Welcome to The Manager’s Playbook, my personal newsletter where I share insights from Music Executives and Artists for aspiring and emerging music managers, executives and artists on how to navigate the music industry. This newsletter is brought to you by Mauricio Ruiz.

Hitmaka’s career makes a strong case for something most people in music still struggle to accept:

You do not build a lasting career by trying to do everything yourself.

You build one by learning how to work with people. The right people, repeatedly, over time.

That was one of the clearest takeaways from our conversation. Yes, the records are there. Yes, the credits are there. Yes, the longevity is undeniable. But underneath all of it is a deeper truth that applies to artists, producers, songwriters, managers, and executives alike:

The music business is still a people business.

We can talk all day about algorithms, virality, marketing, and audience capture. But at the centre of every real career I’ve ever seen, there are still relationships. Trust. Reputation. Chemistry. Timing. Collaboration.

Hitmaka understands that better than most.

And I think it’s one of the biggest reasons he’s still here.

Not only here. Still winning.

Quick business check:
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Too many people still view collaboration as compromise.

It isn’t.

In music, collaboration is infrastructure.

It’s how records get better.
It’s how access expands.
It’s how reputations travel.
It’s how leverage gets built.

That’s one of the things Hitmaka’s career reflects so clearly. His success is not rooted in some fantasy of doing everything alone. It’s rooted in knowing how to bring the right people together, how to build around an idea, and how to move a record closer to its best version.

That kind of thinking is mature. Creatively and professionally.

The strongest people in this business are rarely the ones obsessed with owning every part of the genius. More often, they’re the ones who know how to identify what’s missing, call the right person, add the right ingredient, and finish the job at a high level.

That’s not less impressive.

That’s the job.

One of my biggest beliefs, and something Hitmaka’s career reinforces, is this:

Early in your career, make it easy for people to invite you back to the party.

That doesn’t mean be weak or let yourself get exploited. That doesn’t mean abandon your value.

It means understand timing.

Too many people in music treat every room like it’s the last room they’ll ever get into. So they overplay their hand. They push too hard too early. They negotiate every moment like they have to win the whole war in one night.

That’s short-term thinking.

If you’re great, and if you plan on being here for a long time, the goal is not to maximize every isolated opportunity. The goal is to become undeniable enough that people keep calling.

Again and again.

That’s how leverage is built.

Slowly at first. Then all at once.

Hitmaka understands that. You can hear it in how he approaches collaboration, how he works with new artists, and how he thinks about long-term opportunity. He’s not chasing one-off wins. He’s building repeatable trust.

That’s a very different game. And it’s the better one.

When Hitmaka spoke about collaborating, he mentioned the obvious things first:

the tone, the work ethic, the willingness to be produced.

But then he got to the real thing.

‘She’s a good person.’

That matters more than people admit.

It is rare to meet genuinely good people in this business. People with no ego in the room. People who are serious, talented, collaborative, and still grounded enough to move with grace.

When you meet them, you feel it immediately.

And it changes the work.

Good energy gets more effort. Trust gets more patience. Character gets more grace.

That’s not some soft, idealistic way of looking at the business. That is the business.

Because when people enjoy working with you, when they believe your intentions are clean, when they know you’re not bringing chaos into every room, they give more. They push harder. They want to build.

That’s real value.

One of the smartest things Hitmaka does is not force the business before the relationship is ready for it.

That’s a subtle skill. But it’s a major one.

When he believes in an artist, he’s willing to work, build, and let the situation develop before trying to squeeze everything out of it upfront. Not because he doesn’t understand money. Not because he’s careless. But because he understands sequence.

Relationship first. Business second. Leverage after that.

People who rush to extract value too early often kill the bigger opportunity. They confuse urgency with strategy. They think getting paid immediately is always the smartest move. It isn’t.

Sometimes the smartest move is building enough trust and enough momentum that when the business does come, it comes back bigger, cleaner, and with the right people in place.

That’s what the best operators understand.

The relationship game is not fake networking. It’s not collecting contacts.

It’s belief and consistency.
It’s proof over time.

Relationships in music are not built on charm alone. They are built on reputation.

Do you show up?
Do you communicate well?
Do you deliver?
Do you make sessions better?
Do you make problems easier to solve?
Do people trust you when pressure shows up?

That is the relationship game.

And Hitmaka’s career is a case study in it.

You do not stay relevant across different eras, different labels, different sounds, and different roles by accident. You do it because people remember what it feels like to work with you. They remember that you added value. They remember that you helped move something forward.

That becomes currency.

The kind that gets you in rooms.
The kind that opens the next door.
The kind that creates opportunity long after a hit record drops.

If you are an artist, songwriter, producer, or manager trying to build something meaningful, here’s the practical takeaway:

Stop reducing collaboration to credits.

Start viewing it as capability.

Stop viewing relationships as transactions.

Start viewing them as long-term assets.

And stop asking, “How much can I get from this moment?”

Start asking, “How do I become the kind of person people call again when it matters most?”

That shift changes everything.

Because talent may open the door. But collaboration keeps you in the room.

And relationships, when handled properly, can keep you there for a very long time.

Watch Episode 63 with Hitmaka LIVE NOW

To celebrate 50,000+ subscribers on YouTube and 50+ podcast episodes, we turned the first chapter of The Manager’s Playbook into a digital magazine issue.

But before anything, thank you. If you’ve watched, listened, shared, or even sent one message saying “this helped,” you’re the reason we’re here. You didn’t just support content. You helped build the community around it.

Inside the issue is a curated rundown of every episode, the biggest takeaways, and the lines worth revisiting when you’re building in real time. Think of it as a reference guide you can save, share, and come back to whenever you need clarity.

Read the 50th Edition Magazine below.

I’m offering private 1-on-1 sessions for artists, managers, and execs who want real, practical advice on how to move their careers forward.

With 16 years in the music business and experience working with some of the biggest artists and executives in the world, I can share insights, strategy and ways to execute the pain points in your career as it currently stands.

Book your private consultation below.

Bio

I’m Mauricio Ruiz, the host and creator of The Manager’s Playbook podcast, dedicated to demystifying the world of music management, and Founder/CEO of 8 Til Faint, an Artist Management company with over 5 billion audio streams worldwide. Our past and current clients include Grammy nominated, Juno Award winning multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Jessie Reyez, Skratch Bastid and more.

I am also the Co-Founder of Mad Ruk Entertainment, a content agency with over 3 billion long form video streams worldwide. Our client list includes The Weeknd, Eminem, and Celine Dion, along with renowned brands like Nike, Pernod Ricard and the NBA.

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