John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde.

Hi John,
My question is in regards to management. When would you say is the
right time to seek out management? As a solo pop singer/songwriter,
seeking out a manager or talent agent seems like a great way to get my
music into the hands of those in the industry which I could not do on my own.
On the other hand, many people suggest that you should manage
yourself as long as possible. What do you think? What are some
qualities I should look for in a management team? Any suggestions?

Best,
Derek Adams
www.myspace.com/derekjadams

Hey Derek,
   I'm not sure what the advantage of managing oneself is accept to save the 10 to 20% in commission that they might charge.  BUT if there are other reasons; write back & I'll address them.  X, The Knitters & myself have had management almost the entire time I've worked in entertainment.  But that never allows you to be unaware of yr business or removed from the other people (record company, booking agent, lawyer, publisher etc.) that you work with.
  Anyone you work with should be someone enough like you that you're proud to have them speak for you & represent you because that's exactly what they're going to do.  You want someone who's organized, honest, knowledgeable & being good company at dinner doesn't hurt.  As powerful or connected as they may be, you don't want some asshole making demands you wouldn't approve of or do yourself if that was yr job.  And in a way it is your job: to make sure you know what's going on & weigh in on most all of the decisions, especially the important ones.  The last quality to look for is someone who's priorities are the same.  Try to match the degree of fame & fortune & reasons & methods to achieve them with you own.  Working with friends is OK especially at the beginning but that doesn't mean that they can slide on any of the qualities that I talked about above.
   Like all relationships it's a great when you find the right person & keep working together to maintain that. I can also say that I've had the good fortune to stay in touch w/ & love almost all the managers that I've worked with. Trust your intuition, I know it's not easy.
 
hope this is some help and as always, thanks for writing.
yrs,
JD
  

If you have questions for John Doe about music, the music business or life feel free to email them to wwjdd@knowthemusicbiz.com.

For more information on John Doe check out theejohndoe.com or YepRoc.com .