A manager with one artist has a job. A manager with five has a systems problem. This is the operating checklist for a roster of three to ten acts: what to standardize, what to keep separate, and the weekly rhythm that keeps every artist visible when only one of them has a release out.
The problem is not the artists. It is the thirty logins.
Ask a manager with five artists where the press photo for artist three lives and watch the tabs open. A Dropbox for one act, a Drive for another, a text thread with a third. Five Mailchimp or Substack accounts, five Canva workspaces, five sets of social logins, and a press kit for each that was current the day it was exported. Nothing talks to anything else, and every release week you rebuild the same pitch pack from scratch.
The cost is not the subscriptions, although those add up. The cost is that the artist who is not releasing this month disappears. Their socials go quiet, their press kit ages, and when a booker asks for their numbers you are copying them out of Spotify for Artists at 11 pm.
Managing multiple artists well comes down to three decisions: what is shared across the roster, what belongs to each act, and what happens every week regardless of who is releasing.
Decision one: what is shared across the roster
Share the standards and the login, not the accounts.
One login for you
You should reach every artist’s press kit, catalog, contacts and posting calendar from one place, without asking anyone for a password. In Artist Results every plan includes a manager account (Gold and Platinum include one, Diamond includes two), so the artist adds you as their manager and your login lists every act you represent in one hub. Pick an artist, press Continue, work in their workspace, exit, pick the next. How that works end to end is on the Artist Results for Managers page.
One press kit standard
Every act’s EPK should answer the same questions in the same order: who they are in two sentences, what they sound like with a play button above the fold, their numbers, their press, their live history, their releases, one contact. Decide that order once and hold every artist to it. The guide to making an EPK covers the sections; your job as the manager is consistency, so a booker who opens two of your artists’ kits recognizes the same shop behind them.
One bio format
Short bio of 60 to 80 words, long bio of 200 to 300, both in the third person, both with a number or a name in the first sentence. Review every bio on the roster quarterly. The artist bio guide has the structure; put the review date in your calendar, not your head.
One naming rule for files
Artist, year, release, asset, version. Whatever the rule is, it is the same for every act, and it is written down where the artist and any freelancer can see it. Most “I cannot find the master” problems are naming problems.
Decision two: what belongs to each artist
The data. Every artist keeps their own account, their own catalog, their own fan list and their own press archive, and you work inside it as a manager. Three reasons to insist on that even when it feels slower than one shared account:
- Rights. ISRC and ISWC codes, writer and publisher splits, PRO and IPI numbers belong to the song and the artist, not to the management company. Keep them on each song in the artist’s catalog. If you have never audited a roster’s codes, start with what an ISRC actually is; the same recording carrying two codes is the most common error and it splits streams for good.
- Fans. An artist’s contact list is theirs. When a management relationship ends, and some will, the list should not walk out the door with you or be stuck inside your Mailchimp.
- Numbers. Streaming and social stats should pull from the artist’s own connected accounts, so the press kit stays honest without you updating it.
The manager account model gives you the access without the ownership. Nothing moves when a manager is removed, which is exactly what both sides should want on the way in.
Decision three: the weekly rhythm
Release week takes care of itself; everyone is paying attention. The system is for the other 48 weeks. A workable weekly pass for a five-artist roster fits in a morning:
- Monday, 30 minutes per artist: the hub pass. Open each workspace in turn. Is the EPK current (latest release, latest press, latest show)? Are the socials scheduled for the week? Any fan comments waiting for a reply? Any contacts who responded and were not followed up?
- Monday afternoon: pitch batch. Every outbound pitch for the week goes out from one sitting, with the artist’s live EPK link, never an attachment. Log who received what.
- Wednesday: numbers. Read each artist’s streaming and social movement for the week. You are looking for the two things worth acting on: a track that is growing without help, and a channel that went quiet.
- Friday: catalog hygiene. New song? Codes, splits and credits entered on the day, not “before the statement.” New press? Logged. New show? On the tour list.
Written down like that it looks obvious. The point is that it is the same pass for every artist, so the act with no release still gets thirty minutes of your attention every week and their kit never goes stale.
The tools: fewer than you think
Managers ask which artist manager tools to buy. The more useful question is which categories you need, because most rosters are paying for the same category three times over.
| What you need per artist | The usual patchwork | The consolidation |
|---|---|---|
| Press kit that stays current | PDF or a Canva page, re-exported every release | A live EPK that pulls streaming and social numbers itself |
| Catalog with rights data | Dropbox plus a splits spreadsheet | One library with ISRC, ISWC, splits and credits on each song |
| Press and tour history | Bookmarks and a Notes file | A press archive and tour list that feed the EPK |
| Social posting | Native apps, one login per network per artist | Scheduled posting and a campaign that keeps running (Platinum and Diamond) |
| Fans and email | A Mailchimp per act | Fan capture forms, tags, templates and automations in the artist's account (Diamond) |
| Your access | Shared passwords | A manager account on each artist's plan, one hub |
If you are comparing contact and CRM tools specifically, the artist CRM comparison walks through five of them. For the roster question as a whole, the test is simple: can you reach every artist’s kit, catalog, contacts and calendar from one login without owning any of it? If yes, you have a system. If no, you have thirty logins.
Onboarding a new artist to the roster
Do this in the first week, in this order, and the artist is set up the way the rest of the roster is:
- Artist creates their account on the plan that fits them and adds you as manager.
- Bio in your roster format, short and long.
- Catalog in: every released song with ISRC, ISWC, writers, publishers, splits and credits. Missing codes go on a list, not in the kit.
- Press archive and tour history, even if it is three items.
- Connect the socials so the numbers on the kit are live.
- EPK reviewed against the roster standard, link copied into every bio and pitch template.
- Added to the Monday pass.
Seven steps, one week, and the new act looks like it has always been run by the same shop as the others.
What not to standardize
Voice, visuals and release strategy. A roster that all sounds like the manager wrote it is a red flag to anyone who reads a lot of pitches. Standardize the structure and the hygiene; leave the words and the look to each artist and their designer. The social media guide makes the same point about posting: one platform done well per artist beats five done thinly, and which platform that is differs by act.
FAQ
Do I need a separate subscription as the manager?
No. In Artist Results you are added as a manager on each artist’s plan and you only need a login. Gold and Platinum plans include one manager account, Diamond includes two. Plans start at $15.99 a month per artist.
Can I see all my artists on one screen?
You work in one artist’s workspace at a time and switch between them from the hub. Each workspace keeps its own EPK, files, fans and posts.
What happens to the data if I stop managing an artist?
Nothing moves. The artist’s account owns their catalog, contacts and press kit; your manager access is removed and that is all.
How many artists can one manager account cover?
As many as add you. The hub lists every workspace you have been added to.
Should the management company hold the artists’ ISRC codes?
Hold a copy, yes. Own them, no. Codes and splits belong on the song in the artist’s catalog, and the artist should be able to take them anywhere.
The bottom line
Managing multiple artists is a standards job. Share the login and the structure, keep every act’s data in their own account, and run the same weekly pass for the artist with no release as for the one on the radio. That is what “a real shop” looks like from the outside, and it is what Artist Results for Managers is built around: one login, every artist, no extra charge for the manager. Start your first artist’s free 7-day trial and add yourself as their manager.