Roles And Contracts

Live performance is an area from the music industry, this area is very busy and quite important in the music industry because for the artist or band their tours is live performances many many live performances. Live performances includes a lot of roles and contracts that goes with them, the roles that are included in live performances is: sound technician, electrical technician, lighting technician, booking agent, tour manager, A&R director, A&R manager, A&R scout, Accompanist, Accordian Player, Account Executive, Account manager, Accountant (qualified), Accounts/Finance assistant, Actor, Administrator, Animateur, Artist Booker, Artist Manager, Backing Vocalist, Backline Technician, Box office Assistant, Box office Manager, Choreographer, Concert Assistant, Concert Manager, Engineer, Roadie, singer/vocalist, Vocalist. As you can see there is loads of roles involved with live performance, All these roles help the live performance successful by making sure the sound and lighting is on point, all the electricity is up and going, the artist or band is fit and healthy to be able to perform and is happy and safe, the tickets for the event of the live performance is fairly sorted and the audience will be happy with the prices, organise it all so nothing goes wrong, get the audience to keep listening to the artist or band by selling merchandise and CD'S in the venue or outside the venue, there is many more that can be named but i want to talk about 3 roles that interest me in live performance. Within these roles there is very important contracts and the roles have to be very wise with witch contract they sign because some contracts can make them broke or rip them off and lie to them or the contract has not got a lot to offer to the role and the role gets payed very less, other contracts are fair and the role gets payed with a good amount.

The 3 roles i picked is: tour manager, booking agent and artist.

Artist:

The artist is the main focus in live performance from the roles that live performance includes, the artist or band is the performer and is the reason why the audience come to watch them and the reason why all the roles have to work so hard to make the live performance successful.

Salary: £40 pound hour (session player), £25 hour (ph teaching).
Hours: working hours for the artist is 24/7, because the artist works non stop with writing music, recording the music, rehearsing, sound checks, interviews, concerts, gigs, meetings and many more working progress to be successful.
Working Environment: An artist does not have a main working environment an artist can work in a recording studio, at home, on stage, radio station, t.v studio, any sort of rehearsal room. This is because an artist is on going and travels from one place to another, an artists job is never ending, an artist might have a few little breaks but to be a successful artist the artist has to keep going, keep writing songs and coming up with ideas in these environments.
Duties: The duties of an artist is to be creative and write songs then make an album of songs record it in the recording studio, get the album out there, then performing the songs live in concert or in a certain gig, on the radio live, on a television chat show, socialise with people to get a good reputation, show up to all rehearsals, go to meetings, collaborate with other artists maybe a big artist to get themselves a bigger fan base and more attention. Keeping fit by creating a unique image and trying to stick with it and look good for the fans, keep healthy to keep energetic and strong to be able to perform and be able to think wise. An artist has lots of duties they never stop the list can go on!
Skills/Education Needed: Depending on the artist the artist has to have skills like: singing, maybe dancing, play a certain instrument that is included in their image, socialising skills, good communication, keeping fit, organisation, motivation and determination. Education needed is to learn English or a certain language because an artist needs to write songs and perform songs so they need to be able to read and write in their specific language and understand their language for interviews and other jobs they might have witch involves talking to someone or reading something out and saying it. Some artist would need education in learning a certain instrument and music theory to be able to write and read music, but some artist's teach themselves how to play an instrument with good musical ears but it is needed to take lessons so they can be the best they can be.  Education in college learning music performance or maybe music production depending on the artist, because the course helps the student explore different styles and ideas and learn things they never knew before, the course gives them experience and can help them become a stronger artist or find their style of music and who they want to be. Every person not just artist's need education from primary school and secondary school to take their exams and get their degree's to be able to move on in life and learn useful subjects to help them grow and develop as an individual and have a better understanding in the world. Also education from primary and secondary school helps the artist develop organisation skills, motivation skills, determination skills and responsibility, every human being needs those skills to be able to live life.
Job Satisfaction: the pros of this job is that the artist gets to have fun with their music and collaborate with other artist's, they get a lot of money for doing something they love that is if they go with the right contract, a lot of people respect the artist and use the artist as their idol and look up to them in different ways, the artist gets to meet other famous people something a lot of people want in their life, the artist gets to have a luxurious environment, the artist's face is everywhere and gets really known to the world, the artist basically gets a new life designed for them, everything changes, the artist gets to tour the world if the artist has gone really major. The cons of being an artist is once the artist gets really famous and everyone knows them and everyone buys the artist's music, after that all happens things settle down and maybe if the artist doesn't work so hard because they think they have it all, their job goes down the hill because if the artist does not work so hard to stay at the top, other artist's with succeed higher then them and make more money then them because the artist has relaxed, so being an artist is not all that and all easy because the artist has to keep working and developing to stay in the top, give what their fans want, the artist then gets no privacy because everyone wants to see them and meet them etc, but this only happens with very big well known artist's, with a little less well known artist's their cons is falling into a trap with the wrong people because some managers and contracts and company's can fool the artist and end up taking all of the artist's money and the artist will lose everything. The press can make up rumours and lies about the artist to make the artist look hugely bad, not everyone is going to like the artist and make very horrible comments about the artist, these things can hurt so the artist has to stay strong and keep their head up. If the artist has a bad relationship with their manager or anyone that can help them, those people can just take them off the contract and the artist's career would be ruined but that's if the artist is really bad towards those people.
Type Of Contract: There are many types of contracts for this job such as:
*The 360 deal - contract where every role in the industry to help the artist gets money so the artist would no get very much, the pros of this contract is that the artist gets a lot of help to become major in the industry, but the cos of this contract is that because the rest of the roles are being paid with the 360 deal where the money gets shared out fairly so that leaves the artist getting paid not very much.
*Management contract - the management contract is an agreement with the artist that the manger is representative, advises the artist on what to do, and is there for the artist all the time, but the artist has to follow the manager in such a way and have a good relationship with the manager because the manager needs to know the artist and get along with the artist so the manager knows how to advise the artist and take care of the artist. The pros of certain management contracts is that the manager helps the artist get connections and knows how to get the artist majorly, knows who and how to talk to people and is on the artist's back. The cons of the contract is some managers are liars and trick the artist just to get the money so its dangerous who's contract you sign because the artist needs to be wise and make sure the manager is for them and can trust them, but another bad thing about this contract if the artist thinks they trust the manager and sign the contract the manager can all of a sudden turn on the artists back and take all the money for themselves and drop the artist and leaving the artist with nothing.
*Publishing Deal - the publishing deal is a deal with the song writer and the music publisher, this deal is where the song writer has rights to earn most of the money because the song writer wrote the song but the music publisher gets some money for publishing it and getting the song famous and liked. The pros of this deal is the music publisher witch is mostly known to be the artist gets to perform the song that has been written for them and gets a lot of attention for it and gets the credit for performing it good and strong, that is all good but the co's come in to the deal because the song writer will be signed to the song and the name of the song writer will be published so the artist will get bad comments and also the artist would not get much money for it even though the artist performs it many times with hard work that does not matter because the song is written by someone else so the song writer will get more maybe most of the money for its right.
*Booking Performance Contract - the promoter agrees with the booking agent what the promoter is providing for the certain event, the promoter tells the booking agent the timings for the event and everything that goes with the event. The pros of this contract is that the booking agent can book the promoter and artist everything they need perfectly, well most of the time, the booking agent books venues and events for the artist with the amount of money the artist can afford, the job is done with the help of the booking agent, so the process for the artist and manager is easier and smoother because if the artist and manager have to do everything on their own it would be hugely hard and they would be lost, so that's why they contact a booking agent to do the work for them and do the work good. Although the co's of this contract is that if the contract is signed with the booking agent and then the booking agent does not do the job right or loses the artist money that's the artist's lost because the contract is signed and they cannot turn back, once they sign the contract the booking agent gets all the money they deserve no matter how poor of a job they do.
*Record Deal - this deal is a deal between the record company and recording artist, once the recording artist signs with a certain record label the artist cannot record with any other label if the artist records with another label the recording company will raise the amount of money they earn. The pros in this deal is the artist can record professionally with the recording company and the recording company publishes and promotes the music they recorded, so that is a very good help for the artist, but the co's of this deal is if the artist decides to go record somewhere else the price the recording company gets raises and leaves the artist less money earned for their share of work. Although another pro thing about this contract is that if the artist wants to go record with another recording company they have the choice to sign the distribution deal as well.
*Distribution deal - the distribution deal is a legal agreement that sorts out the distribution of a product with one party to another. This is for the ownage for the copyright of the song because of the copyrights of the songs that the signed recording label is responsible for, that's the reason this deal exists so another company can make a legal agreement for the artist to be able to record with the other recording company and the copyrights are fair and sorted.
*Paid for time for a specified time - the artist gets paid for a specific time they work on this would be anything such as: a gig or concert, being shown for a bit in a TV show or movie, being interviewed on the radio etc
*Paid by job - gets paid by any job they do but with the contracts signed they wouldn't get paid fully because of the right the contracts owns.

With an artist the artist has to be very wise as an individual because with these contracts and the way the music industry runs there can be sneaky moves to waste their time and not earn them any money.
If the artist signs the 360 deal it is not the best idea because with the 360 deal every role that helps the artist mainly the artist's manager will be paid with the money the artist should be getting fully, this is because the roles are helping the artist majorly and giving the artist a push to become successful and to make the artist's life much easier and smoother as an artist.
But if the artist signs separate contracts for certain things that would be better because to save money the artist could get a manager then try do certain things with the managers help instead of signing with every possible job.
With every contract the artist has to be careful because some certain company's and roles are not professional and have the right, they could look like they are who the artist needs when they could actually be getting the money by doing fake jobs.

Tour Manager:

The tour manager in the music industry is very important because when the artist goes on tour the tour manager controls everything, makes sure everything is up to date, everything is safe on the tour bus and maybe the plane if the plane is needed for the tour, the tour manager is responsible for keeping the crew safe and healthy, first aid, any injuries, controls literally every possible thing that happens on tour.
Gets the crew to their hotel, books cars needed, any equipment needed, literally everything you could think of. The tour manager has to know all the details about the tour, the venues of events, where the artist and crew needs to be taken, what equipment is needed and when to get the equipment and bring it, what venues to contact.

Salary: They make £13,000 - £39,000 annually.

Hours: 24 hours, needs to be on the ball 24/7, watch every move and avoid disappointment.

Working Environment: Tour country, tour bus, where the artist stays, venue, home.

Duties: Tour manager duties is to know all the information about the tour and get everything planned, contact venues, get hold of equipment, book tour buses and hotels, keeping everyone safe and avoid injuries, if someone is injured the tour manager has to sort it out, makes sure who is going on tour so no one random sneaks in.

Skills/Education Needed: social skills, communication skills, writing skills, hard working, industry knowledge, suitability, determination, motivation. Education needed is education from primary school and secondary school to develop writing skills, hard work, determination, good sense of English or maybe another language, maths to be able to work with numbers. Then go to a college or university to study about the music industry and tour managing, such as knowing what contacts suit the job and what contacts not to go for, knowledge about tour managing and how to be in control and know what to do, what is usually needed in a tour and what the tour manager needs to be responsible for.

Job Satisfaction: The pro's of this job is being able to tour with a well known artist, having the responsibility to take care of the artist and everyone with the artist, touring around the world, you could say its a fun job with loads of opportunities but there is very co features in this job because the tour manager has to be very wise and on the ball to make sure everything is going right, if the tour manager messes up and something does not go to plan the whole tour messes up, so the tour manager has to be very wise and determined to not make mistakes other wise there is bad things that could happen to the tour manager and money would be very tight because the tour manager would either lose their job or lose the money they were meant to earn.
Type Of Contract:

For tour managers they have freelance contracts and fixed term contract and specific time and job. A freelance contract for the tour manager is where the tour manager gets hired for specific jobs and times, brings their own equipment, tools and supplies. The tour manager does not need to sign a specific permanent contract because the job is not 24/7 and the tour manager does not need to be around permanately, the tour manager will get hired for a specific time of the year it could be for a week tour, a month tour etc.
A fixed term contract includes a definite start and end date for the job, ends automatically when a particular task is finished succesfully or when a certain event is finished. Both contracts are very similar and include the same rules and work nearly the same, both contracts hire the tour manager for a specific time and date, but with the fixed term contract it is more definite and offical, the free-lance contract is offical as well but the fixed term contract does the job of keeping the job definant but in a specific time in the summer. So with the artist the artist has quite a few permanent contracts included to the job and the artist has to share the money with the other jobs because the other roles help the artist with their job. But with the tour manager role the role does not have to share with anyone they get payed with their share and to what they deserve with the artist the other roles help the artist so the money gets shared with the other roles that help the artist.