The International Artist Managers’ Association (IAMA) plans to get back to core practice at its upcoming 27th International Conference, taking place at Philharmonie de Paris from 5 – 7 April.
Whereas the past two editions explored change through the themes of ‘shake it off’ and ‘cultural crossroads’, this edition will see IAMA focus on its central mission: creating great artist managers.
“There’s so much pressure on artist managers now, with hundreds of daily emails to deal with, so we thought it was time to focus on key skills,” IAMA chief executive Atholl Swainston-Harrison told IAM. “We want to explore what makes a good artist manager, what skills are needed, and how they can cope with modern management pressures.”
To meet this goal, the conference programme considers the theme ‘who cares’ with four sessions: Who cares about selling?; Who cares about the artist manager?; Who cares about coaching?; and Who cares about local management? Speakers include Emmanuel Hondré (Philharmonie de Paris), Cristina Rocca (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and Jonathan Groves (Groves Artists).
Said Swainston-Harrison: ““The artist manager plays a vital role in looking after the artists’ interests – it’s something a promoter or presenter would simply not have the time or resources to do. These sessions will prove the value of the artist manager, and help promote a strong three-way partnership between artists, artist managers and presenters.”
Away from these professional development sessions, IAMA will introduce a new tool for managers to use: metadata. Caroline Henne, strategic business incubator at Google, will lead an expert clinic titled ‘Building an online strategy for artists’.
Added the CEO: “Most artist managers don’t have metadata on their radar – but there is a strong correlation between social media activity and selling downloads and discs.”