Articles
Economic fairness and outdated models.
As I write this there’s an ongoing parliamentary enquiry in the UK regarding the economic effectiveness of the streaming services model for artists. At the same time some artists are expressing concerns about publicly criticizing their earnings from the streaming services for fear of reprisals by way of not supporting any new releases or catalog to the extent the artist would obviously prefer.
Thoughts of a Manager: A Paean For Artists
David Whitehead is a New York-based artist manager and the founder of Maine Road Management, which he’s run for over 20 years. Whitehead’s current artist clients include the likes of Lloyd Cole, Hugh Laurie, Joe Henry and Joe Jackson, while in the past Whitehead (pictured inset) has worked with the likes of David Byrne and David Bowie. In the following open letter, published exclusively on MBW, Whitehead explores the role of the modern artist manager – and passes on an encyclopaedia of knowledge to those now entering his field…