Managing Family

As a member of Grammy U, the student membership of the Recording Academy, I have been through many workshops dealing with managing and artist. Most of the workshops come from the artists perspective, one of the most frequent topics from the band's perspective is family. Should a band use and hire family to run their business?


There are plenty of artists who have had a positive experience with family management such as Beyonce and Ozzy Osborne. There are others like Lindsey Lohan that have had a hard time with parents for managers.


As an artist, there are many things to consider. A manager has to be experienced, dependable, trustworthy, and easy to work with. For a new artist there can be a lot of responsibilities that they must either take upon themselves or delegate power money to others. It can be convenient to have a relative that has had experience, any experience managing finances or contracts.


Think about it in the managers perspective. Is it a good idea to get involved in the business of family? What kind of outcome would occur if the artist does not succeed? Or, on the other hand, what if the artist does well? These are things to consider.


Personally, I think there are much more 'what if' scenarios with family than with strangers. It can be much easier to be professional with a  client than with a brother or sister.