Early last week, we were fortunate to host Jonathan Simkin at our Entertainment Business Management campus. Simkin, an entertainment lawyer and partner in 604 Records (the latter with Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, Simkin’s longtime client) spoke to an EBM Talent Management Class to discuss his career (he got his start as a criminal lawyer) and his advice for aspiring talent managers.

Among the lessons current EBM student Edwin Edrada took away from Simkin’s talk: “The 360 deal is useless!” (A 360 deal allows a record company to tap into all of an artist’s sources of revenue, including tickets and merch.)

But most of all, it was about finding the right clients and nurturing them. “You must have a very good relationship with your clients. Be blunt,” Edwin explains of Simkin’s advice. Above all? “Find artists that you and your consumers will care about.”