Build Your Team
Hire for the bottleneck you actually have, with clear roles and terms.
A workflow for identifying the real bottleneck, choosing the right role, evaluating candidates, and agreeing on scope before giving away money or control.
Name the bottleneck before choosing a title.
Evaluate candidates against a clear scorecard.
Start with written scope, decision rights, and exit terms.
What You Will Learn
- Understand what core music-business roles actually do.
- Recognize when systems or specialists beat a manager.
- Compare commission, fee, and project structures.
What You Will Create
- Bottleneck map
- Role scorecard
- Interview and reference questions
- Written working agreement
Documents To Gather
- Current goals and workload
- Role scorecard
- Candidate references
- Written scope, term, and compensation
Diagnose the bottleneck
Identify the result the artist cannot reliably create alone and decide whether it needs a hire, specialist, or better system.
Bottleneck named
The needed outcome is clearer than the job title.
Actions
- List recurring work, missed opportunities, and decisions.
- Name the one outcome a new teammate must improve.
- Compare a full representative with project or hourly help.
Evaluate the person
Test relevant experience, working style, network, capacity, incentives, and references against the role scorecard.
Candidate checked
Fit, capability, incentives, and references have been tested.
Actions
- Ask for examples tied to your actual stage and goals.
- Discuss workload, conflicts, communication, and decision style.
- Check references and verify claims.
Start with clear terms
Document scope, compensation, expenses, authority, reporting, term, and termination so the relationship can be evaluated honestly.
Terms written
Scope, money, authority, reporting, and exit terms are documented.
Actions
- Define responsibilities and decisions in writing.
- Model commissions or fees against realistic income.
- Set a review date and a workable exit process.
Practice This
- Track one week of work and mark tasks only another person can improve.
- Call two references without the candidate present.
Before You Move On
- What measurable result should this person improve?
- What decisions remain yours?
- How can either side end the relationship?
Completion Checklist
- Bottleneck and desired outcome are written.
- Role scorecard exists.
- References are checked.
- Scope, compensation, authority, reporting, and exit terms are written.
Common Mistakes
- Hiring a title instead of solving a bottleneck.
- Treating enthusiasm as proof of capability.
- Leaving scope, expenses, authority, or termination unwritten.