Interview with Jaz Yates — Artist Manager and Entrepreneur

Jaz Yates has been a manager for the past 5 years, working with new, emerging and developing artists across Melbourne, Australia. Having developed her business, JY Management Group, while pursuing a Bachelors in Entertainment Management, Jaz knows all of the in’s and out’s of the industry. Across her career, Jaz has worked with a variety of creatives leading to her aspirations and projects thriving amongst her peers. This includes developing music events, working tirelessly long hours networking, building her clients’ careers, and pivoting her business towards online mentoring and teaching. In 2022, Jaz was one of the participants in the first cohort of The Port Authority Music Export Academy, focusing on her export plan to bring a new music distribution app to the U.S. market. 

Q: What do you think are the most important skill sets to have in your field of work?

As the owner of a music start-up and artist management business, there are multiple facets of skills that I have to utilize every day within my career. One that I utilize every day is the ability to hear what someone is telling me and interpret what it is they are really feeling and need. Working directly with artists who have to be so in tune with their feelings, I commonly experience situations where they want to express how anxious or uneasy they feel but they don't know how to express those feelings. My field of work requires me to pick up on those feelings and either work with the artist directly with them, or find a way to put the artist at ease in a subtle way. 

Another integral skill is the ability to take in new information on trends, or conversations of moves, other businesses and companies are making. It is then a necessity to not only look into considering how this best fits with my artists and their artist journey, but also how much weight this new space will hold in the music industry. Combining both together is essential to ensure that my artist is keeping up with changes within the music industry, but not investing too early into said changes when it could be a risk to their careers.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges in trying to introduce a foreign artist to the U.S.?

Some of the biggest challenges foreign artists face in aiming to build their career in the U.S., is the financial outlay. Thankfully, due to the capabilities of the internet, musicians can reach audiences globally and build a fan base strategically within the U.S. with ease. 

However, introducing an artist in person to the U.S. market requires a huge financial outlay, sometimes so great that an artist has very little capability to ever pay that money back. From visa charges to small venue guaranteed amounts, and everything in between, the artist is stretched thin financially with very little recoupment. This combined with an already oversaturated market makes the U.S. an increasingly different market to export to, until the foreign artist has financial backing. 

Q: What was your favorite piece of advice that you received through The Port Authority Music Export Academy?

My favorite piece of advice from The Port Authority Music Export Academy was received as feedback from an exercise curated by the program. Following the instruction of one of the mentors, this exercise had me include the weaknesses that may stop me from achieving my goals when exporting to the U.S.

The advice from the assessing mentor stuck with me stating that while being aware of one's weaknesses is important, focusing on them too closely can detract from how learning the process to strengthen those weaknesses will help your goals.

Q: What sparked your interest in your field? How did you get started?

In high school, I had a big passion for music and drama, I would take all of the music or drama classes available. I was also lucky enough to learn the flute, piano and voice, and when it came to choosing where I wanted to build a career I had these experiences that stuck well. 

Two of these experiences were my passion for understanding how musicians became successful, and my background in managing drama plays. Which in turn led me to my passion for artist management, and eventually to my desire of sharing the thoughts of others in this industry through my podcast. As well as solving an issue in the industry with my start-up.