In this article

You’ll learn how to:

• set up your account and your artist’s account
• keep music, rights information and assets current in one place
• handle demos and submissions from your artist
• give every team working with the artist what they need
• pitch to labels, music supervisors and press
• share music at conferences and networking events
• manage a roster of artists

DISCO as your control center

A manager sits in the middle of everyone working with an artist: label, publisher, sync agent, booking agent, publicist, and the people running marketing, the website and social media. Each of them needs the current mixes, artwork, photos and bio, and each will use an old version if that’s what they can find.

DISCO keeps one current set of audio, visuals and media that every team pulls from. When something changes, you update it once and every link you’ve sent shows the new version.

Setting up your accounts

The setup that works best is two accounts:

• The artist has their own DISCO. It holds everything they make: demos, voice memos, session files and every version of every song, much of which you’ll never need.
• You have your own DISCO for your roster. Pull in what you need for the work in hand, such as release assets, pitch Playlists and Pages for each team, and keep each artist in their own Channel.
• You have a login to the artist’s account. The Artist plan includes two user seats, so when you need something that isn’t in your account, you can get it yourself instead of waiting for the artist.

To connect the two, the artist shares a Channel from their DISCO into yours with Shared Channels. Inside it, Folders split the material you work with, such as album demos, release assets, press photos and social media content. When the artist adds or updates something in the shared Channel, you see it in your DISCO straight away.

This keeps the artist’s catalog with the artist, keeps your account focused on the work you’re doing, and means a missing file never holds up a pitch.

Getting everything in

Start with the files that cause the most chasing: finished masters, instrumentals, stems, artwork, press photos, lyric sheets, live footage and the current bio.

• Bulk Uploader - for a hard drive or an old cloud folder, use the Bulk Uploader. Each lowest-level folder of files becomes a Playlist.
• Playlist Creator - drag files in from your desktop, or import from Dropbox or Box.
• Inboxes - share your Inbox link with the artist, producers and mixers, so new material lands in DISCO rather than in your email.
• Save to DISCO - when a file arrives by email, WhatsApp or WeTransfer, save it in a couple of taps with the DISCO app.

Files that live on the artist’s personal drive aren’t available when the artist is offline. Once they’re in the artist’s DISCO, you can get them yourself, which matters when a brief needs a track within hours.

Rights information and metadata

You are often the person a music supervisor or label calls to clear a track, so make that easy:

• clean Title and Artist fields
• your contact details in the Comments field, so whoever hears the track knows who to reach
• writers and splits in the Comments field, with publisher and PRO for each writer
• transcribed lyrics, so you can answer a lyric sheet request in minutes

The Writers tab is for your own records. It doesn’t travel with the file and isn’t visible to other DISCO accounts, so anything someone else needs goes in Comments. Lyric Transcription is unlimited on the Artist plan. For the details, see How to manage and edit track info and metadata.

Demos and submissions

Treat the artist’s new material the way an A&R team treats submissions:

• the artist keeps every demo in their own DISCO and sends you the ones worth hearing, to your Inbox or as a shared Playlist
• you listen, then move what’s worth keeping into a Playlist for the project or release
• Tags show where each song is, such as demo, in production, mixed, mastered or released
• a shortlist Playlist goes to the label, publisher or producer for the next conversation

When a demo becomes a finished track, nest the instrumental, clean version and stems under it, so every version is ready when someone asks. For more on running submissions, see the A&R quick start guide.

Supplying every team

Give each partner a link that holds exactly what they need, and keep it current:

• Label - release Playlists with masters, alternates and artwork.
• Publisher and sync agent - a Playlist of pitchable tracks with instrumentals nested and splits in Comments.
• Booking agent - an Artist Page or EPK with live footage, past shows and a short set of tracks.
• Publicist - a press Page with the bio, press photos, release information and the focus track.
• Website, social and marketing - a Playlist of approved artwork, photos, video and audio clips.

One Page can go to more than one team. When a new master or mix replaces an old one, replace the audio on the track and every link you’ve already sent plays the new version.

Pitching

A pitch on DISCO is a Playlist. Recipients stream or download from one link, with no account needed.

• Send a short, targeted Playlist for each brief, label or outlet rather than the whole catalog.
• Email from DISCO or Assign a URL shows which tracks each person streamed and downloaded. Copy link is faster but doesn’t tell you who listened. Over time, this shows you which contacts engage with the artist’s music.
• For unreleased music, add a link expiry or a password (Artist and Pro plans), or switch the Playlist to stream-only.

For the full workflows, see the Sync on DISCO and Promo & marketing on DISCO quick start guides.

Sharing at events and conferences

Conferences, showcases and industry meetups are where a lot of introductions happen. Have the artist’s music ready before you walk in:

• keep a short Playlist or Page for each artist that’s easy to find in the DISCO app
• use Make offline so you can play music without relying on the venue wifi
• share a link or a QR code during the conversation, so the person has the music before you’ve moved on
• save anything someone shares with you to DISCO on the spot, so it’s there when you follow up

Managing a roster

If you manage several artists:

• give each artist their own Channel, with a Folder per release or project
• use the same Channel and Playlist naming for every artist, so anyone on your team can find their way around
• each artist shares a Channel from their own DISCO into yours, and you can share a Channel from your account with another DISCO account, such as the label or publisher, so both sides work from the same files. Shared Channels are on Artist and Pro plans and above, but not on Plus plans
• if you represent composers or producers for media, keep each client on their own Artist plan with their reels as Artist Pages, give each client a Folder split into reels and projects so nothing is left free floating, and embed their Playlists on your agency website so the site updates when a reel changes
• keep pitches in one place, so you can see everything you’ve sent across the roster

For more layouts, see Organize your DISCO.

Resources

• Artists on DISCO: your quick start guide
• Writers & producers on DISCO: your quick start guide
• A&R on DISCO: your quick start guide
• Sync on DISCO: your quick start guide
• Promo & marketing on DISCO: your quick start guide
• DISCO Crash Course
• Questions? Chat in-app or email support@disco.ac

How other managers and artists use DISCO

• From management to sync: how multi-hyphenate Joel Gouveia uses DISCO to manage every facet of his work
• How Spectra Creative Agency helps clients grow with Artist Pages
• How Farrah Fawx uses DISCO to work with her sync, booking and management teams
• How Billboard-charting artist Dawty uses DISCO to organize his production catalog

Wrap up

Get the artist’s music, rights information and assets into one place, give each team a link that stays current, and send pitches that tell you who listened. When everyone works from DISCO, nobody uses last month’s mix.