The Oracle: It may be legal but that doesn't make it a good idea

Being offered a combined management, recording and publishing contract seems to be happening with more frequency these days. On the face of it there would seem to be “conflict of interest” issues.
The manager is the most important person in your career. A manager is there to select a record company, negotiate the best deal, hype you to everyone, assemble your professional team (lawyer, accountant, agents etc.), co-ordinate tours and generally be a buffer between you and the outside world.
The record company exploits the talent of its artists in order to make money for its shareholders. Although your welfare is a concern, this is not top of their priorities (unless you are a household name).
A music publisher is assigned the copyright in your songs (by you), and in turn they will find people to use the songs, give them licences, collect the money and pass it on to you once they’ve taken their cut.
Logically, I would have serious concerns about how an individual or a company can act as your manager and at the same time, as your record company and publisher, and do all three in good faith.
Not all of their goals and objectives are the same, especially with regard to money and ownership issues. Also, each role will have access to information about the band and their contracts not normally be available to the other roles. Inevitably, a conflict of interest arises.
I would strongly advise against these types of agreements. If you still intend to go ahead with this offer, you should have any contracts produced evaluated by a solicitor with specialist knowledge of the music industry.
A conflict of interest is defined as “a situation where someone in a position of trust has competing professional and/or personal interests, where such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties”.
Even if there is no evidence of improper behaviour, a conflict of interest can create an appearance of impropriety, undermining your confidence in the person's ability to act properly.
If you sign a management, recording and publishing deal with the same person, there is no way they can abstain themselves from the negotiation process. Is the deal in your best interests or theirs?