So, one of the most common questions asked of me is simply "what exactly do you do for Amy?" You would think that would be a simple answer but it isn’t. Hopefully over time, as you read this blog, those of you who are curious will begin to better understand what a manager does, but to start things off I thought I would give you a glimpse of a fairly typical day (this was yesterday)
7:30am – at the computer answering emails regarding a variety of things. One email is a proposed 60 second radio spot for the upcoming Christmas tour, but the song selection in the spot doesn’t quite feel right yet so it will need to be tweaked. Another email is from a charity asking for Amy to donate a concert this fall. Another is from a company wanting to bid on tour merchandise designs… They keep on coming as fast as I can answer them.
9:30am – meet with Amy to discuss upcoming Lead Me On reunion tour questions. The meeting is supposed to last 30 minutes but winds up stretching out to about three hours as we decide to tackle as much as we can while we have the time. During the meeting she plays me two new songs that she has written.
1pm – at the office, finally! Have to approve artwork for the "Lead Me On 20th Anniversary Collection" that is going to the BMG Music Club. The regular retail release was in a "digi-pack" but BMG requires releases in a "jewel case" and that means we have to make some changes to the artwork. (Are you bored yet?)
2pm – new Christmas radio spot is sent and sounds much better. Need to call back several promoters and talk about their local marketing initiatives on both the ‘Lead Me On" and "Christmas" tours.
3:30pm – review a new website for Philosophy.com. Amy is partnering with Philosophy on an infomercial (we LOVE the stuff!) and for a campaign to raise funds/awareness for cancer research. Amy recorded a song called "She Colors My Day" and all the proceeds from the recording are being donated to cancer charities. To support the effort, Philosophy is creating a cool new website where people can make their own personal photo slide shows to the song. The website is supposed to go live on 9/29 and I will definitely post a link on this blog.
4pm – more Philosophy. Amy shot a music video for the song last Thursday in Birmingham and I need to speak with the producer about the time line for seeing the first edit. The producers/directors decided that everyone they hired for the video should be someone with a personal cancer story which made for a very emotional set. For instance, the little girl in the video lost her mom to cancer a few years ago. Shoot – that reminds me, I was supposed to have Amy sign pictures for all of the cast/crew while I was with her this morning. I guess I need to add that back to my "things to do" list for tomorrow.
5pm – talking to EMI about ways we can promote the Philosophy single on Amazon.com and a few other marketing ideas. Also approved a few interview requests for Amy to do to support the new Christmas Collection, which will need to be scheduled in the next two weeks.
5:30pm – calling it a day and off to pick up Braden (my 3 year old son) at school. I’ll turn the phone and computer off until after he goes to sleep and then try to catch up on emails once again before I turn in for the night.
