Media management is a general job title that describes people who manage talent for media professionals like those who work in photo, sound, and video. It is a form of entertainment management, a field that manages talent in show business. Professionals in the media management field work with many types of media-related talent, including actors, artists, writers, and musicians. Media management in business differs from media management in computers because the computer term refers to activities that involve processing computer media files like music, video, and picture files.
Managers of this type are common in entertainment and print media because they facilitate contact between those seeking talent and those providing media talent. The media management field can include many types of management, including managing the finances of a popular band or controlling the royalties in the estate of a deceased movie star. A media manager might also work as an agent for a writer of books or magazines, contacting publishers who might want to buy clients' writing work.
Media managers usually have a number of copyright and trademark laws that guide and restrict the way they conduct business within their media field. In most places, the laws that govern music copyrights differ from laws that control copyrights of motion pictures and photographs, so some media managers specialize in only one type of media. A media professional can benefit from the use of a manager because it allows the talent to focus on media work instead of promoting the work. Because managers specialize in promoting talent to industry professionals, they often have better and more reliable industry contacts that facilitate promotion and management of the media professional's work.
A large part of the job of a media management professional is to promote and control the media image of managed talent. Job titles for media managers include broadcast media managers, Internet media managers and public relations managers. Professionals in this field may also handle negotiating contracts and collecting payments, including royalties. In many regions, governments require a talent management professional to have a license in order to negotiate or sign contracts on behalf of a media professional. Management professionals can suffer invalid or negated contracts or prosecution if they do not operate within local laws.
