The Manager's Playbook

Tems’ manager Muyiwa Awoniyi joins The Manager’s Playbook to break down how to build a real company around an artist. In this clip, Muyiwa explains why Tems’ long-term vision goes beyond music into business, philanthropy, investing, ownership, and company-building. He also shares how non-transactional relationships, delegation, team structure, artist development, admin deals, distribution, YouTube...

Tems’ manager Muyiwa Awoniyi joins The Manager’s Playbook to break down the truth about Afrobeats going global and what African artists need to understand before chasing the American music market. In this clip, Muyiwa explains why artists need to build real leverage at home first, how cultural ripple effects shape global crossover, and why labels must invest in African music infrastructure instead...

Tems’ manager Muyiwa Awoniyi joins The Manager’s Playbook to break down how Tems’ team built a business beyond the music. In this clip, Muyiwa explains why The Leading Vibe treats expenses as investments, how they built an ecosystem around Tems, and why ownership, valuation, team culture, fan engagement, and business literacy matter for long-term success. He also talks about Tems as both artist an...

Tems’ manager Muyiwa Awoniyi joins The Manager’s Playbook to explain why real artist management starts with protecting the person before the music. In this clip, Muyiwa breaks down his people-first approach to managing Tems, why mental, spiritual, and physical well-being come before strategy, and how shared vision shapes the team’s decisions. He also gets into Tems’ RCA license deal, music ownersh...

Tems’ manager and partner Muyiwa Awoniyi joins The Manager’s Playbook to break down the strategy behind building Tems into a global music star. Muyiwa shares his people-first approach to artist management, why Tems’ team prioritized ownership over quick checks, how they structured their RCA license deal, and what it takes to build an artist career that can grow beyond music. This conversation cove...

Matt Hansen joins Mauricio Ruiz on The Manager’s Playbook to talk about the balance between being the artist and being the CEO of your music career. Matt explains why thinking about ROI, TikTok hits, or business strategy while writing can hurt the song and why he has learned to separate the creative process from the business side. He also breaks down testing songs on TikTok, revisiting hooks, prep...

Matt Hansen joins Mauricio Ruiz on The Manager’s Playbook to break down how independent artists can make content that actually moves the music. Matt explains how he built a short-form content system around TikTok hooks, emotional targeting, teaser windows, and fan data, including writing 15 hooks per song with his managers and focusing on the first 2-3 seconds of every video. He also shares how he...

Matt Hansen joins Mauricio Ruiz on The Manager’s Playbook to break down the real business behind touring as an independent artist. Matt explains how he used short-term distribution deals to fund touring and releases, why he kept ownership of his earlier songs, and how opening for artists like Train, Teddy Swims, Alec Benjamin, and Lauv helped grow his audience. He also talks about losing up to $14...

Matt Hansen went viral overnight after posting a one-take Frank Ocean “Godspeed” cover in a parking garage. In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Matt joins Mauricio Ruiz to talk about what happened after the viral moment: going from 500 TikTok followers to 500,000 overnight, getting immediate major label interest, taking meetings alone while still at UCLA, and learning how to protect his lev...

Matt Hansen went from posting TikTok covers to building a billion-stream independent music career. In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook , Matt joins Mauricio Ruiz to break down how a one-take Frank Ocean “Godspeed” cover in a parking garage took him from 500 followers to 500,000 overnight, sparked major label interest, and forced him to learn the music business fast. Matt opens up about stayi...

How The Manager’s Playbook Became Music’s Insider Podcast In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz shares why he created the podcast and how it became a way to give music industry knowledge back to the community. Mauricio talks about stepping away from artist management, wanting to build his own IP, and turning private “inside baseball” conversations into a public platform for arti...

When Is an Artist Ready for a Manager? In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz breaks down what artists and managers should understand before working together. Mauricio talks about why management is rooted in value, trust, communication, and the ability to sell a vision. He explains how a sales background can help managers build thick skin, ask better questions, read the room, bui...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz breaks down the early days of managing Jessie Reyez and the strategy behind her breakout single, “Figures.” Mauricio shares what made Jessie undeniable from the beginning: her work ethic, voice, authenticity, and the team that helped build the foundation around her. He talks about the role of The Remix Project , Junia-T , Byron Wilson , Dana...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz breaks down how he helped build Mad Ruk Entertainment into one of Canada’s biggest music video production companies. Mauricio reflects on the shift from million-dollar music video budgets to the digital era, where taste, storytelling, and execution started mattering more than access to massive budgets. He shares how YouTube, behind-the-scene...

How did Mauricio Ruiz go from managing artists to building one of the music industry’s most trusted insider podcasts? In this live, in-person episode of The Manager’s Playbook , the script gets flipped. Mauricio Ruiz sits on the other side of the interview to talk through his journey from film, door-to-door sales, and co-founding Mad Ruk Entertainment to managing Jessie Reyez and eventually buildi...

How do artists get discovered on Spotify today? In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz and Bryan Johnson from Spotify talk about the future of music discovery, editorial playlists, algorithmic recommendations, and what artists should understand about Spotify for Artists. Bryan explains why both editorial and algorithmic playlists still matter, how active listening signals like se...

Getting dropped by a record label used to feel like the end. In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz and Bryan Johnson from Spotify talk about how streaming changed the path for artists after a label deal ends. Bryan shares his own experience as a musician, from self-releasing music and touring in bands to getting dropped by a label and later moving into the industry through PRS a...

How is Spotify handling AI music, fake streams, and artist impersonation? In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz and Bryan Johnson from Spotify discuss how AI is changing the music business and what it means for artists, songwriters, rights holders, and listeners. Bryan breaks down Spotify’s approach to AI music, including spam filters, impersonation policies, AI credits, artific...

Spotify paid $11B to music rights holders in 2025 but who actually gets the money? In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz and Bryan Johnson from Spotify break down what the Loud & Clear report really means for artists, managers, songwriters, and the wider music business. They get into how Spotify royalties work, why payments go to rights holders first, what stream-share means...

In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Bryan Johnson, Spotify’s Head of Artist and Industry Partnerships, International , for a rare inside look at how Spotify is shaping the modern music business. Bryan breaks down Spotify’s 2025 Loud & Clear report , including the $11B paid to rights holders, the growth of independent artists, the rise of the artist middle c...

What does the future of artist development actually look like in a democratized music business? In this clip, Chris Anokute breaks down why younger artists, managers, and executives are building their own systems, skipping old gatekeepers, and using new tools to break artists faster than previous generations. He also explains why superstar careers are still possible, why artist development now req...

What makes an artist worth backing before the data shows up? In this clip, Chris Anokute breaks down why real artist development starts with belief, desire, point of view, and trust; not just streams, looks, or momentum. He also reflects on the Jessie Reyez story, what major labels often miss because of red tape, why disrespect can cost companies great artists, and how timing, leverage, and real r...

AI is already changing the music business, and artists can’t afford to ignore it. In this clip, Chris Anokute breaks down why AI is not a passing trend, how the industry may respond the same way it did with streaming, and why artists need to start paying closer attention to rights, royalties, and how their work could be used in the future. He also gets into why producers are quietly using tools li...

Why do artists still sign record deals if they don’t actually need them? In this clip, Chris Anokute breaks down the real value of record labels, why there’s no such thing as a universally “good” or “bad” deal, and what artists need to understand about rights, leverage, and ownership in today’s music business. He also explains why recouping even a small investment is harder than most people think,...

In the part II of this Manager’s Playbook convo, Mauricio Ruiz sits back down with former EPIC Records executive Chris Anokute to talk about what AI means for artists, how Suno is already being used in music, and why the future of the music business will belong to people who know how to adapt. Chris breaks down the truth about record deals, why no deal is simply “good” or “bad,” and how artists ca...