In order to ensure that the label's releases are on time, within budget, and on brand, the label manager coordinates and oversees all operations at a record label, from product management and sales to marketing and A&R.

What Does a Label Manager Do?

Although the best teams make it look easy, creating a finished record is a challenging and unruly affair. Enter the label manager, a high-level record label project manager who coordinates the activities of departments and individuals in order to guide a musical project all the way from the early planning stage into the marketplace. For each release, label managers create  and implement an overarching schedule and budget. While the label's specialized employees focus in on their individual goals and tasks—creating the album's cover art, for example, or planning a press tour—the label manager's concern is always the big picture: creating a solid, economical product that represents the label well and releases on time.

Good label managers are organized, detail-oriented, diplomatic, and communicative.

Although project management is a common thread for all label managers, the day-to-day duties of the job differ greatly depending on the size of the label in question. Managers for small, independent labels might be directly involved in almost every aspect of the label's releases, including marketing, promotion, publicity, distribution, merchandising, licensing, social media management, tour planning, and more. On the other hand, managers at large record label companies delegate these tasks to employees in relevant departments, instead focusing their energy on broad project management and interdepartmental coordination. Major label managers might spend their time coordinating large marketing and promotional pushes, overseeing contract-signing and licensing negotiations, and weighing in on artist management and booking decisions.

Work Life Balance

Although this job takes place in an office setting, it isn't what one would call a typical office career. Every day is different for label managers, who work irregular hours based on the demands of the project and generally stay in constant motion. Tight deadlines are characteristic of the field.

Community

The record industry is the setting, but at its core, this is a job about project management. Good label managers are organized, efficient, detail-oriented, diplomatic, and communicative. They're natural multitaskers, delegators, and supervisors who revel in making order out of chaos. Still, although the core of the job is managerial, label managers can't be afraid to get their hands dirty. It's a results-oriented profession, which occasionally means doing something that's not in the job description in order to keep the project on track.

Finding Work

Label managers are usually either promoted internally or hired through a conventional job search process. Postings may be found on websites like LinkedIn, Monster, Indeed, or Glassdoor.

Professional Skills

• Project management
• Office administration
• Budgeting
• Written and oral communication
• Marketing
• Event management (mainly, concert booking)
• Radio promotions
• Personnel management
• Networking

Interpersonal Skills

The record industry is the setting, but at its core, this is a job about project management. Good label managers are organized, efficient, detail-oriented, diplomatic, and communicative. They're natural multitaskers, delegators, and supervisors who revel in making order out of chaos. Still, although the core of the job is managerial, label managers can't be afraid to get their hands dirty. It's a results-oriented profession, which occasionally means doing something that's not in the job description in order to keep the project on track.

Industries

• Film, Video, and Television
• Technology
• Video Games
• Advertising
• Artist Services
• Music and Audio Tools
• Radio and Streaming Music
• Recording Industry
• Health and Wellness
• Theater
• Live Music
• Opera
• Dance
• Orchestra, Chorus, and Band
• Education
• Arts Administration
• Journalism
• Church and Worship

Top US Cities for This Role

• Los Angeles
• San Francisco Bay Area
• New York City
• Boston
• Nashville