professional photo in the artist manager resume header if you have one;
- Including only the most important and relevant resume sections to showcase your expertise and stand out from other candidates;
- Editing your artist manager resume to be no longer than two pages if you have extensive relevant experience. Use your limited resume space judiciously.
Also, remember that your artist manager resume might initially be scanned by an Applicant Tracker System (ATS).
When it comes to ATS:
- Opt for simple and legible fonts like Raleway, Rubik, Lato, etc., making your experience easy for the ATS to scan;
- Use serif and sans-serif fonts, both of which are ATS-friendly;
- Avoid overused options like Arial and Times New Roman, which, while suitable, may lack personality.
Contrary to a common myth, our recent study shows that the ATS can effectively process both one-column and two-column resumes. Learn more about this in the ATS myths guide.
Finally, when submitting your artist manager resume, always export it as a PDF to ensure all information remains intact, making the document easier to print, read, and scan.
Upload & Check Your Resume
Drop your resume here or choose a file. PDF & DOCX only. Max 2MB file size.
PRO TIP
If you happen to have plenty of certificates, select the ones that are most applicable and sought-after across the industry. Organize them by relevance to the role you're applying for.
Essential sections that should make up your artist manager resume include:
- The header - with your contact details (e.g. email and telephone number), link to your portfolio, and headline
- The summary (or objective) - to spotlight the peaks of your professional career, so far
- The experience section - with up to six bullets per role to detail specific outcomes
- The skills list - to provide a healthy mix between your personal and professional talents
- The education and certification - showing your most relevant degrees and certificates to the artist manager role
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Demonstrated ability to develop and advance artists' careers
- Strong network within the music and entertainment industry
- Experience negotiating contracts and booking events or tours
- Proven success in marketing and promotion strategies for artists
- Financial acumen in budget management and revenue growth for artists
Essential tips for crafting your artist manager resume experience section
The experience section is indeed the core of your artist manager resume. It's where you present your past and current job roles. But how should you approach this crucial part?
A common error is treating the experience section as merely a list of job duties. Many candidates fall into the trap of detailing what they did without illustrating the impact of their actions.
To effectively write your artist manager resume experience section, consider these guidelines:
- Emphasize your achievements, supported by concrete metrics such as percentages, revenue increases, or customer satisfaction rates;
- Avoid using generic buzzwords like communication, hard work, or leadership. Instead, demonstrate how these skills added value in your previous roles;
- Begin each bullet point with a strong action verb, followed by a skill, and then the result of your actions;
- Tailor your resume for each job application by selecting the most relevant experiences, responsibilities, and successes.
We have an array of resume examples that illustrate how to optimally curate your artist manager resume experience section.
- Orchestrated strategic brand partnerships for a client resulting in a 30% increase in cross-promotional opportunities and exposure.
- Negotiated favorable contract terms for live performances, securing an average of 15% higher artist revenue compared to previous years.
- Implemented a comprehensive social media strategy that grew the artist’s following by 500,000 across various platforms within two years.
- Developed a long-term career plan for emerging artists, enabling them to reach the top 50 iTunes charts within their genre within a year.
- Led team meetings and coordinated efforts of assistant managers, ensuring cohesive strategy and effective time management.
- Cultivated relationships with industry influencers and venue operators, leading to increased booking opportunities by 40%.
- Increased merchandise sales by designing and implementing innovative online marketing campaigns tied to concert tours.
- Structured licensing deals for artists' music usage in commercials and films, generating additional annual revenues exceeding $100,000.
- Oversaw the production and release schedule of studio recordings, effectively reducing production costs by 20% through vendor negotiations.
- Expanded artistic talent roster from 3 to 10 high-profile clients within three years through effective industry networking and reputation management.
- Enhanced artist visibility through securing appearances on nationally syndicated TV shows and booking major festival performances.
- Managed complex tour logistics for international concerts, ensuring seamless operations and artist satisfaction with all arrangements.
- Directed and coordinated international promotional tours generating media publicity valued at over $500,000.
- Optimized artists' digital revenue streams through targeted data analytics, resulting in a 25% uplift in digital sales.
- Pioneered an artist fan club initiative that boosted direct-to-fan engagement and increased fan club membership by 10,000 in the first six months.
- Played a pivotal role in negotiations for a landmark record deal that positioned the artist in a prime market slot within alternative genres.
- Established a profitable merchandise line that accounted for 25% of the total earnings during tour dates.
- Assisted artists in capturing grant opportunities, cumulatively securing over $200,000 for various projects.
- Drove the development of an innovative app for fan engagement, which led to a tripled fan interaction rate on tour dates.
- Mobilized an effective crisis management strategy for public relations challenges, safeguarding the artist’s brand integrity and fan base.
- Facilitated collaborative songwriting workshops that produced chart-topping singles and expanded the artist's creative network.
- Initiated and managed a successful crowdfunding campaign for a client's album production, raising 150% of the goal amount.
- Advised in the curation and launch of an artist’s signature line of instruments, which sold out its limited edition run within the first month.
- Deployed meticulous financial oversight for client budgets, yielding a 20% decrease in unnecessary spending while maintaining quality of creative projects.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Highlight the total revenue generated for artists you've managed to showcase your financial impact.
- Detail the percentage increase in an artist's social media following or engagement to demonstrate marketing prowess.
- Quantify the number of successful artist campaigns you've orchestrated to illustrate your project management skills.
- Include the number of high-profile gigs or events you've secured for clients, indicating your networking abilities.
- List the number of album releases you've coordinated to show experience in product management and launch strategies.
- Mention the reduction in costs or expenses you've achieved for your clients to highlight fiscal efficiency and negotiation skills.
- Document the number of artists or bands you've signed or developed to establish your scouting and talent development success.
- State the number of awards or recognitions your artists have received under your management to prove your influence on career success.
Action verbs for your artist manager resume
Guide for artist manager professionals kicking off their career
Who says you can't get that artist manager job, even though you may not have that much or any experience? Hiring managers have a tendency to hire the out-of-the-blue candidate if they see role alignment. You can show them why you're the best candidate out there by:
- Selecting the functional skill-based or hybrid formats to spotlight your unique value as a professional
- Tailoring your artist manager resume to always include the most important requirements, found towards the top of the job ad
- Substituting the lack of experience with other relevant sections like achievements, projects, and research
- Pinpoint both achievements and how you see yourself within this specific role in the artist manager resume objective.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Mention specific courses or projects that are pertinent to the job you're applying for.
Artist Manager skills and achievements section: must-have hard and soft skills
A key principle for your Artist Manager resume is to prominently feature your hard skills, or the technologies you excel in, within the skills section. Aim to list several hard skills that are in line with the job's requirements.
When it comes to soft skills, like interpersonal communication abilities and talents, they're trickier to quantify.
Claiming to be a good communicator is one thing, but how can you substantiate this claim?
Consider creating a dedicated "Strengths" or "Achievements" section. Here, you can describe how specific soft skills (such as leadership, negotiation, problem-solving) have led to concrete achievements.
Your Artist Manager resume should reflect a balanced combination of both hard and soft skills, just as job requirements often do.
Top skills for your artist manager resume:
Contract negotiation
Financial management
Marketing and promotions
Tour planning
Music industry knowledge
Social media management
Music licensing and publishing
Event planning
Brand development
Talent scouting
Leadership
Communication
Decision-making
Problem-solving
Interpersonal skills
Adaptability
Networking
Time management
Negotiation
Stress management
PRO TIP
If the certificate you've obtained is especially vital for the industry or company, include it as part of your name within the resume headline.
The importance of your certifications and education on your artist manager resume
Pay attention to the resume education section . It can offer clues about your skills and experiences that align with the job.
- List only tertiary education details, including the institution and dates.
- Mention your expected graduation date if you're currently studying.
- Exclude degrees unrelated to the job or field.
- Describe your education if it allows you to highlight your achievements further.
Your professional qualifications: certificates and education play a crucial role in your artist manager application. They showcase your dedication to gaining the best expertise and know-how in the field. Include any diplomas and certificates that are:
- Listed within the job requirements or could make your application stand out
- Niche to your industry and require plenty of effort to obtain
- Helping you prepare for professional growth with forward-facing know-how
- Relevant to the artist manager job - make sure to include the name of the certificate, institution you've obtained it at, and dates
Both your certificates and education section need to add further value to your application. That's why we've dedicated this next list just for you - check out some of the most popular artist manager certificates to include on your resume:
The top 5 certifications for your artist manager resume:
- Certified Artist Manager (CAM) - Music Business Association (MusicBiz)
- Music Business Certificate (MBC) - Berklee College of Music
- International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) Certification - International Association of Venue Managers
- Leadership in the Arts Certificate - University of California, Irvine
- National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP) Certificate - National Association of Record Industry Professionals
PRO TIP
If you failed to obtain one of the certificates, as listed in the requirements, but decide to include it on your resume, make sure to include a note somewhere that you have the "relevant training, but are planning to re-take the exams". Support this statement with the actual date you're planning to be re-examined. Always be honest on your resume.
Recommended reads:
Practical guide to your artist manager resume summary or objective
First off, should you include a summary or objective on your artist manager resume?
We definitely recommend you choose the:
- Resume summary to match job requirements with most noteworthy accomplishments.
- Resume objective as a snapshot of career dreams
Both the resume summary and objective should set expectations for recruiters as to what your career highlights are.
These introductory paragraphs (that are no more than five sentences long) should help you answer why you're the best candidate for the job.
Industry-wide best practices pinpoint that the artist manager resume summaries and objectives follow the structures of these samples:
Resume summaries for a artist manager job
- With over a decade of experience managing up-and-coming musicians in the bustling New York scene, I have successfully orchestrated national tours, negotiated record deals, and grown artists' social media presence to over a million followers, solidifying my reputation as a transformative force in talent development.
- As a seasoned Los Angeles artist manager, I bring 15 years of industry expertise, having led international promotional campaigns and secured lucrative brand endorsements that have dramatically increased my clients' market visibility, resulting in a 300% revenue boost for several of my managed acts.
- Transitioning from a prolific career in film production, I aim to leverage my extensive network of entertainment industry contacts and my adept skill at story crafting to elevate musicians' careers, employing my background in managing multimillion-dollar projects to create groundbreaking opportunities in the music sector.
- With extensive experience in corporate marketing and a lifelong passion for music, I am seeking to transfer my skill set into artist management, utilizing my profound understanding of brand strategy and content creation to foster artists' growth in a dynamic and ever-evolving digital landscape.
- As a recent magna cum laude graduate with a degree in Music Business, I am eager to bring fresh perspectives, my thesis research on viral marketing in music, and an unrelenting work ethic to lay the groundwork for a successful career in artist management.
- Having honed my organizational and event coordination skills through leading university music events, I am driven to embark on a career in artist management, committed to utilizing my expertise in event planning and my deep enthusiasm for music to cultivate standout experiences for artists and audiences alike.
Taking your artist manager resume to the next level with these four additional resume sections
Your artist manager resume can feature a variety of skills (both hard and soft) in diverse sections. Choose those that align best with the job requirements and reflect your suitability for the company culture.
Consider these four additional resume sections recommended by our experts:
- Languages - State any languages you are proficient in and your level of proficiency. This demonstrates your commitment to communication and potential for international growth.
- Projects - Highlight up to three significant projects you've completed outside of work, showcasing skill development. Include a link to your project portfolio in the artist manager resume header, if applicable.
- My Time - How you allocate your time outside work can indicate your organizational skills and cultural fit within the company.
- Volunteering - Detail causes you're passionate about, roles you've held, and achievements in volunteering. Such experiences likely have honed a range of soft skills crucial for your dream job.
Key takeaways
We've reached the end of our artist manager resume guide and hope this information has been useful. As a summary of our key points:
- Always assess the job advert for relevant requirements and integrate those buzzwords across various sections of your artist manager resume by presenting tangible metrics of success;
- Quantify your hard skills in your certificates and skills section, while your soft skills in your resume achievements section;
- Ensure you've added additional relevant experience items, such as extracurricular activities and projects you've participated in or led;
- Use both your resume experience and summary to focus on what matters the most to the role: including your technical, character, and cultural fit for the company.
