Management / Label / Publishing / Consulting

IRON WILL is an independent artist management agency with an affiliated label (distribution through Rough Trade) and publishing company (Radar Musikkontor sub-publisher). We represent rock and metal solo artists, bands and other creative professionals (producers, songwriters, etc.). At IRON WILL we also provide consultancy services for artists, projects and companies both in Germany and internationally.

In addition to our management activities we also offer project-related services such as the coordination, planning and execution of marketing and promotion concepts, international licensing deals, international label promotion and much more.

The IRON WILL team is comprised of music industry veterans who have held a variety of leading positions since the late 90s at companies including BMG Cologne, it-sounds (Goldrush), Roadrunner Records, EMI, Celsius Management, Elektrofilm and Transmission Management.

The extensive range of different artists we have worked with in the past includes In Extremo (D),  Grand Magus (SE), Danzig (USA), Caliban (D), Graveyard (SE), Guano Apes (D), Delain (NL), Eklipse (D), Sahg (NOR), Illdisposed (DK), Raunchy (DK), Betzefer (ISR), The Creetins (D), Days In Grief (D), Skeletonwitch (USA), Sommerset (NZ), NME.Mine (D), HIM (FI), The Devil‘s Blood (NL), Donots (D), Flyswatter (D), Negative (FI), Nickelback (USA), Liv Kristine (NOR/D), Corvus Corax (D), Tito & Tarantula (USA), Nightwish (FI), Rage (D), Kreator, (D) Burden (D), Mad Sin (D), Raised Fist (SE), The Anti Doctrine (D) Ready, Set, Fall (IT) and many more.

About Chris Klimek:

IRON WILL’s owner Chris Klimek is a true passionate professional respected throughout the music industry for his integrity and dedication. Born in 1973, Chris augmented his own early career as a musician by studying musicology in Cologne, Germany. In 2000 Chris joined BMG Cologne as a Product Manager and later moved up to the position of A&R Manager. He started his own Eat The Beat Music label and publishing company in 2003, signing a worldwide deal for the label in 2004 with Roadrunner Records. Roadrunner also hired Chris on as an A&R Manager, placing him in charge of building up the repertoire in Europe for Roadrunner and the affiliated R.O.T.C. publishing company.

In 2010 Chris Klimek set up his own new independent company, IRON WILL, and began working in conjunction with Celsius Management GmbH managing artists including Guano Apes, Delain and Apoptygma Berzerk. He joined Transmission Management GmbH in 2012 as a Project Manager supervising numerous music industry productions for clients including Sony Music and Universal Music as well as TV broadcasters including Germany’s Vox channel and many more. In June of 2014 Chris redirected his energies to the continued build-up and expansion of his own company, IRON WILL / EAT THE BEAT MUSIC.

In his function as a manager Klimek is involved in all operative business aspects for his acts and leads all disciplines (label, distribution, booking/touring, publishing, graphics, photo, video and other visual content, promotion, marketing, legal affairs, social media, etc ...). Together with his teams he manages and/or develops his own concepts, ideas and campaigns for the different departments and implements them.

Since 2018, Klimek has also been in charge of the TV media cooperations for the Summer Breeze Festival (Germany's second largest rock/metal open air) with WDR Rockpalst as well as Arte Live in Concert for the Mainstage and the T-Stage, respectively, as consultant & realizer.

In November 2019 Chris Klimek joined Norwegians Black Metal Pioneers SATYRICON as a team member of the bands Management company Watchtower.

In addition Klimek has been working in cooperation with the company FOG-Productions as a TV producer and MKT supervisor for Live- / TV- / Online-Streaming services since 2018. In December 2019 realized the show of the bands Arch Enemy (SE) & Amon Amarth (SE) from their sold-out arena show in Oberhausen in cooperation with 5B-Mgmt, Arte Concerts, Sony Music and EMP. In February 2020 he co-produced the live DVD of the band HAMMERFALL (SE ) – to be released by end of 2020.

From March 2021 to April 2022, Klimek worked as Senior PM / A&R Manager for earMUSIC / Edel in Hamburg, where he worked for acts such as Annihilator, Skid Row, Robben Ford, Gamma Ray, Inga Rumpf, The Damned, Once Human and Long Distance Calling.

Since May 2022 Klimek is eployed as Head Of Music of the Music Division SRM MUSIC at Sascha Rinnes office in Cologne (SR Management GmbH) and represents there among others Giovanni Zarrella, Sonia Liebing or Ben Blümel in all musical operational business matters.

Furthermore, Klimek works with the company AVA Studios (Berlin/Nuremberg) as a consultant and realizer in a joint venture for classical music video & live productions.

Klimek also regularly lectures as a guest speaker on his field of work "Artist Management" for institutions such as the SAE, the Fachhochschule des Mittelstandes or previously for Musicbiz Madness - just to name a few.