Veteran comedian Ali Baba shared his thoughts on what every artist manager operating in this age must know. Apart from his standing as a comedian of great repute, Ali Baba often shares tips on survival in the entertainment industry.
“As an artiste of nearly 30years, I have come to know a bit of what an artiste manager is, what value they can bring to a career, challenges they have, issues they have to deal with and what some have failed to deal with over the years.
The main reason an artiste needs a manager, is to succeed in their chosen career. So if the artiste is not succeeding… 50% of the failure is yours. Does not matter if your share of the pie is not 50%. So, I sat down and critically looked at what I as an artiste would have wanted my artiste manager to know, so that it will help in his plans for making me a constant star.
Where am I coming from? What’s my upbringing like? What’s the strength of my talent matched with the best competition? What am I doing right? What are my chances in the space of entertainment I have chosen? Who are my role models? Who are my mentors? What inspires me? What are my weaknesses? What are my areas of strength? Where do I want to be in 2, 5, 10, 20, 25yrs? What killed the careers of those before me?
What are the factors that can make me? What’s the brand I am pushing? What should determine my fees, pro bono, discounts, endorsements? What is my lifestyle? How does the Nigerian demographics affect me? What does my market want? What makes me awesome? What brings the worst out of me? Who am I sad or happy? What are my values? Who are my friends? What is my spiritual quotient? What’s my business acumen? Education? People skills? Good will?
Do you understand me? You see, it’s beyond traveling, arranging logistics, taking calls and booking events. It’s the whole 9 yards”
Ali Baba Writes on What Every Artiste Manager Must Know
