Physical mail, demo tapes and scouting reports. Old demos can remain without demanding attention.
START HERE
From suspicious bathroom to the charts
You are a music manager, not a magician. Find an act, persuade them to sign, help them create something worth releasing and try not to go bankrupt before anybody learns your name.
YOUR FIRST THREE DAYS
Open the business
- Sunday: create your manager.
Choose your name, age, style, favourite music and pixel portrait. These become your persistent identity.
- Register the company.
Name the agency or roll a generated name, then choose the stamp used around your office and paperwork.
- Monday: attend the bank meeting.
Compare loan amount, interest, payment, duration and total repayment before confirming. More cash means larger bills.
- Tuesday: choose your premises.
Home is cheap and embarrassing; better premises cost more but improve credibility. Music Association membership is optional and annual.
Greyed-out areas are deliberately locked during the tutorial. Follow the highlighted destination and complete each appointment before advancing.
WHAT LIVES WHERE
Read the desk
Email, business offers and press requests. Reports wait; some offers expire.
Live calls, private messages and Socials. A ringing call may block Next Day.
Headlines, public events, advertised gigs and venue listings.
Your Day and Night appointments, today's results and history. Empty elapsed time becomes rest.
Plan future manager work. Selecting a slot filters the activities that fit.
Each act's schedule, wellbeing, songs, releases, earnings and contract.
People, bands, venues and professionals you have met. Star hot prospects.
Manager timeCalls, scouting, meetings, shopping and networking use your Day or Night slot.Act timeRehearsal, songwriting, recording, promotion, travel and gigs occupy the band's whole day. Your manager usually remains free.
Some jobs need advance notice. Quick jobs can use a remaining valid slot this week, but interviews, auditions, venue meetings and work needing preparation, travel, a studio or several consecutive days may only be booked for next week or later. Move forward through the Calendar and choose an enabled date—an unavailable current-week slot is not a fault. Once today's Day slot has begun it cannot be filled retrospectively, although a valid Night activity may still be arranged. Fixed-date newspaper events cannot be moved.
THE BUTTON-PRESSING BIT
Book an activity
- Open the Diary.
From the office, click the desk Diary or the Diary menu button. Leave it on Week view.
- Choose a free slot.
Click an empty Day or Night box. The Activity toolbox opens and hides anything that cannot fit there.
- Choose the work.
Click the activity in the toolbox. Alternatively, choose an activity first and then click one of the highlighted valid slots.
- Plan farther ahead.
Use the left and right arrows above the week. Activities needing notice will direct you to next week; longer work may require a later clear date.
- Change your mind.
Click a planned item to remove it while it is still changeable. Work already happening or resolved cannot be put back in the kettle.
- Advance carefully.
Return to the Office and press Next Day. If it is grey, read its reason and open the object outlined in red.
Manager and act calendars are separate. Your Diary has Day and Night slots. A signed act uses whole days under Signed Acts. A gig, rehearsal or recording can occupy the act while leaving you free—unless you also arrange to attend.
THE FIRST SIGNING
Find somebody worth the risk
Inbox → Schedule time to review demos. The Diary opens with Demo Review selected; click a highlighted Day slot.
Newspaper → Local Music Venues shows styles and live nights. Then use Diary → Night activities → Visit [venue].
Diary → Night activities → Scroll artists on social media. Advance the day, then open the highlighted Mobile for any result.
- Open the result.
Demo and live-scout reports arrive in the Inbox; Socials discoveries appear on the Mobile. Read the description and fallible scouting ranges.
- Keep the lead.
Click Add to A–Z to retain a contact. On Socials, use Follow act for their future posts and gigs.
- Arrange an interview.
Click Book interview. A Socials lead must first accept Message about an interview. The Diary then opens: choose a highlighted future Day slot.
- Run the meeting.
On the appointed day, return to the Office and click the glowing studio door. Ask questions or request a performance until you are ready to discuss terms.
- Offer the deal.
Click Offer Contract, set wage, record-profit share, commission, term and first-single promise, then submit it. If accepted, sign your line and complete the goodbye; otherwise renegotiate, wait or walk away.
Want to assemble a band? Book Diary → Day activities → Hold a band open day. On the day, use the studio door to interview musicians, star promising people, keep callbacks and try compatible candidates together. Finish the open day, then use its shortlisted-candidates panel to choose a valid line-up, name the act and sign them. You need not force a band together from one mediocre room.
KEEP THEM FUNCTIONAL
Build the act
For every act job: open Signed Acts, choose the act, use the arrows to display the intended week, click a free full-day box, then open the required activity beneath the calendar and confirm its options.
Open Rehearsal, choose the practice-block length, then book it. Longer blocks bring small gains but more fatigue.
Open Songwriting, choose single or album work, a location and duration, then book. The completed job creates written ideas—not records.
Open Busking · quick cash and pick a free date from tomorrow onward. For gigs, open Live bookings on the act's Schedule & Work page. Choose one venue for an individual gig, or two to four for a run of separate booking calls. Nothing is booked until each conversation reaches an agreed deal.
Advance through the completed work, then open Computer email or Reports from the act. Check fatigue, health and relationship before filling every empty day.
“Completed” does not always mean “went well.” Act-work reports arrive by email and remain permanently filed on the relevant Signed Act page.
THE CORE LOOP
Turn a song into a chart entry
Songwriting→Choose songs→Record→Promote→Release Friday→Charts
- Create written ideas.
On the Signed Act page, select a free future day, open Songwriting, choose the project, location and duration, then book and advance until it finishes.
- Make a master.
Return to that act. Open Recording studio, choose Single, EP or Album, select the required songs and studio, review the calculated duration, then click Book studio session.
- Plan the release.
After recording completes, find Ready master · Plan the release on the act page. Choose a release Friday, promo-tour length, paid promotion, price and optional publicity stunt.
- Check the dates.
The green message identifies the nearest workable Friday. Conflicts explain what is in the way. Change the campaign or choose another enabled Friday before confirming.
- Commit the campaign.
Click Confirm campaign & release date. Promotion and travel occupy the act's calendar; the release remains listed with the act.
- See what happened.
Advance beyond release day and into the following chart cycle. Friday runs the Top 10 reveal; open Charts for the full main, genre and album tables.
Singles need one song, EPs need three to five, and albums need ten to twelve. Studios differ in price, speed and quality. The bathroom is free for reasons your act may later mention to the press.
AVOID THE FINAL NOTICE
Keep the lights on
Diary → free Day slot → Activity toolbox. Book leaflet drops, temporary work or van deliveries. Use Signed Acts → Busking for act income.
Open Finances from the main menu for cash flow, debts and recurring charges. Wages, rent, staff, membership and loan payments continue regardless of sales.
Open the act's recent gig reports to see tickets, merchandise, costs, act income and your management commission. Pre-signing gigs are not yours.
Read payment warnings in the Diary and Computer. Missing wages angers acts; two missed bank repayments can bankrupt the company.
STUCK?
Follow the red outline
If Next Day is grey, its message names the unresolved area. Open the highlighted object and finish, acknowledge or walk away from the decision.