Training Courses
At the Music Managers Forum, we aim to support the professional development of managers throughout their careers – from brand-new managers who have taken on their first act or new staff members to those who have worked in the business for many years. The music industry is constantly changing, and music managers never stop learning.
We provide a range of training courses and workshops for managers of all levels throughout the year.
We run our core set of events multiple times per year, so if you wish to participate in an event that doesn’t currently have dates announced, you won’t have to wait long.
MMF members can claim a 50% discount on all courses (email amina@themmf.net for discount codes)
Purchase Live and Touring tickets here.
Purchase The Real Deal here
29th – 30th September: Essentials of Live & Touring Bootcamp
Level up your live music strategy at the MMF’s essential two-day bootcamp!
Designed for early- and mid-career managers, but relevant to anyone looking to build an understanding of the live music industry, this intensive workshop dives deep into the crucial elements of building a successful live career.
Learn from industry experts, network with peers, and gain actionable insights to take your artist’s live performances to the next level. Led by Martin Tibbetts, an artist manager and educator with extensive live music experience, along with professional guests.
Dates: 29th – 30th September 2026
Time: 10am – 5pm
Location: Raw Material Music & Media Education Ltd, 2 Robsart Street, London, SW9 0DJ
Tickets can be purchased for individual days or for both days.
MMF Members can claim 50% off using the discount code in the members area of the website or from your newsletter.
Other trade body members (AIM, Ivors Academy, FAC, MPA, MPG, MU) can claim 25%.
Please e-mail info@themmf.net if you have any questions.
29th September 2026
Day One – Master the Art of Live: Growing Your Artist’s Profile
The day will explore how to build a sustainable live music career, from securing gigs to touring, while strengthening relationships with venues, promoters, and industry networks. Attendees will also learn about live royalties, marketing, fan engagement, and merchandising strategies to grow their audience and income.
Strategically plan live careers: from first gigs to full tours
Building stronger relationships with venues and promoters
Building networks and impacts from showcase opportunities
PRS for Music – getting live royalties paid
Marketing and promotion
Leveraging fan data to build Superfans
Creating your merchandising strategies on any budget
30th September 2026
Day Two – On the Road to Success: Mastering Live Touring
This day will focus on the practical realities of live performance and touring, covering budgeting, international touring, key industry roles, and managing challenges on the road. Attendees will also explore strategies for maintaining wellbeing and supporting mental health while touring.
Budgeting for gigs and tours
International touring
Understanding key live music roles and responsibilities
Navigating challenges on the road
Mental health on the road
See discount codes
The Real Deal Series
The MMF Real Deal Series (Online) is a practical training programme designed to give music managers a clear, confident understanding of how artists and songwriters manage and monetise their recordings and songs.
Tickets available here
It reviews how artists and songwriters collaborate with and utilise music distributors, record labels, music publishers, collecting societies and other business partners to get their music to market, unlock revenue streams and stay on top of all their music rights data.
It explains the role of the manager in helping clients pick the best business partners and negotiate the best deals, and considers the best ways to get the most out of those business partners once they are in place.
It also looks at how music-makers collaborate with each other, the deals agreed between collaborators, and how to get the most out of those collaborations.
There are four sessions focused on recordings and four sessions focused on songs and compositions. Each is delivered live online via a Zoom session.
The Real Deal Series is led by CMU founder Chris Cooke – a leading expert on music rights and deals, who wrote the record and publishing deal guides for MMF – and MMF Professional Development Director Paul Bonham, who leads on MMF’s training and professional development programmes, building on his own experience working as a music manager.
Each session will also include insights from expert guests, including managers, lawyers and marketers, and people working in labels, sync and rights administration. All attendees will receive digital copies of slides and MMF Deals Guide publications as resources.
REAL DEAL SEMINARS: RECORDINGS
05/10/26 Session 1: Record Deal Trends
Artists need business partners to help release, market and manage their recordings. There are numerous options from working with a DIY distributor, to artist and label services, to signing with an indie or major record label. We review how recordings generate income and the role different business partners play, and run through the various deal options, and the pros and cons of each approach. Plus what do you need to know about managing neighbouring rights income and getting the most from PPL?
12/10/26 Session 2: Negotiating + Managing The Deal
How do label deal negotiations work, and what is the respective role of the artist manager and artist lawyer? We review the key negotiation points along with current trends and what managers need to focus on to future proof their clients’ businesses in a fast moving industry. And once a deal is in place, how do you ensure you get the most out of the label and their team? Get insights from a leading manager and lawyer on how to get maximum value and support from the business partners your clients work with on their recordings.
19/10/26 Session 3: Producer Deals
As artists have started to evolve the way they work with distributors and labels, the deals negotiated between artists and labels and the music producers they collaborate with have also changed. In this session we look at the different roles a producer might play during the recording process, how producers are usually compensated, and what artist and producer managers need to consider when agreeing deals.
26/10/26 Session 4: Managing A Release Campaign
Managers play a key role in delivering release campaigns. Quite what that role involves depends very much on what business partners each client has engaged. Get manager and label insights on what goes into a successful release campaign, and learn how managers can get the most out of the distributors, labels and marketing agencies their clients work with.
By the end of this seminar series, managers will be equipped to make informed recording-business decisions, negotiate and manage key commercial relationships, oversee successful release campaigns, and confidently navigate modern producer and label deal structures on behalf of their clients.
REAL DEAL SEMINARS: PUBLISHING
16/11/26 Session 1: Publishing Deal Trends
What do your clients need from a music publisher and what kind of deals will best deliver that support? We review how publishers can provide financial, creative, commercial and administrative support, and explain the different kinds of publishing deals you may negotiate. Plus how do song copyrights make money and what is the respective role of PRS, MCPS and the publishers?
23/11/26 Session 2: The Collaborative Process
Songwriting is usually a collaborative process. How can you help match your clients with new collaborators, what is the role of the manager and the publisher in making those connections and getting the most out of collaborations, and what agreements and admin tasks are required along the way? Get expert insights from a songwriter manager and publishing A&R.
30/11/26 Session 3: Managing Rights + Data
A complex network of collecting societies, licensing hubs and royalty chains sit between the exploitation of songs and compositions and your songwriter clients. Getting paid via that framework requires quality data and administration. We run through what managers need to know about managing rights and data, and explain how you can get more out of music publishers and collecting societies.
07/12/26 Session 4: Maximising Opportunities + Income From Sync
For some artists and songwriters sync is a key revenue stream. Many record labels and music publishers offer sync pitching as a key part of their record and publishing deals. But how can you get the most out of a label or publisher’s sync team on behalf of your clients? And how can managers take the lead on sync directly, giving their clients more control and a bigger cut of the money?
By the end of this seminar series, managers will have the knowledge and confidence to negotiate publishing deals, manage rights and royalties, support successful songwriting collaborations, and maximise sync licensing opportunities for their clients.
