It’s almost impossible to learn and progress in your trade if you don’t listen to the experts. This is a point that well-known music manager Romeich Major chose to focus on when he addressed the young crowd from the HEART Academy who had gathered at his Campbell’s Boulevard headquarters last Thursday, February 10.
Romeich was speaking at a recent Dragon Be The One campaign session and shared that in his estimation, it’s a problem that is plaguing the industry now, and he urged those gathered to learn how to simply “Tek the advice.”
He explained that the formula for success that younger artists are using now is not viable as it is too dependent on the use of social media, including sites like YouTube. As such, their music is not trending internationally, mostly because they don’t focus on producing more music that are radio friendly.
Added to this, too many of them are just after fame, making for an unsustainable career in music.
“But dem just get inna one big hype, get likkle dub money and, guess wah a di problem after that now? The entourage. A di entourage a manage dem now enuh, not the manager. Di friend a seh this and a seh that and everybody inna yuh ears,” he added.
Without revealing too much, he also shared that this is one of the reasons he currently only has two artists, namely Shenseea and Ding Dong. This seems to be his very cryptic way of explaining why Teejay is no longer in the Romeich camp though he did not directly address that matter.
The popular manager also explained that even though entourages may be necessary as a form of protection for artists, they are quite expensive to maintain. However, he has noticed that when the entourage comes along many times, the artist begins to take advice from the wrong people.
This usually results in the artist telling the manager what to do and how to do his job instead of heeding the advice imparted. While he said he understands not everyone will give good advice, an artist needs to develop an understanding of who they can take advice from.
He added that they need to learn how to take advice from those in the business with many years of experience.
Romeich also extended his advice to artiste managers. He urged managers to learn to treat their clients with respect and be fair to them no matter how much or how little they have achieved.
“The second biggest thing is learn your talent … . Mi can look pon my artistes dem right now and know seh, alright, him have worm, him belly a run, him miserable, him woman a stress him, yuh haffi know … . Yuh haffi know yuh product just like any business,” he added.
Romeich also advised managers breaking into the business to be aware that it is a costly one, and they should have some financial backing if they are to achieve success. The most important lesson in his book for managers is to ensure that they always work hard to achieve their goals.
He also touched on other topics in an effort to try and bring a positive message to the young men using himself as an example of how hard work pays off.
