Managers typically get from 15% to 20% of your (artists/band) gross earnings, with the majority earning 15%.  These percentages are usually applied to your gross earnings before deducting any expenses (15% contingency fee).

1)    If you are an individual artist the fee is pretty well across the board and the manager takes 15% of what you bring in.  However when it comes to touring 15% is more than you think is the manager’s fee is calculated on your gross, which can take a big bite out of your net. For example: if you earn $100,000 and net $40,000 your manager’s 15% or $15,000 is almost 40% of your $40,000 net.

2)    If you are in a group and you have more than 5 members, 15% of your gross equals all most the same, or more than any one of you earns. For Example: if there are seven of you, every one gets one seventh, that’s 14.28% which is less than the manager’s 15%. In fact, since the manager’s percentage comes “off the top” before you divide up any monies, you only get one seventh of the 85% left after the manager’s 15% which is 12.14%.  To add, for touring monies, a manager’s 15% of the gross is several times the share of net each of you are taking home.