Thoroughly modern managers take charge of pop singers
By Helly Minarti
JAKARTA (JP): On the surface pop music is about glitz and making hits. But at a closer look, it is more than some cool artists playing good music and singing some chart climbing tunes. The fact is, the new magic word of today's pop world successes is the management that backs the show.
On stage it may seem that it is the singer or the musicians who run the show, but their career may depend on the manager who has to make sure that everything works as planned. As a consequence, gone is the traditional role of a manager who acted more as a personal assistant or who often ran errands for the artist. It is replaced by a more modern approach that requires creativity on a par with the artistry of the artists themselves.
The latest case was shown by GIGI Management in their special gig titled The Tribute Concert. Organized by manager Dhani Widjanarko, GIGI Management successfully ran a two-hour free live concert of GIGI at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, an unusually classy venue for pop music. It was specially dedicated to the people who the band thought to have had a share in their success -- from band members' relatives to journalists and fans club members. The concert was tied in with the band's sixth album release and was broadcast live on a private TV station at prime time.
Dhani is one of the few who applies management principles to oversee a band, combined with his offbeat style to accommodate the band's creative and often costly ideas. He treats GIGI as a company, complete with short-term and long-term plans.
"I want them to concentrate on the musical side only and let me take care of the rest," said Dhani. It means that at a gig, the band only comes after everything is ready so that they can play right away. Tuning of instruments is not their job. Everything runs efficiently.
Dhani works himself on strategy issues and is aided by a full-time staff members for daily business. Additional crew are hired on a job basis.
Unlike GIGI, pop singer Reza chooses a collective team to manage her career. She co-founded Zahwakabiza -- an event organizer -- in 1997, as she prepared to launch her debut album, Keajaiban (The Miracle), which skyrocketed Reza to pop stardom.
Zahwakabiza, taken from the Arabic word zahwa and the Sundanese kabiza, respectively means 'pride' and 'gifted'. The organization consists of three twentysomethings: Aaron (production manager), Aqsa (account manager) and Damayanti (personal assistant). Aaron and Damayanti, graduates of an accountancy college, were Reza's seniors in junior high school while Aqsa is Reza's younger brother. They share responsibilities. For example, Aaron, with the aid of full time staff, directs show time, while Aqsa covers pre-production issues and other areas, including investigating concert possibilities or other jobs, such as model gigs for advertisers.
They sit down together with Dhani Ahmad, Reza's music director, or with the major label to cover issues such as promotional strategies. But for the rest, Reza's core staff handle her successful career, sorting offers from producers who want Reza to promote their goods. Aqsa said they turned down many offers, as they did not fit Reza's personality.
At first, the team projected Reza for a more selective upscale audience because her music inclined to R&B.
"We never thought she would get to the stage she has, and attract a much wider audience," said Aqsa.
Aquarius Indonesia even held off releasing the debut album for a year until the public was 'ready' to appreciate Reza's music. They also suggested she remix Pertama (The First), her first single, to add more poppy tunes.
Though strikingly different in style (Dhani's is more daring and innovative compared to Zahwakabiza's safe and sound judgment), both try hard to apply modern management in their work.
"We see Reza as a commodity that has a lifespan. Our task is to stretch it to as long as possible," said Aqsa.
Her team says they do have plans, but carrying out those plans is more a learning-by-doing process.
"We rely on the instinct of Reza's label (Aquarius) since they've been in the business for quite a while." said Aaron.
The tendency is global. Publicity approaches like GIGI's recent Tribute Concert are also carried out by international pop stars like Ricky Martin. He threw a similar event in Italy with a full week of solo concerts exclusively for journalists from all over the world. And the world Latin star reaped the benefits when he released his new single -- not even a new album -- a salsa thump titled Living La Vida Loca.
"My next dream for GIGI is to do a phenomenal gig in the year 2000. Something like Pink Floyd's The Wall (one gigantic, theatrical and phenomenal rock concert along the former Berlin Wall) a few years ago," said Dhani, who is dubbed as the best by his peers. He has even started thinking of the next move in their music careers for every member of the band in anticipation of the future downturn.
"Indonesia is no America. They can just make two world hits and live a lifetime on that. Our musicians are still far away from that kind of future," he reasoned.
Dhani plans to expand GIGI's management, so that it can deal not only with GIGI but other artists. Zahwakabiza has the same plan. "We'd like to be experts in artist management," said Aaron.