The Manager's Playbook

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook, Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Amber Grimes, EVP, GM, and partner at Love Renaissance (LVRN), to talk about self-advocacy, asking questions, and learning the business without pretending to know everything. Amber shares how asking for help changed the way she negotiated contracts, understood stock compensation, talked about pay, and recognized her own value i...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook, Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Amber Grimes, EVP, GM, and partner at Love Renaissance (LVRN), to talk about what makes artists memorable in today’s music business. Amber breaks down the importance of visual identity, distinctive perspective, consistency, mystery, and competitiveness when building an artist brand that can actually last. She uses examples like...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook, Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Amber Grimes, EVP, GM, and partner at Love Renaissance (LVRN), to talk about what artists need beyond the music. Amber breaks down the fundamentals of artist branding: authenticity, purpose, identity, community, fan access, and building something people actually believe in. She also explains how fan culture has evolved from fan...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook, Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Amber Grimes, EVP, GM, and partner at Love Renaissance (LVRN), to talk about what goes into building artist rollouts that actually connect. Amber shares the story behind 6LACK’s tour promo with a real bear, how LVRN develops creative ideas as a team, and why the best rollouts start with meaning before money. She also breaks dow...

In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook, Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Amber Grimes, EVP, GM, and partner at Love Renaissance (LVRN), for a real conversation about artist branding, music rollouts, and what it takes to build artists people actually believe in. Amber breaks down the rules behind lasting artist brands: authenticity, purpose, community, visual identity, consistency, mystery, competit...

Great music still wins. In this clip of The Manager’s Playbook, Nael Atweh and Alyce Hayek of Grass Fed Music talk about what it really takes to build a music career that lasts. They get into artist development, independent artists, major label partnerships, AI, superfans, touring, culture-building, and why exceptional ideas still matter more than tools, resources, or industry excuses. Nael and Al...

What does it really take to last in the music business? In this clip of The Manager’s Playbook, Nael Atweh and Alyce Hayek of Grass Fed Music talk about the mindset behind building a meaningful career in music. Nael shares lessons from his father’s optimism, his Palestinian roots, his brother Nasri’s resilience, and the belief it takes to keep going when the business tests you. They also get into...

What separates great artist managers from everyone else? In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook, Nael Atweh and Alyce Hayek of Grass Fed Music talk about managing artists with care, honesty, trust, and real business execution. Nael shares lessons from Sal & Co, Mike Caren, and Scooter Braun, why the song has to come first, and how Grass Fed helped build DJ Habibeats by bringing Middle Easte...

Nael Atweh and Alyce Hayek of Grass Fed Music join The Manager’s Playbook to talk about building a music management company together as husband and wife. They share how they met, how their relationship turned into a business partnership during COVID, and how Grass Fed developed its artist services model for independent artists. Nael and Alyce get into artist development, content strategy, rollout...

Artist management is not just about deals, rollouts, and relationships. It’s service. In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Nael Atweh and Alyce Hayek of Grass Fed Music for a real conversation about what it takes to build artists behind the scenes. Nael and Alyce talk about running a music management company as a married couple, developing independent artists, b...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Omar Grant breaks down the mistake too many artists make with their music: releasing without enough quality control, strategy, or honest feedback. Omar explains why great songs still need the right artist, the right plan, and the right timing. He also gets into the pressure independent artists feel to release constantly, why the market can be a useful tea...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Omar Grant breaks down the strategy behind building a real career in the music business. Omar reflects on his rise from Bronx DJ and Columbia Records intern to Rihanna’s A&R and co-president of Roc Nation, sharing the lessons that shaped his path: patience, artist development, trust, relationships, and doing the work most people never see. He also exp...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Omar Grant breaks down why artist development no longer lives only inside record labels. As Rihanna’s longtime A&R, former Roc Nation co-president, and founder of Chapter A.R.T. Music Publishing, Omar has seen how real development actually happens: through time, trust, taste, honest feedback, and the right people around the artist. Omar explains why p...

Rihanna’s next album isn’t just another release. It comes with the weight of everything she’s already done. In this episode, A&R executive Omar Grant breaks down the pressure behind new Rihanna music, why following records like “We Found Love,” “Diamonds,” “Work,” and Anti is so difficult, and what it takes to make songs that actually last. Omar talks about global writing camps, creative brief...

In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Omar Grant , Rihanna’s longtime A&R, former Roc Nation co-president, and founder of Chapter A.R.T. Music Publishing. Omar breaks down what real A&R looks like today, why great records feel harder to find, and how Rihanna’s creative instincts continue to raise the bar for the entire music industry. He shares how global...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Lecrae breaks down the business behind Reach Records and what it really takes to run an independent label. He explains how Reach operates with a 20-person staff, 11 artists, multiple departments, and four studios in Atlanta, while also sharing how he balances being both Artist Lecrae and CEO Lecrae . Lecrae also gets into marketing budgets, recoupment, ex...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Lecrae breaks down how Christian radio really works and why gospel, Christian music, and mainstream radio operate in very different ways. He explains the cultural divide between gospel and contemporary Christian music, how artists get boxed into categories, and how Christian radio can connect records to major touring opportunities like K-Love and Winter J...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Lecrae breaks down the hidden business behind Christian music and why the niche is much bigger than most people realize. He explains how independent Christian labels built real revenue before major-label partnerships, how church licensing through CCLI can become a major income stream, and why Christian hip-hop developed its own touring power through live...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Lecrae breaks down how he built independently after major hip-hop labels said his music was “too Christian” and gospel labels said it was “too hip-hop.” Lecrae talks about being both authentically hip-hop and authentically Christian, the business influence of Texas trunk-sale culture, and how Reach Records became a fully independent label without a major-...

In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Lecrae for a conversation about faith, hip-hop, independence, and what it really means to build when the industry doesn’t know where to put you. Lecrae breaks down how he navigated the divide between mainstream hip-hop and Christian music, why Reach Records had to become fully independent, and how community, touring, and dire...

In this clip from The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz talks with Peso Pluma’s Tour Director, Veikko Fuhrmann , about the business behind Latin touring across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Veikko breaks down how touring deals differ by market, from flat promoter packages in Latin America to U.S. and Canadian models built around splits, overages, settlements, taxes, union fees, and visas....

In this clip of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with Peso Pluma’s Tour Director, Veikko Fuhrmann , to break down what a tour director actually does on a music tour. Veikko explains why the job is so much more than logistics. It’s cash flow, startup costs, payroll, vendor payments, credit card spend, delayed settlements, promoter advances, and making sure the tour can keep moving w...

In this clip of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with live touring specialist and Peso Pluma Tour Director Veikko Fuhrmann to explain why a tour guarantee does not always mean an artist is making money. Veikko breaks down how tour offers are built, what guarantees and overages actually mean, how promoter splits work, and why every expense matters once a show moves past the guarante...

In this clip of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with live touring specialist Veikko Fuhrmann of We Are Live to break down how artists lose money on tour and how the right team can fix it. Veikko explains why tour management is really about protecting the artist’s money, from club-level P&Ls and merch sales to promoter expenses, cash flow, insurance, touring LLCs, and upfront c...

In this episode of The Manager’s Playbook , Mauricio Ruiz sits down with live touring specialist Veikko Fuhrmann of We Are Live for a deep breakdown of how music touring actually works. Veikko shares his journey from working event security in Germany to joining Ricky Martin’s team and building a career across global tours, arenas, stadiums, and the live music business. This conversation covers the...