Artist manager and 3x SA Music Awards ‘Best Manager’ winner Rachel Whitford knows a thing or two about building a sustainable career in music.
Ahead of BIGSOUND 2026, Rachel shares her top five tips for emerging artists from treating your music like a business and knowing when to build a team, to rehearsing your stage banter and mastering the art of the pitch.
1. Know what is actually required to be an artist.
Understanding what different roles are in the music industry, what skills you need to have and look after vs what you eventually can bring on team members to do for you is something that really helps your career! Not only will this help you work out what your goals and what brings you the most joy as an artist/business owner, but it also helps you keep your team accountable – because you actually know what you are meant to be doing!
2. Know what level of career you are aiming for and what you are willing to sacrifice for it.
I’ve seen it too many times (and have experienced it myself) where an artist is badly wanting an artist manager, booking agent, label etc to come on board and as soon as it happens a member will say they aren’t interested in being away from home that much, or willing to invest personal money into touring, recording, other band costs etc. Especially if you are in a band – this is a conversation that needs to happen before you bring in more team members. Having a partnership agreement can really help here!
3. Understand that you are a business.
If you’re earning money (or want to) as an artist, the sooner you accept you are a business the further your career will go. I know thinking about the business side of art is “super lame” but being a smart business owner, will help everything about being an artist. Having your business set up correctly, understanding how tax works – what you can/can’t claim, having partnership agreements/ contracts in place is something you will definitely need so there is no point in it being an afterthought!
4. Rehearse your stage banter.
It definitely sounds cringe but knowing when you are going to speak during the set, what you are planning on saying and how much time you have is so crucial! I see so many emerging artists fly through sets too quickly because they’ve gotten nervous and speed through what they have wanted to say or run overtime because they went on for too long.
5. Know how to pitch.
Until you have team members, you will be doing this constantly! To potential team members (managers, agents, labels, sync, lawyers), promoters, festivals, radio, media, content creators, brands etc. Spending time to actually research who you are reaching out to (and even if they are the right person to contact), if they are someone who aligns with your music and brand and ensuring you have properly addressed their title, role, spelt their name correctly and gotten the organisation right is crucial. Don’t just copy and paste. Make your pitches personal.