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:

Learn from the Best: Vanessa Adora's Path to Music Prominence

Welcome to this edition of our newsletter, where we have the pleasure of featuring the incredibly talented Vanessa Adora. 

I first met Vanessa years ago on the set of a Mad Ruk Entertainment production where she worked as a Production Assistant. Her dedication was immediately evident, and her rise in the music industry since then is no surprise.

Vanessa comes with a wealth of experience, having spent the last 9 years mastering the art of helping artists thrive on streaming and content platforms like TikTok, The Orchard, and Warner Music Group. At her most recent role at TikTok, Vanessa was pivotal in managing large-scale projects for premier music awards shows and festivals, where she worked tirelessly to ensure musicians not only showcased their talent but also built solid content strategies that earned them significant editorial looks. 

Her journey through the music industry has equipped her with invaluable lessons, the most essential being: Build your brand authentically, and the right opportunities will come to you. Vanessa's approach goes beyond just gaining visibility—it's about creating a lasting impact.

Excited to have her share her insights with you all in our STRATEGY section below.

CONTENTS

Strategy:
• Build it and They Will Come (By Vanessa Adora)

Pay Attention:
• How 4batz Became Music’s Hottest New Star - GQ Magazine
• Diljit Dosanjh Performed in Front of 54,000 Fans at Sold-Out Show
• What Does It Take to Headline Madison Square Garden in 2024?
• Billie Eilish Shares Advice John Mayer Gave Her At Start of Her Career

Industry News: 
• Taylor Swift Sets Single-Week Streaming Record With ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
• Tommy Richman’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ Outta Here

What We’re Watching:
• The Meteoric Rise of Tommy Richman

Check This Out:
• Music Industry Job Openings

STRATEGY

By Vanessa Adora

Build It And They Will Come

 If there’s one thing I’ve learned from receiving submissions and pitching music to playlist curators, marketing departments and label & artist relations teams, it’s that begging for a look isn’t a good look. If you build your brand and audience, they will come to you. 

New song out now? You and 100,000 other people. 

About 100,000 songs are uploaded to DSPs on a daily basis. The good news is that you have the ability to get your music out to millions of people each day but the sobering news is that you’ll have to figure out how to cut through the noise to get your music in front of the right audience to grow your fan base. While there is not a specific way to do this, spamming the people you know (and the people you don’t) with yet another low-quality video and caption “new song out now” isn’t exactly a cutting-edge strategy. Begin with sharing content that you think is newsworthy, share-worthy, culturally relevant or impressive. Think about the different content buckets or categories of information that you can tap into and where possible, tie it back to your music. 

First and most importantly, there’s the promotion of your music. Content that markets your music before and after it’s out with short snippets, behind the scenes of the music video, explaining the lyrics, or how the song was produced/mixed/mastered can create brand new fans. Think Megan Thee Stallion teasing her song “Hiss” at the top of 2024. Next, consider how you can make an emotional connection with your audience through your personal life, your experiences, and hobbies. Mix up your content by speaking the language of the platform you’re posting to using trending sounds, dances (if you’re comfortable), and trending audio to get involved in current conservations. Finally, use all of the tools at your disposal including going live, Q&As, filters and effects and participate in popular content styles like GRWM (Get Ready With Me) or cook with me while sharing something about yourself that can further draw your audience into who you are as an artist. Get creative and don’t be afraid to experiment with the type of content that you post. Not everything will be successful but be open to trying and eventually, you’ll find your audience and they’ll find you too.

BFFR!  

Authenticity is key. Corny, I know. But the kids taught me the phrase, “BFFR,” which means be f—----- for real. And they’re right! Being real and 100% you as a person and as an artist can only serve you in the long run because the people who initially fell in love with your music and brand (from your stellar content strategy) will stay and grow with you for the long term. So while it’s important to diversify your content, remember that you can’t be everything for everyone. And because that’s true, just be honest and true to yourself. Not a dancer? You don’t have to dance. Secretly love playing chess? There’s other nerds just like you. As you grow as an artist and as a brand, you’ll find your target audience and build a fanbase. At times, you will have to push yourself into uncharted territories in order to grow but your audience can read through the bull—. So just be yourself. 

Now that you’re presenting your authentic self, think about who your specific audience may be and the type of content that they’re likely to consume. Do they love a good ‘get ready with me’ or do they prefer watching a streamer play Fortnite? Are they rushing out of the house to get to an exam final or listening to trap music on their way to their corporate job? These platforms and their algorithms are smart enough to decipher your content and put it in front of the right people, but be sure to do your part by making content that is actually relevant to your specific target audience, not what you think the masses will want (and that extends to your music-making). Not only that, ensure every part of your post including the caption, hashtag, text-on-screen, location tag, voice-over and creator tags are relevant to the content (seriously, who is searching #fyp?) so that it’s placed in front of your target audience. This gives you the best chance to make new fans.

Are you ready to go viral?

This message isn’t just for emerging artists but established ones as well. JT of the City Girls said it herself. Never play a snippet if you don’t have a plan. 

According to a 2022 global report by Contraband, 36 of 74 artists who went viral that year saw their breakout song go viral in their FIRST post promoting the song. TikTok can take an artist from starving to chart-topping in a matter of days. If you’ve perfected your content strategy and hit the viral jackpot, you will attract the attention of the music industry’s key decision makers. And your next steps matter. A lot. Consider who on your immediate team can help you follow up your success. Every song and artist needs a tailored plan, but maybe there’s a bigger artist in your DMs who wants to jump on the track or a massive influencer who wants to be in the video and blow it up that much more. So if you do manage to strike viral gold, that’s when the real work begins. Be prepared to write and release more music. Be willing to jump into intensive rehearsals, media training, and writing sessions to keep the momentum going. And the good news is, if you do manage to build your fanbase and connect with them consistently through a comprehensive strategy, the music industry will take notice and you’ll have them reaching out to you to pour gas on the fire that is your brand. 

Let me hold your hand when I say this. 

Getting on a playlist is not a marketing plan. I repeat. Getting on a playlist is not a marketing plan. Editorial placement on playlists, banners and billboards are helpful tools that allow your music to be further discovered, but they are not and cannot be your entire plan. I have had countless conversations with disappointed labels and managers whose artist didn’t land a local new music Friday playlist or garner global industry attention. But almost 100% of the time, they didn’t create their own global marketing plan or content strategy to market the music! You now have all of the tools at your disposal to grow your own audience and if you’re pitching your music with a comprehensive marketing plan, content strategy and in the best case, a built-in audience waiting for the drop, the curators you were once begging for placement will be asking you to stop by the office for a listening session. We are living in a data-driven world so the songs with thousands of pre-saves and pre-adds, user-generated content using the clip and comments begging for the music make it a no-brainer for placement. Their job (like yours) is to build engagement and brand affinity, so they are going to give the people what they want. 

With these tips, I hope you feel empowered to find a consistent and diverse content strategy that is true to your brand and artistry. With experimentation and connection, you’ll be able to authentically grow your audience and the industry will take notice. Continue to build it and they will come. 

PAY ATTENTION

How 4batz Became Music’s Hottest New Star - GQ Magazine

“He really is a reflection of the time,” Chery says. “He started making music like a year ago, he uses mystery and cultivates a mystique. He alters his voice. He blurs the line between two genres. I don't want to make a declaration, but he's a snapshot of today's artist.”

Batz already has grand plans for the project he’ll officially deem his debut album. So far, he’s following a path not unlike the one traced by The Weeknd—the shadowy figure with an angelic voice who slowly but surely emerged into the bright lights.

A beautiful profile of 4batz, one of the industry’s most promising rising stars. Well worth the read.

Tommy Richman’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ Outta Here

Tommy Richman is an artist we’ve been following since the 2nd edition of The Manager’s Playbook (see the On Repeat section).

His potential was evident to us on the first listen. His newest song MILLION DOLLAR BABY is projected to be a top 10 song in the world. That’s a crazy metric.

Billboard has put together a great, concise intro on him that is worth digging into. Most notably, he is signed to Brent Faiyaz’s label ISO Supremacy, that he is also a partner in. Brent’s joint venture is with Pulse Music Group who is led by the incredible Ashley Calhoun and digital wizard Nick Barr.

Diljit Dosanjh Performed in Front of 54,000 Fans at Sold-Out Show at BC Place

Diljit Dosanjh made history with a sold-out concert at BC Place, drawing over 54,000 fans, the largest Punjabi concert outside India. Dosanjh previously made history as the first Punjabi artist at Coachella in 2023.

This is a market to watch.

What Does It Take to Headline Madison Square Garden in 2024?

A must read article for every artist & manager.

Billie Eilish Shares Advice John Mayer Gave Her At Start of Her Career

“I remember him saying, ‘It feels like it’s going to feel like that forever, but it will go away, and in a way, you want to take it in because it will cool off, and people won’t act like [you’re] Bigfoot when they see [you],’?” Eilish recalled.”

Fame and exposure are things we think we know how to deal with until we’re confronted with it. It changes people. It brings out the best and the worst in people. There’s no textbook way to deal with fame.. except for having people you can call on who have dealt with it before.

Exposure is the price one must pay, or the gift one must take on in this game in order to get to the “promised land.”

Lean into it.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Taylor Swift Sets Single-Week Streaming Record With ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

“The Tortured Poets Department earned 2.5 million equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first six days. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 1.85 million.”

Taylor went double platinum in a week. Naw, that’s different different.

+15 years later and she’s still getting bigger.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

The Meteoric Rise of Tommy Richman

jeremy_hecht

View more on Instagram

Take notes.

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 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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