Career Guidance
We see how everything in the big picture fits together & help the artist navigate through the often-confusing maze of activities that seem unrelated yet are all part of a massive jigsaw puzzle. DSE, Inc. provides career guidance & helps to set the overall game plan for the artist & the artists’ team to follow. 

Time Management
There simply is not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done in order to further the career of an artist. In between writing songs, conducting interviews, designing artwork for CD’s & merchandise, managing a mailing list, filling out copyright paperwork, rehearsing with the band, hiring & firing musicians, updating bad websites & MySpace profiles, getting pictures taken, shooting & editing DVD’s & YouTube videos, sending out packages &/or updating EPK’s, researching, repairing & purchasing equipment, etc., there isn’t time to also craft a master game plan, solicit potential sponsorship partners, handle licensing requests, reach out to industry gatekeepers, attend industry networking events, harass labels for tour support & so on. Some tasks can be delegated to the band while others can be handled by DSE, Inc.

Accountability
Part of our job is to hold people accountable. What happens when the financial tour support that was promised by the label fails to materialize? Or the check from the booking agent bounces? Or the licensee fails to sign & return the contract but is using the artist’s songs anyway? Somebody has to keep people honest & that is most appropriately the manager’s job - our role.

Prestige
According to most record industry professionals, there is something to be said about an artist that has a manager. The logic is that if an artist is good enough to attract management, there must be something of value present. In fact, most major labels refuse to sign an artist unless they have solid team (manager, attorney & publicist) in place.

Sounding Board
As managers, even though basically an “honorary member of the band”, we are frequently on the outside looking in. We see things differently than the artist & provide different perspectives, insights & solutions to problems the artist is encountering. Running ideas by a knowledgeable manager prior to making decisions often allows for good ideas to become better & bad ideas to be removed altogether from the to-do list.

Representation 
We act as an effective screening buffer between the artist & people that want to do business with the artist. This buffer tends to attract legitimate industry players while at the same time filtering out perspective business offers.

Artist Development & Coaching
Even though fans are the main cheerleaders for an artist, someone has to communicate the same enthusiasm to the music business community. DSE, Inc. will trumpet the artist’s message to record labels, booking agents, promoters, media personnel, club bookers, independent retail accounts, etc., in order to keep them all engaged & enthusiastic.