Renowned artist blackbear (Matthew Musto - CEO and Founder) launches Beartrap Management. His current managers Samantha Maners (Co-Founder) and TJ Musto (Co-Founder) along with new partner, manager Zael Ellenhorn sign on as the new company expands.
Beartrap Management is a management collective, with managers working in tandem with one another to maximize opportunities for their artists. The vision is to break the “old school” format that has existed at companies for years.
blackbear says, “Beartrap Management was formed with a deep respect for artists and artist/management relationships to help provide guidance and opportunities to both the artists and the managers in their careers. I've been in the business for 15 years and have learned so much about the business side of things and I want to share that knowledge with the next generation of artists and managers.”
Co-Founder of Beartrap Samantha Maners says, “We have been planning for this for a while because of our passion to build a company with like minded managers who understand the concept of the collective and how it will benefit their artists.”
Music manager Zael Ellerhorn is the first manager to join the venture bringing Kina, Ben Zaidi, Phil Bentley, and Oshi.
Zael says, “I have known and worked with Samantha on different projects and I always loved her approach to projects, so when this opportunity came up it felt perfectly natural. There are plenty of music companies that hype what they offer to differentiate themselves but at the end of the day this is a business about people and how they approach their work. At Beartrap, I know I will be not only helping my artists succeed but having creative, supportive and opportunity oriented conversation with dedicated people who I also happen to really like.”
Beartrap is seeking other managers to join the collective as well.
TJ says, “We are actively speaking to young managers who understand the challenges that block success. We know that lack of resources and support are the thing that breaks down the artist/manager relationship. Beartrap will offer a solution that lessens those challenges, gives our managers a safety net to go out and bring big success to their artists and therefore minimize the barriers to breaking artists.”
Beartrap will continue to expand throughout 2022 and will announce new management additions soon.