Inside the Playbook: Mike Caren on The Reason Artist-Manager Relationships Fall Apart

Mike Caren breaks down why artists and managers need to have hard conversations early if they want to avoid bigger problems later.This clip is about artist-manager communication, label frustrations, project readiness, honest feedback, over-communication, and building stronger working relationships in the music business. It’s a sharp reminder that many issues are not solved by blame. They’re solved by clarity, direct conversations, and the willingness to address problems before they get expensive.Simply put, a conversation like this doesn't come cheap.If you’re earning publishing income, make sure you’re collecting all of it. KOSIGN, powered by Kobalt, offers direct global publishing collections and real-time royalty transparency in a flexible, artist-friendly format. It’s highly selective, but free to apply here: https://bit.ly/4b438pjListen to the full episode here -Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2UnV1d2ltTCO1rfjqhTKc4?si=seltDGQ-RvWE9fwshY-f3wWatch the Episodes On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@managersplaybookTimestamps:00:00 Label Frustrations01:21 Tough Talks Early01:43 Is It Ready03:11 Feedback Not Gossip04:24 Ad Break Publishing06:12 Challenge To Improve08:13 Learning Softer Critique10:10 Over-communicate Always11:05 Decisions And Regret