before the advent of mavericks such as stigwood, komlosy and meek, the british pop music industry was highly specialized. managers managed artists' careers, agents only booked artists into venues, publishers only published music and sold songs to artists and recording companies, and recording companies recorded, manufactured, sold and promoted the products. it was rare for a manager also to be involved in publishing or agency work, and it was almost unheard of for managers, agents or publishers to be involved directly in record production, as all of these activities by managers constituted conflicts of interest and breaches of ethics.