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Ryan Conlon is not your typical music manager. He's the owner of Blackguard a clothing brand, production company, and barbershop all rolled into one, and he's managing four artists entirely on his own terms: no major label backing, no huge budget, just belief, & strategy.
Ryan gets into the realities of independent music management in the UK, what it actually costs to develop an artist, why he thinks marketing is what separates those who break through from those who don't, and how a late ADHD diagnosis helped him make sense of why he can do it all at once.
He also opens up about burnout, dark places, men's mental health, and what breaking even really means when the money isn't the point.
Follow us on all platforms!
Audience Economy:
Even - https://www.even.biz/artists/audience-economy
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/breakingeven_uk
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@breakingevenuk
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4btjfmM5oCYz9SV8Y0ZlAS?trackId=5N6UwTCRK9q6ueHn2kzisw
Theo Bailey:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dingo.vip/
Ryan Conlon:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ryan__conlon/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@blackguardclothing
Website - https://www.blackguardclothing.co.uk/
00:00:00 - Teaser
00:01:13 - Introducing Ryan Conlon & Blackguard
00:02:22 - Clothing, barbers, branding & music: the full Blackguard empire
00:03:19 - Running multiple businesses with ADHD
00:05:22 - Where it all started: from art class to entrepreneurship
00:06:18 - How clothes led him into the music industry
00:07:31 - What actually holds most artists back
00:09:03 - What does "breaking even" mean to a music manager?
00:10:21 - When is enough, enough?
00:11:01 - The roster: Sarge, Dreads, Cabbies & Dre Carti
00:13:12 - Owning your audience: email lists and the Even platform
00:14:36 - Training up the next manager under Blackguard
00:17:34 - Dre Carti: writing in the barbershop til 2am & a Jeremiah connection
00:19:35 - Why R&B might be the bigger opportunity right now
00:21:38 - Where Blackguard wants to be in 3 to 5 years
00:22:31 - How Ryan invests in artists without going broke
00:24:39 - What tools and subscriptions Ryan covers vs what artists pay for
00:27:06 - Managing artist expectations: label meetings at Costa
00:28:56 - Where is the actual money coming from right now?
00:30:18 - Why Sarge is the role model for the whole roster
00:32:13 - The Pole Up freestyle series explained
00:33:24 - The Breakthrough mixtape: putting Dudley on the map
00:34:01 - Pollinating audiences: bringing artists from different cities together
00:34:47 - Men's mental health and the Andy's Man Club charity event
00:37:18 - Youth mental health, school system failures & building community
00:38:17 - Burnout, dark spaces & why work keeps him sane
00:39:21 - The David vs Goliath mentality that drives him
00:40:15 - Why you need to look back at how far you've come
00:41:23 - Wrap up
#BreakingEven #MusicBusiness #MusicManagement
