Martin Tibbetts says the financial demands of developing artists remain a central challenge for managers, with teaching helping him sustain his management work. The manager, who has worked in management for 18 years, balances his roster with lecturing at universities and colleges.
“I teach in order to be able to continue to manage acts I love,” he said, describing the competing demands on his time as a continuing challenge.
Current roster and route into management
Tibbetts manages artists independently and alongside his partners at Three Piece Management. His current roster comprises:
- Pauline Murray / Penetration and Toseland, whom he manages himself.
- Ryan McMullan, The Guzzlers, Evie Cain and Ugly Baby, whom he co-manages with his Three Piece Management partners.
His move into management followed 22 years in the music business. Tibbetts and his then business partner, Mark Hobrough, were hired to recruit and assemble The Stiff Dylans for the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, subsequently becoming the band’s managers and signing them to Columbia Records.
He said he was close to completing a services deal for one of his acts. For Tibbetts, productive days involve advancing artists’ work and securing results, while unanswered calls and emails can leave progress stalled.
Three album campaigns with Sheppard
A career highlight came through his work with Australian pop group Sheppard. In 2014, while running Strange World Management with the late Steve Strange, Tibbetts co-managed the group with Chugg Music.
Shortly after the release of Geronimo, the group’s debut single outside Australia, he heard it playing across Universal Studios Florida while visiting with his family. He heard it again at Disney World the following day, experiences that shaped his expectations for the song’s reach.
Tibbetts identifies his contribution across three Sheppard album campaigns as a career high, alongside live performances, chart achievements and expressions of thanks from artists.
Teaching, training and listening
A certified manager with the Music Managers Forum (MMF), Tibbetts leads its Essentials of Live & Touring course. The organisation’s Manager Certification Programme recognises professional knowledge and experience.
He values the MMF’s resources and opportunities to meet managers facing similar challenges, and says delivering training also gives him opportunities to learn from participants.
His listening includes The Clash, whose music first connected with him in 1977, and Noah Kahan, whom he saw perform in Belfast a couple of years before the interview. He also praised Kahan’s new album and said his summer listening included reggae artists John Holt and Max Romeo.
