The mobile app for artist managers: managing the roster on the road
Artist managers spend much of their working life away from a desk: in rehearsal rooms, at premieres, in foyers after a concert talking to presenters, and in airports. Prism's guide to booking agent platforms argues that a platform that requires a desktop browser does not understand the job. For classical managers this is equally true. This article sets out what a manager's mobile app should do and how ArtistHub approaches it.
Manager app vs artist app
There are two different mobile needs:
| App | Who uses it | Main jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Manager app | Agency staff | Check availability, log castings, update contracts, contact presenters |
| Artist app or feed | Artists | See schedule, travel, documents |
Overture, for example, documents an Artist App for artists with bookings, documents and offline access. ArtistHub provides a Manager app for the agency team, and gives artists their schedule through iCal links to Google Calendar, Outlook and iPhone.
What managers need on the phone
Availability at a glance
A presenter asks after a performance whether your baritone is free in two seasons' time. You need the artist's calendar, including holds, in seconds (season calendar).
Log a casting on the spot
Capture the inquiry while it is fresh: production, role, dates, contact. It should appear on the artist's calendar as provisional (castings workflow).
Contacts and history
Before a meeting, check the presenter's history with your agency: past engagements, open castings, last conversation (contacts database).
Logistics and itineraries
When an artist calls from a station, you need their travel, hotel and venue details (itinerary template).
Tasks and reminders
Follow-ups, deadlines for visas, holds to review. See automations and reminders.
Links from email that open in the app
Managers often receive notifications by email. In ArtistHub, CRM links opened on a phone or tablet can open in the Manager app, so a reminder about a contract goes straight to that contract.
Security on mobile
Phones get lost. Use device passcodes, sign out shared devices, and give staff only the access they need. Financial data in particular should be visible only to those who need it.
Checklist for evaluating a manager app
- Can I see one artist's calendar and the whole roster?
- Can I create a casting or hold in under a minute?
- Can I search contacts and see history?
- Are contract and logistics details readable on a small screen?
- Do email links open the right record?
- Are notifications useful rather than noisy?
How ArtistHub fits
ArtistHub's Manager app gives agency staff the CRM on phones and tablets: calendar, castings, contracts, contacts and tasks. The web CRM remains available for longer work such as contracts and invoices. For more, see our CRM buyer's guide.
A day on the road: how the app gets used
Picture a manager attending a premiere in another city. In the morning, a casting director emails asking whether a tenor on the roster is free for a production in two seasons. On the train, the manager opens the tenor's calendar, sees an existing hold for part of the period, and replies with the free weeks. The inquiry is logged as a casting so it appears on the tenor's calendar as provisional, and a review date is set.
At lunch, a soprano who is rehearsing elsewhere calls because her hotel booking has a problem. The manager opens her contract, finds the accommodation details and the company manager's number, and sorts it out in one call. In the afternoon, a daily reminder flags an unpaid invoice from a festival; the manager forwards it to the presenter's finance contact from the contact record.
After the premiere, the manager meets an orchestra's artistic planner in the foyer. Before the conversation, a quick look at the planner's record shows two past engagements and one open inquiry. The conversation starts from facts rather than memory, and afterwards the manager adds a two-line note so colleagues know what was discussed.
None of this needed a laptop, and none of it created information that lived only on one person's phone.
What should stay on the desktop
Some tasks are better on a large screen: drafting and reviewing contracts, preparing invoices and statements, building mailing segments and editing artist websites. A good mobile app does not try to do everything; it makes the urgent, small actions fast and leaves the long ones to the web CRM. When evaluating tools, check that the record you edit on the phone is the same record you see on the desktop, with no syncing step in between.
Common mistakes with mobile tools
- Using personal note apps for inquiries heard at performances, which never reach the shared system.
- Giving every staff member full financial access on their phone when they only need calendars and contacts.
- Relying on screenshots of calendars sent by chat, which are out of date as soon as something changes.
- Turning on every notification, so the important ones are ignored.
Rolling out a manager app to your team
- Agree what must be logged from the phone: inquiries, holds, key conversations.
- Set notification rules together so nobody is flooded.
- Check permissions for each role, especially financial data.
- Run a two-week trial and ask the team which actions are still slow.
- Review whether information captured on the road is reaching castings and contacts.
FAQ
Does ArtistHub have an app for artists?
Artists receive their schedule through iCal links that work in Google Calendar, Outlook and the iPhone calendar. The Manager app is for agency staff.
Why do managers need a mobile app?
Because inquiries, availability questions and logistics problems happen at performances, rehearsals and in transit, not at a desk.
Run your roster in ArtistHub
ArtistHub is a CRM built for classical and opera artist management: castings, contracts, the season calendar, logistics, invoices and the opera database in one place.