INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Artist Manager positions are at a 24% growth rate, which is much faster than average. With that said, there are currently 131,000 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 31,600 to 162,600 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Artist Manager jobs was $76,400 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $36,070, and the highest 10% more than $184,660.
Our conclusion? The Artist Manager job market is wide open for candidates.
Top artist manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
An artist manager resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your artist manager resume:
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
- Reached 2.5M streams on Spotify alone since I took over Marketing
- Started all social media accounts from scratch and amassed thousands of followers
- Been placed in multiple online publications
- Develop & Planning
- Sale / Booking
- Artist Relation
- Develop & Planing
- Sale & Booking
- Artist Adviser
- Training Talents
- Created online communities around specific music genres
- Built a brand that attracted various artists & strategized promoting/marketing their work product & image
- Developed a community of artists & facilitated their collaboration to grow their experience & contacts
- Analyzed artist's utilization data to determine potential consumer's/marketplaces
- Development, management, and representation of freelance creatives (photographers, directors, fine artists, musicians, fashion stylists, set designers, etc.).
- Client communications regarding artist marketing and positioning, creative production management, contract negotiations, and financial/budget analyses.
- Client contacts: creative directors, art directors, creative service/content managers, producers, talent, publicists, and artist managers.
- Production management in terms of translating client creative specs into production circumstances (locations, talent, props, special effects, various freelance creatives).
- Content management in terms of editing, meta-data management, and transmission/distribution.
- Process management and quality control for each project.
- Financial and project budget management.
- European and UK tours.
- Over 200 shows.
- Exponential Fan-base growth for all managed artists.
- Working with LA and NY top producer Cory Rooney (American songwriter, producer, and C.E.O. of Cory Rooney Group)
- Building up a wealth of contacts (producers, writers, execs, and others in media) through networking
- Diary Management, travel arrangements overseas inc (flights, accommodation, visas), e-mails and phone calls, expenses and contracts
- Developing a new artist and putting together a package for the industry
- Achieved a massive brand expansion and market influence, going from 1 or 2 touring artists in Brazil per year to between 5 to 7 in average - established partners always save slots for the label's sound in their line-ups, every year
- Introduced several Australian artists to the Brazilian music scene, created month-long tours of 4 to 6 events for them, spread across the country and its different local markets
- Helped such artists to become headliners of any event they are booked for, with great paying fees and country-wide exposure
- Provided ease of mind for all touring artists by doing specialised artist and career management, logistics planning and correct payments in the agreed timeframe
- Bridged such artists to become involved with Brazil's biggest and most respected trance agency, DM7 Bookings
- Stopped artist bookings after being signed by DM7; took many of the previously managed Zenon's artists along to join their roster
- Founded, organised and proceeded to manage throughout time a number of concept events exploring different ideas, namely: Siona, Cluster and Zenon Records Showcase (each one detailed down below, on Projects section)
- Worked in several national and international festivals dealing with air/ground logistics, artist care, stage management, reception and payment (examples: Boom Festival in Portugal, Universo Paralello in Brazil)
- Experience with different formats of events and venues: clubs, 2 day open-airs, 7 day festivals, small galleries, art spaces, bars, restaurants, abandoned warehouses, abandoned factories, music schools, private property rentals, etc
- Extensive interpersonal abilities, leading big teams as well as small crews, through all kinds of projects
- Experienced in working with large-scale events where numbers of artists to manage exceed 100
- Ease of multitask/multi-role approach, with specific knowledge of several areas of event production such as Sound & Light, Deco, Infrastructure, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Budgeting, Service Provider Negotiations, etc
- Built a massive network of international contacts overtime, creating a diversified resource pool that can be accessed to headhunt select individuals both for in-person events, as well as remote/online functions
- Allowed to represent Zenon Records and DM7 globally, to prospect interesting opportunities and to use their resources to create projects inside the scoop of the Australian sound
PRO TIP
In writing your Artist Manager resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your artist manager resume
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Taking Control of Your Artist Manager Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your artist manager resume
Basic Finance
Public Speaking
Technology Solutions
Writing
Hand-crafts and Repairing
Self confidence
Creativity
Humor
Innovation
Storytelling
PRO TIP
Avoid getting sidetracked by Applicant tracking software by including a tech skills' section matching the job description and your own qualifications.
Artist Manager Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
Checklist for your artist manager resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended Reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Artist Manager resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
An artist manager resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: a strong artist manager resume summary.
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
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Creating an impressive education section for your artist manager resume
The Education Section: Checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top certifications for your artist manager resume
Artist Management for the Music Business
The Roadmap to Managing Your Own Music Career or Becoming a Professional Manager
How To Get a Manager: Music Business Management
Artists guide from being self managed to hiring a manager to help build your music career
SUCCEEDING IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS
How to enter the Music BUSINESS and make income with your music from grants, royalties, and licensing
DIY Music Business 101 - Learn about the New Music Industry
Learn Music Business Essentials Today - Build a Career in the New Music Industry as an Independent Music Artist
How To Become a Full-time Artist and Get '1000 True-fans'!
Build Your Music Career Using the Scientific Method From The Business World
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Artist Manager. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
A professional format for your artist manager resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your Artist Manager resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your Artist Manager resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your Artist Manager resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
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PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your artist manager resume
After drafting the required sections of your Artist Manager resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your artist manager resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your Artist Manager resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great artist manager resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
