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.

Ruiz Note:

Byron Wilson’s self-awareness is unmatched.

He’s the type of artist manager who doesn’t need to say he gives everything to those around him—it’s simply understood. His actions of generosity speak louder than any statement or caption ever could. In a business where the economy thrives off of attention, Byron stands out as someone who gives his all, without seeking applause or adulation. I admire that about him.

I can speak candidly about who he is because I’ve spent more time with him in this business than with anyone else, outside of the clients I’ve represented.

We both worked together early in our careers—he as a newbie artist manager for a relatively unknown white rapper from the hard-knock streets (not so hard-knocks) of Vernon, British Columbia named SonReal, and I as an Executive Producer/Founder at the fledgling but raw and exciting, rebellious-spirited video production company, Mad Ruk Entertainment. We worked together on several videos for his artist, including the one that broke SonReal to a mainstream audience in Canada and the US with the Wes Anderson inspired ‘Everywhere We Go’ music video Directed By Peter Huang.

The honest truth about SonReal is that he’s an incredibly talented musician who is absolutely dedicated to his craft. His evolution from a clever rapper with a dope flow to versatile musician, artist, and singer has been great to watch.

But as you know, and if you follow this newsletter, talent and work ethic only get you so far if not paired up with the right people. Enter Byron Wilson.

I observed how he built the business of SonReal (aka Aaron Hoffman). I used to pepper him with questions on every video set we would be on about the music business. I wasn’t managing anyone at the time. I just had a genuine curiosity and love of the music game. Truth is, he may have been annoyed at the barrage of questions and unsolicited opinions but he never showed it. He was patient and always insightful with his answers. I could ask him the dumbest question — and I had a lot of those— but he always treated an eager Ruiz with grace.

I admire that about him.

We’ve been close friends ever since. I was there to celebrate his wedding with his incredible wife Sarah. I cradled his firstborn in my arms when his baby boy was just two weeks old. I’ve watched his life transform, from being a construction worker to becoming one of the best artist managers to come out of Canada on a global stage from our generation and beyond. It was incredible to really dive into his journey and story in the music business on the TMP pod. It was a long time coming.

But, here’s the thing. As I watch back our conversation on The Manager’s Playbook Podcast I’m coming to a realization — embarrassingly, I’ll admit — about 30 minutes into our convo I made this less about him and more about us and our journey together in this business.

And therein lies Byron’s superpower.

He allows it to happen.

He invites it in the most welcoming way, as if to silently say to himself, “I know you’ve got some shit to say. This is important to you. The floor is yours.” He allows me to share my thoughts and my journey. At this point, it’s hard to tell who’s the guest and who’s the host in this specific pod. He may have been annoyed but he never showed it. Again, always patient. Always insightful with his answers.

This is why he’s one of the best manager’s in the game.

Byron Wilson has a rare gift for making anyone who crosses his path feel at ease. That trait is especially important in the music business where things can get crazy, fast! That's why, about a decade ago, a year into solo-managing a than relatively unknown Jessie Reyez, I knew bringing him into the fold to co-manage her would provide the perfect counterbalance. His ability to listen to his clients' concerns and effortlessly work toward solutions seems to come naturally to him.

I admire that about him.

There was a moment in the pod where he said something to the affect of “I didn’t always think of myself as a leader”. I understand what he was trying to explain with that statement it but that comment struck me as surprising.

All I ever seen in him was a leader.

He might not be the rah rah, hype your team into battle, but with him it isn’t necessary. He leads with love and the people he works with he considers family. They’ll truly run through walls for him.

It goes without saying I have high respect for Byron Wilson. He’s one of my dearest friends in this game I call life and deserves all his flowers for the genuine dude that he is and work ethic to build sustainable and successful careers.

I really couldn’t be more thrilled to bring him onto episode 012 of The Manager’s Playbook Podcast to talk shop, and more. We’ve gone through ups and downs, seen each other at our best and worst plus everything in between in this biz. He’s truly my brother who has changed the course of my life in the most positive of ways.

Simply put, a conversation like this doesn’t come cheap.

Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only, Byron Wilson.

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You can also listen to ‘The Manager’s Playbook’ Podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and several other platforms HERE

For those who like to read, Below you will find excerpts of the conversation from our podcast in my KEY PLAYS feature.

-Ruiz

KEY PLAYS 
(FEAT. BYRON WILSON)

My Conversation with Byron Wilson

_{Note* This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.}

Ruiz: At what point did you know that it was important to have a team to be able to execute these things? And a reliable team at that. 

Byron: You know what? I think I learned it early, but I don't think I really doubled down on that until later. Because I think in the earlier days, we kind of learned to do everything. Actually, you know what? I take that back. Because the first time we got a booking agent, it changed my life. Because I was doing all that stuff by myself. And that was the first time that I was like, “Oh shit. This is how it's supposed to be done. Like, this is done way better than how I'm doing it”. And that was the first time that it allowed me to be like, okay, I'm gonna fall back from that part of it completely. Obviously I know it and I understand the deals and I understand that part of the business because I was doing it, but now I don't have to do it anymore and that's not what I'm focused on and I can drill in on this.

I always tell people this too. Like if I'm speaking to artists, do your best to put the squad together before you roll shit out.

Ruiz: Five seats at a table.

Byron: We had put the lawyer on the team. We had put the agent on the team. We had put the publicist on the team. DJ came right after. I think one thing artists always feel is that it's instinctual for them to feel like they need to get their stuff out right away, you know?  And even though we pulled that all together in eight months, which nowadays is fast to be able to pull that together,  it didn't feel like we were in a rush to get something out. It didn't feel like there was a clock ticking, which the unfortunate part is, once you get into those situations the clock does start to tick a little bit.

Ruiz: Well, you know what, it was more important for us to learn the business and building that team than it was to put stuff out. That was more important to us than anything else. I say to this day - this is why she [Jessie Reyez] has the career that she has. Because she, yourself, myself - We took the time to really learn this business before we put anything out there and that's what's continued to guide us throughout these years.

Byron: Yeah. No steps missed. 

Ruiz: One thing that you've always been incredible at, and not to say that you don't have great ideas, because I think content wise you're lit. But I would say more so, and maybe correct me if I'm wrong, but when it came to marketing and visual aspect, I handled a lot of that, and when it came to touring, you handled a lot of that. And obviously, Jessie's at the head of all this because especially at that time, she wants to understand and know everything. Every single little detail. But one thing that you really brought to the table was touring and merch. You really had a big emphasis on that.  Explain why that is so important and how somebody can generate real revenue doing that. 

Byron: I mean, it's the tangible reaction. Especially in today's music business where there's viral moments all the time. There's a viral moment every single day, multiple. And something can pop off and can stream like crazy and can make a ton of money for a label or a ton of money for an artist. But, it goes away.

Concerts and live shows and touring and merch and VIP - if you can build that part of your business out and know it takes work, and it takes grind and you have to start small, that shit can last you forever. And in my opinion, that's where the real tangible "is my shit connecting?" measure is.

Ruiz: Butts in the seats.

Byron: Butts in the seats. Are people taking money out of their wallet or money out of their purse or money out of their bank account to pay to come see you perform and then to go buy a t-shirt or to pay for a meet and greet? Are they doing that? And if they're doing that, even from a small scale, you're affecting the economy now. At that point, they're probably gonna go have a drink or gonna go out for dinner or maybe even travel, get a hotel. Like at that point you're now having an effect on the economy and that's just the dopest part of the music business. If you can pack these rooms out whether you're playing club shows or whether you're playing theaters or once you get to arenas, if you have people showing up screaming words back at you, you're doing the right thing. Now you just gotta scale that. You know what I mean? Cause if there's a hundred people in this room all screaming the words back at you, in today's day and age with data, there's thousands of people exactly like those hundred people. You just have to access them and find them and if you just keep going, you find them and then that hundred people turns into five hundred and then turns into a thousand.

Ruiz: It's 2024, how do you approach getting music out there now?

Byron: You know what's funny, some people will tell you it's the best time for music and some people will tell you it's the hardest time, or the best time to break artists and some people will tell you the hardest time to break artists. I think it's both. I think it can be, for some people, the best. I think that if you're young and proficient in social media strategy, it's the best time for you. If you're a purist that just is a studio rat and makes the best art, it's a hard time for you. You can have the best music, but if you don't have that social media shit locked right now, it's very, very difficult to shoot through.

Ruiz: I keep telling people this all the time now - we're no longer in the music business, we're in the media business.

Byron: 100%. 

Ruiz: It is what it is. The sooner you accept that, the easier this is gonna get for you.  But it's not second nature to everybody. If that's not your bag, you gotta find a manager or you gotta find somebody who can do that for you and figure out that side of the business.

Byron: That is a full time thing. Social media and social media strategy and the content stuff, like to focus on that and to do that properly, that takes all day. Every day.

Ruiz: That's definitely another seat at the table that you need to have. More important than ever. Like, who is somebody on the team who understands this world better than anybody?

GET UP!

This one is an oldie but a goodie! Skratch Bastid dropped this CLASSIC in 2007. However, we finally made it available on Apple Music for you to vibe with. Perfect listen to pick up the mood or get ready before a pre-party. I myself rinsed this mix way back in the day when I used to drive a Mercury Mystique with the moon roof open for summer time vibes.

Simply go to his profile page and you’ll find all the classic mixes he’s done including “Satisfaction Guaranteed!” Skratch does what he does best as he blends and cuts his way through hiphop, funk, soul and so much more.

Take it in. Its worth it.

CHECK THIS OUT..

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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 multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Jessie Reyez, Marley Bleu, 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.

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