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Manager Spotlight offers a small insight into the heads of incredible managers. This week in the spotlight is Grace Taylor of It’s Never Simple.

How long have you worked in Management?

I’ve worked in Management for nearly a year now joining JD Donovan at It’s Never Simple in June 2020, and what an exciting 10 months it’s been! It’s Never Simple is a multi-functional brand specialising in fresh, creative approaches to Artist Development, Artist Management and Digital.  After graduating I used the time to discover different roles in the creative industries, discovering that the avenues really are endless. It’s been a rollercoaster ride to reach where I am at the moment and I’m looking forward to what this year has to come.

Who do you manage now?

I’m currently day-to-day for Peter Sandberg & Tragic Sasha along with a few exciting consultancy campaigns. Being heavily involved with Peter’s project has been thrilling: seeing how a project can develop and grow is why management can be so rewarding. I joined JD around the time Tragic Sasha released her single ‘Shh’ so it was great to get stuck in from the word go.

Where did you find your first client and what inspired you to take them on?

I recently scouted and took on an Artist development project. What inspired me? Her mature song writing ability for her age, and her drive. There is always something to catch your ear! Working with young talents is something I’m really passionate about given my previous background as a singing teacher for teenagers and young children, and it’s great that JD has created a platform to give those artists a shot, and to let me bring in new projects!

What’s a good/bad day at work look like for you?

A good day… when receiving an email with progress on a project! Any victory – whether small or big is a positive and seeing growth in something you’ve done/been working on. Days that are creative – receiving new music from artists, artwork & assets, discussing projects and planning.  A bad day… plans get cancelled, miscommunications or failed promises.

What has been the highlight of your management career to date?

Being heavily involved with some fantastic artist projects and growing with them over the past 10 months. Peter Sandberg recently clearing 400 million Spotify streams and development client WANYI amassing 580k streams across her debut EP this month.  I am excited to see what else 2021 has entailed for us!

What do you think are the big challenges for a manager in 2021?

It’s really been a difficult year for everyone but I think striving forwards and keeping motivated in times of uncertainty is one of the biggest. As a manager your paint brush has to be dipped into a whole range of colour palettes and with the unknown of when live performances/touring and income will be generated, can be quite daunting for both artists & management teams. Which leads me onto discovering different ways to enable that support and income for your Artists – one of the challenges a number of our Artists have faced this last year is the frustration of growing that following, generating the fan base and turning that into revenue. This has been a prevalent discussion in many of the MMF Virtual Manager Meet Ups and continuous discussions with labels / managers / artists. Challenge of 2020/2021… being innovative and creating collaboratively!

What music are you currently listening to?

Well… a bit of everything but pulled specifically from my Spotify this morning… Paul Woolford, Shane Codd, Becky Hill, Joel Corry – normally artist tracks/remix go tos for training! Equally can’t not listen to Peter Sandberg whilst in the kitchen or winding down of an evening. Love discovering something new but equally cannot beat some old time classics.