blackbear Unveils New Management Company Beartrap Management

blackbear has launched a new management collective, Beartrap Management, alongside his current managers Samantha Maners and TJ Musto, as well as new partner Zael Ellenhorn.

“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,” blackbear said in a statement. “I’ve been in this 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.”

The new company was cofounded alongside blackbear (whose real name is Matthew Musto), Maners, and Musto, with Ellenhorn signing on as a new partner and bringing along Kina, Ben Zaidi, Phil Bentley and Oshi.

“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,” Ellenhorn said in a statement. “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 not only be helping my artists succeed but having creative, supportive and opportunity oriented conversation with dedicated people who I also happen to really like.”

According to a press release, Beartrap Management aims to break “old school” formats by having managers work in tandem with one another. The company plans to continue expanding throughout 2022, and is seeking other managers to join the collective.

“We have been planning 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,” Maners said in a statement.

Musto added, “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.”

Earlier this week, blackbear announced the “nothing matters tour,” which will kick off on Sept. 4 at Atlanta’s Coca Cola Roxy. The trek will see stops in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Detroit, Las Vegas and more before wrapping in Seattle’s Paramount Theatre on Sept. 29.