So you’ve gotten your foot in the door of the music industry and you’re ready to take the next steps in your career path. You know you can’t move ahead on your own and acknowledge that you need advice and guidance, but who exactly should you trust to work in your best interests?

If you’re an independent artist or a musician in a band this is the first of the determinative moments in the business of music that will shape how you’ll realize all your aspirations and goals. It’s time to align yourself with a talent manager. But before you do, make sure you understand what a talent manger does, and what the difference is between a talent manager, a talent agent, and a booking agent. The roles are distinct, and sometimes relying on someone who presents themselves as “all of the above” can cause you to have many setbacks that could otherwise be avoided.

If you’ve got talent… recognizable, undeniable talent, find a manger. An experienced manager; not your Mom, or your best friend, or your youth club coach. Find someone with real roots in the music industry that even the aforementioned are completely comfortable with because they recognize that the person has the requisite experience and your best interests at heart. And then, trust the manager you’ve chosen to guide your career unless and until you have clear and compelling evidence that it’s time to move in a different direction.

Here’s the difference; a talent agent acts in the interest of the bottom line. Their job is to get the payoff deal with a label or a brand for you. If you hit it big, so do they. You won’t be their only client. If you are, you probably shouldn’t be doing business with them. A booking agent essentially acts in the interest of venues. If it turns out the only folks who will pay to see you perform are your Mom, your best friend, and your youth club coach, what are the chances they’ll continue to work with you? But a manager? A manager acts in the interest of the talent he or she works with, trusting that as you evolve over time, their efforts on your behalf will be compensated both monetarily and with the satisfaction of having built something together. You may not be their only client, but the characteristic of a successful talent manager is that they have a knack for making you feel as if you are.

Do your research. The manager you select should have an intimate knowledge of your genre and the trends that are shaping it. He or she should immediately grasp your strengths, and also your weaknesses as they relate to making an impact in the industry. Your manager should be able to define and sharpen your image and offer suggestions of how to project that image to industry insiders. This is the person you rely on to work on your behalf to secure your financial interests when contracts are drawn up, to arrange and promote your live appearances, and to honestly assess your music. You may or may not cede financial control to your manager, but if they say, “We should spend money to produce a video”, trust them. If they say, “You should take this deal to promote a local business”, trust them. If they say we should, or should not, pay x amount for an opportunity to meet an A&R representative, trust them. And if they say, “I know you like this track, but it really doesn’t work for this mixtape…” please trust them!