Written by Kurt Dahl
(Not associated with WENDEE)
“One of the advantages of signing an Artist Development Deal is obvious: the developer should open up doors that otherwise would be closed, such as providing industry contacts, booking shows, helping develop your live show, song writing, image, and brand generally.
“A clear disadvantage of the Artist Development Deal is that the revenue pie gets split further, so each band member earns less. If you sign with a manager or record label or publisher, the pie gets divided further. Now, you need all of these additional parties at some point in your career, so it’s a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, whereas not every artist needs the help of an artist development team.
“So that is the real question you need to ask yourself: to what extent can the developer truly “develop” your career? What are they offering that you cannot already do yourself? If self-managing isn’t something at which you and your band mates excel, you will benefit more from an artist developer, and sooner rather than later.”