Welcome to The Manager’s Playbook, my personal newsletter where I share weekly insights for aspiring artists, emerging music managers and executives on how to navigate the music industry, by Ruiz.

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Ruiz Note:

We got another edition of “Key Plays” with one of my good peoples in the music space. The one and only Gordan Dillard, Artist Manager to Doja Cat.

Gordan is easily one of the hardest working folk I know in the business. Him and I first connected in Europe a few years ago and ever since he’s been solid, A1.

For me, his journey in this music business is an inspiring one. I’ve seen him iterate at an impressive rate throughout his career always with the intention of providing the best for his clients.

Below is an excerpt of our conversation for the episode 009 of ‘The Manager’s Playbook’ Podcast.

You can catch the full conversation with Gordan Dillard next Tuesday September 10th at 12:30pm EST/ 9:30am PST on all platforms.

-Ruiz

KEY PLAYS 
(FEAT. GORDAN DILLARD)

My Conversation with Gordan Dillard

Ruiz: What does it take for an artist to be a superstar?

Gordan: Man. I think now, it’s a full brand. Being a talented artist is just not enough anymore. You got to be able to cut through. It's a lot of thickness out there.

Your determination, consistency, creativity, knowing what you want and how you want to do it, and the drive to do it, and a proper team to make that vision come to life.

Obviously, the music has to speak for itself. I think the music is the most important thing. It always starts there and then putting the right pieces to the puzzle together.

I think in today's age the word superstar is a very difficult thing to achieve. I think if you look at how many superstar artists are there and available now, it's not many…But those artists have been consistent for years. They have developed and fed their fan base…and they have a drive. Like, you can feel it. They just have that thing, you know what I mean?

You can't explain that thing, but you can feel that thing, you know? And I think having the opportunity to be around superstar artists all the time and to see, like, you know, the talent that it takes and how much hard work it takes. The ability to make creative decisions, the ability to say “no” to the right things, to walk away from money, to –

Ruiz: Super important. Yeah, you gotta walk away from the money.

Gordan: Yeah, it’s like setting your self up. You can't falter from your idea. You got to know what your idea is. You got to know what that is and you have to deliver on it to a point where you're almost insane, I think. And you kind of go crazy with it.

Ruiz: It's obsession.

Gordan: It is. It has to be, you know and you see it in the artists that are successful. There is an obsession. There's a want for it that supersedes a lot of others in my opinion, you know?

Ruiz: How important is it for an artist to have a vision? 

Gordan: You need one. To me, I feel like if you don't have a vision, you're just building something that's not authentic and I feel like then it's hard to sustain it because it's not really you. I feel like there's too much access to artists these days for someone to lie about shit for so long. Eventually it’s going to come out like, “That's not who you are…That is a front.”

Ruiz: I think it's almost impossible to not be authentic. I mean in this day and age.

Gordan: Yeah, you could try it though, but those artists you don't hear about.

Ruiz: What's the difference now between working at Maverick & SALXCO and having your own management company and your own team?

Gordan: It's all on our shoulders now. When you have someone like Sal (Slaiby) or a Greg (Thompson), or a Guy (Oseary), and I can still call on those guys whenever I need to, but, like, there's a system there. There's a level of, I want to say like a history level of, like, just information, knowledge, relationships, things that you kind of separate yourself from. You have to then go build those yourself. So, I mean, we're still doing great, you know, so it doesn't change the business at all. I mean, honestly, there hasn't been much difference because he taught me how to do it. You know? So, yeah, we know how to do it.

Ruiz: How big is the team?

Gordan: It’s small. We keep a small team around. Like it's me and my partner Josh. We have a few project managers that work alongside us. We have a few assistants, a brand team. We keep it small.

Ruiz: Do you get involved, much in terms of the finances, which I'm sure you always thought about when not running your own organization. Do you lean into that a little bit more because it is your own company or are you saying like, “No, listen, I'm going to just continue to build off of my strengths?” Not to say that isn’t your strength, but you know what I mean?

Gordan: For sure. Yeah, you pay attention to that, but like also I'm a bit like, this goes back to football, right? Like I know my position. I know my role. I focus on my role and my position and I'm great at that. I allow our business guys to do their job and they be great at that. My partner is great at what he does.

We all have our position and it's a well oiled machine in the sense that we are aware of what our strengths are and there's no ego in it, and we just deliver, and that's that.

We support each other and if anybody needs anything, we're always there for each other, so honestly, the smaller it is, it's better because, you know, we have eyes on everything

Ruiz: Yeah and everything goes through your hands

Gordan: And the communication is impeccable. Our team has a lot of trust. We want our team to grow. We want our team to be great. Everybody holds each other accountable. She (Doja Cat) holds us accountable. We hold her accountable and it's literally like a family.

PAY ATTENTION

OMAR AL-JOULANI: THE HITS INTERVIEW

Shining a light on Omar Al-joulani, president of Touring at Live Nation.

Omar has been instrumental in shaping some of the biggest music tours, like Adele and Swedish House Mafia, by focusing on helping artists grow without losing their creative freedom.

He’s been making a big push for the live music industry to be fairer for everyone, especially when it comes to ticketing. Check out his interview, it’s worth the read.

The Genius Behind Artist Fan Pages

Fan pages have become a powerful, low-cost marketing tool for artists, allowing them to flood social media with content without burdening the artists themselves.

These pages, interestingly enough, are usually managed by either fans or the artists' teams. They help amplify an artist's presence, especially on platforms like TikTok, but they work best when the artist already has a strong following.

Something to consider for your own journey.

Note: This article may be behind a paywall. If so, copy the URL and paste it into this paywall ladder to read the article without any issues.

You use Spotify to listen to music. Here’s how money from ads and subscription fees flows to artists

Key takeaway: Spotify makes music streaming easy, but the payment system leaves many artists earning just fractions of a penny per stream.

The reality is, the current model favours major labels, making it tough for smaller artists to make a living, highlighting the need for a fairer system.

INDUSTRY NEWS

U.S. Recorded Music Revenue Rose 3.9% to $8.65 Billion in First Half of 2024: RIAA

The music industry’s growth is slowing down, which might be a sign that we’re reaching a point where streaming has almost maxed out its potential. But the cool thing is seeing vinyl make such a strong comeback—it shows that people still crave those physical, hands-on experiences with music, even in a digital world. It’s like we’re craving a bit of nostalgia while living in the age of convenience.

Note: This article may be behind a paywall. If so, copy the URL and paste it into this paywall ladder to read the article without any issues.

Turntable Labs Raises $8.2m to Launch Social Music Streaming Platform Hangout

“With Hangout, users can take control of virtual DJ booths to spin tracks for their friends and others, participate in themed public rooms, and use custom avatars to dance and interact.”

The platform also offers voice chat, mobile apps for iOS and Android, and enhanced social features.”

Cool concept, although will it ever beat just going LIVE on Instagram/TikTok/YouTube? Interested to see how this plays out.

Adele Plans to Take an Extended Break From Music for 'An Incredibly Long Time'

“At her final show in Munich on Aug. 31, the 36-year-old singer revealed that, following her 10 remaining shows in Vegas, she’s taking an extended music break.”

One of the biggest musical acts of our generation is stepping away from music. How could we not touch on this?

Adele has had an incredible run. When an artist of that level “steps away,” it is felt across the industry. A lot of people, companies (ex. labels, sponsors) will have to adapt to not having her on the frontline anymore.

R.I.P. Fatman Scoop

Signing off by paying our respects to a hip-hop legend. The hype man.

CHECK THIS OUT..

Music Industry Job Openings

Have a look at ROSTR’s job board for paid work in the industry.

Stay hungry. Stay open.

Bio

I’m Mauricio Ruiz, the Founder/CEO of 8 Til Faint, an Artist Management company with over 5 billion audio streams worldwide. Our past and current clients include Grammy nominated, Juno Award winning and nominated singer/songwriter Jessie Reyez, Skratch Bastid and more. I am also the Co-Founder of Mad Ruk Entertainment, a content agency with over 3 billion long form video streams worldwide. Our client list includes The Weeknd, Eminem, and Celine Dion, along with renowned brands like Nike, Pernod Ricard, Canon, and the NBA. Most recently I am the Founder of ‘The Manager’s Playbook’

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