If you stick around the music business for more than a minute it is easy to see a group with a lot of potential get ruined by bad leadership from their management. One of the ways a group can get ruined is by having a “Yes Man” as a manager. Part of being a manager is to provide leadership and guidance and give the group a perspective when the band isn’t making a wise move and making selfish or lazy decisions. Recently, there has been quite the controversy as prolific producer Diplo has taken to trashing MIA and now in Black Book he has said much of the problems with her poorly received new record stems from her management. Here is what he has to say:
“Me and Switch tried our best to be quality control of the record and she
didn’t want that. She kind of went on her own way. I was like, Look,
nobody in your crew–we were the only people she could trust, and our
asses were on the line too. We got here because of working with people
like her. We care about the way things sound, and when the people that
she works with don’t, then it’s fucked up. She’s got a talent in every
aspect. She’s got ideas bigger than any artist I’ve ever met and she’s
someone to fuckin’ make that happen. All she has is a bunch of yes men
around her and they kinda suck.”
Having a sounding board and an objective perspective that doesn’t always agree with you helps you make good decisions for your music career. Make sure you are not going into business with someone who can’t pull their weight.