Gives and Gets, Making Requests of Artists

Given my history working with established artists, I'm often asked by my clients to seek their participation in various endeavors involving either new technologies or new forms of distribution (or both). However working with artists is in itself an art -- and requires a certain delicacy, diplomacy, and an understanding of how they think & operate (which often as not is pretty far afield from how the typical businessperson thinks).

When approaching top artists, I've found it very useful to go in with a notion of "gives and gets"; that is, what you want to get from them or out of working with them, and more importantly what's in it for them (benefits). These guys are fending off requests daily, and they will need to be sufficiently intrigued or incented for your proposition to rise above the clutter and otherwise be made a priority they want to act on. Also establishing trust and rapport is crucial; lots of artists have been burned so they tend to be more cautious when initially approached (especially if there's no involvement from a trusted third party).

With the "gives", be sure to clearly outline the benefits to the artist in working with you (ex. how they'll reach a broader audience than they otherwise might, how they'll be part of a national campaign that will drive traffic back to their web site, that you'll promote something of importance to them, etc.). Also, don't overlook the importance of incremental revenues (what's the value of the deal in dollars & cents), and also whether you're offering them stock to incent them to say act as a spokesperson for the company or do some PSAs or what have you. They'll be listening for the compensation so spell it out.

With the "gets", it's most helpful to be specific about what exactly you seek from them (product, services), identify the opportunity, lay out what you're expecting them to do vs. what you will do, and give deadlines. Be careful to avoid making assumptions! Spell everything out to avoid misunderstandings.

If you follow these tips, and put yourself in their shoes (putting your attention on what's most important to them), you'll improve your chances of convincing artists to collaborate with you.