How to Find a Music Manager: An Interview with Perry Davis

Today, we're sharing a fascinating conversation from our live series, "Patch Notes," where co-founder Max Pote interviews influential figures in the music industry.

For our inaugural episode, Max sat down with an old friend, music manager Perry Davis. Perry is a man of many skills and much experience, having helped found the management company 24/8, based out of Nashville, which represents loads of successful artists like Spag Heddy, Herobust, Ivory, and Viperactive.

In this interview, Max and Perry dive deep into essential questions for artists: how to get a manager, what managers look for, how to potentially get signed, and even how to become a manager yourself. It's an awesome path, not always the easiest, and something we're excited to learn more about.

Without further ado, here are the edited highlights from our interview with Perry Davis. If you'd like to see the FULL interview, head over to Futureproof Music School on YouTube.

Unpacking the "Overnight Success" Myth: Hard Work and Diverse Skills

Max Pote: We've been seeing Viperactive's name everywhere lately. As a fan, when you witness that happen, it feels like they just came out of nowhere. When in reality, that's just not really how it works, right? How did you find Viperactive, and what attracted you about them?

Perry Davis: I became aware of Viperactive through another client, Spag Heddy, who was a huge fan. He showed me some songs, and they did a collab called "In Vain." At the time, Viperactive was just making dubstep. But since then, he honed his sound and created this new hyperactive wave. Beginning of 2023, we reconnected, and he showed me all his new music. I was really impressed. That's when I said, "Yo, dude, I think there's something here. Let's see what we can do."

Perry Davis: There rarely is an overnight success. Viperactive has been committed to music full-time since he was 13. He was on Fiverr, making beats, cranking out 70 beats a month. If you're working that hard, you're gonna get good at your craft.

Max Pote: Would you recommend for a new artist to be working on things like sound design for video games, movie scoring, or side hustle work on Fiverr?

Perry Davis: If you're looking to be an artist and you want to get better at your craft, it just takes practice. Whether that's the Fiverr thing, or for video games, they're different avenues of the music industry, but anything you can do to further yourself in the knowledge of what you're doing is gonna be helpful.

Content, Platforms, and Building Your Fanbase

Perry Davis: There's no specific content that moves the needle the most. It's more about the quality. A lot of content nowadays is cookie cutter. When I'm scrolling, if I see the same video from seven different artists, I flip past it. But if it's eye-catching, unique, a little more artistic, then I'll give it a full watch. For platforms, Instagram and TikTok seem best for discoverability. For community, Twitch is great. Twitter/X and Threads are great for open conversations.

Perry Davis: Unfortunately, content is very essential now. It is the meta. Many artists make good music, but that's all they can do. Dubstep is still very young, but pop standards are crossing over. You have to have more than just good music nowadays. Content plays a really big part.

What Managers Look For: Vision, Planning, and Long-Term Thinking

Perry Davis: The thing that hooked me with Viperactive was that he had such a clear and concise vision for where he was at, to where he wanted to go, and how to get there. That made it really easy for me. I didn't have to come up with the plan. He had it. Every time I had a question, he had a full answer. He knew what he wanted to do, and that made it easy to get him there.

Perry Davis: He's been doing music full-time since he was 13. His goals are clear, achievable. He's not compromising on that. Some people think they want it, but they don't realize the work it takes. If you want to take it seriously and have a career, you have to work hard and treat it like a career. It's not just a music hobby anymore. It's a business.

Perry Davis: Every artist has an intrinsic ticket value. If you start getting popular and play a 9-10 PM slot at a 500 cap show for a mid headliner, you've essentially used up your potential on an opening slot. When you could have maybe done your own thing, waited a little bit longer, and it actually meant something for you and your career. Patience is something you can't teach.

Becoming a Music Manager

Perry Davis: For new managers, it's a good idea to find unknown acts and build with them. You'll learn together how things go. There are more opportunities now for internships or junior management positions. If you want to get into it without connections, find an artist you can attach yourself to and build with, who has potential. You'll be forced to learn who to talk to, how to deal with an artist, what to do.

Perry Davis: You have to be an expert at all kinds of things you're not an expert on. You quickly have to learn how to work releases, social media strategies. You gotta be a therapist sometimes. You have to wear so many hats.

Perry Davis: Attention to detail is one thing that separates average managers from great ones. The more disorganized your manager, the worse it is for you. And then tenacity. You have to be super tenacious. You have to be the amplifier for your clients. You have to be the megaphone saying, "Hey, this guy's cool. What he's got going on is really dope, and you should be paying attention."

Final Gems of Advice

Perry Davis: Three things. Work really hard. Know when to say no. And back up your hard drives.

Perry Davis: You can buy a terabyte hard drive, they're cheap now. Go get one. Back up your computer once a month. I promise you, when it crashes, you'll never regret it.

Apply the Industry Insights: Level Up Your Music Career

You've just soaked up some serious knowledge from Futureproof co-founder Max Pote and seasoned music manager Perry Davis. They pulled back the curtain on what it really takes to build a career in music: debunking myths, sharing hard truths, and offering actionable advice.

From understanding the grind behind every success story and the importance of a clear artistic vision, to navigating content creation and knowing when to say no to opportunities, these insights are gold. Perry and Max repeatedly emphasized the power of mentorship and learning from those who have navigated the industry's complexities.

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