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Deadmau5 has signed with CAA for representation in all areas.
The Canadian electronic music producer will work closely with CAA on his future endeavors, including global touring, gaming and tech-focused efforts, among other opportunities.
“Deadmau5 has redefined the intersection of music, art, and technology, and we’re thrilled to be a part of his next chapter,” Deadmau5’s agent at CAA, Ferry Rais-Shaghagh, tells Billboard.
Given Deadmau5’s many projects across music, tech, art and beyond, his move to CAA was a function of the agency’s ability to offer opportunities with its other divisions in addition to live touring. The artist was previously represented by UTA, who he signed with in 2020.
Deadmau5 has a long list of accomplishments going back two decades. His debut album was released in 2005, and in 2011, he became the first electronic artist to play the mainstage at Lollapalooza. He’s since played major festivals including Coachella, Tomorrowland, Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra Music Festival, Outside Lands, Creamfields UK, and Bonnaroo. In 2022, his set as Kx5 with Kaskade set a record for the biggest ticketed global headliner dance event of 2022, according to Billboard Boxscore.
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His catalog has 1.7 billion on-demand official U.S. streams where Deadmau5 billed as the primary artist, according to Luminate. Hits including “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff,” “Strobe” and the Kaskade collaboration “I Remember” helped introduce electronic music to mainstream audiences, with his music and live performances also infusing boundary pushing technology. His 2019/20 U.S. cubev3 tour, featuring production of his own design and implementation, ranked in the Top 10 of Pollstar’s top tours globally.
Meanwhile, his label, Mau5trap, has released music since 2007.
The artist, whose real name is Joel Zimmerman, is managed by Dean Wilson at Circuit Group/Seven20. His team also includes attorney is Dina LaPolt from LaPolt Law, P.C. and publicist Alexandra Greenberg at Falcon Publicity PR.
Brandi Carlile has signed with CAA and Phantom Management for worldwide representation in all areas. In addition to helping expand Carlile’s music initiatives, CAA will work to create opportunities across film, TV, publishing and more.
Phantom Management was launched this year by music veterans Catherine Carlile and Carolyn Snell. The company also represents longtime Brandi Carlile collaborators The Hanseroth Twins. Catherine, who is also Brandi’s wife, began her music career at MPL Music Publishing in London and went on to work with Paul McCartney for more than a decade. After relocating to the U.S. in 2011, Catherine served as the executive director of the Looking Out Foundation and creative director for Brandi before transitioning into senior management. Snell has led the coordination and management of global tours for renowned artists such as Reba McEntire, Janet Jackson, John Mayer and Indigo Girls.
Brandi Carlile is an 11-time Grammy award and two-time Emmy award-winning artist. She has released seven studio albums, including her most recent, the three-time Grammy-winning In These Silent Days. Carlile’s debut album, The Story, spent 25 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart; all of her subsequent albums also landed on the tally She has additionally placed 14 singles on Billboard‘s Adult Alternative Airplay chart, according to Luminate.
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Carlile is also a renowned producer, with recent Grammy Award-winning projects from Joni Mitchell and Brandy Clark. She is a founding member of the all-female country group The Highwomen and has collaborated with Elton John, Soundgarden, Alicia Keys, Hozier, Noah Kahan, Jacob Collier, P!nk and Dolly Parton. She is also the creator of two annual music festivals, Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend and Brandi Carlile’s Mothership Weekend.
In the publishing arena, Carlile’s 2021 memoir, Broken Horses, reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. She is scheduled to release another book with Dey Street Books (Harper Collins) next year.
Carlile is also a founder of the Looking Out Foundation, which has raised more than $6 million for grassroots causes, and is a co-owner of the wine label XOBC.
Phantom Management was founded this year by Carlile’s wife Catherine and Snell, both of whom have long histories in the music industry.
For years, Hollywood talent managers have grumbled at a California law that puts them in danger of losing their commissions if they’re found to have engaged in activities related to obtaining work for their clients.
The issue relates to the Talent Agencies Act, a licensing scheme that was originally enacted to regulate agents and ensure that they’re acting in their clients’ best interests. The law says that only licensed agents can “procure” work in the entertainment business and that managers caught doing the same can have their contracts voided and commissions forfeited. Although lawmakers’ intent was to prevent unscrupulous business dealings, like conflicts of interests, it grew to be used as a sword largely wielded by talent to sidestep having to pay commissions. At least $250 million in fees have been nullified over the last 55 years, per the trade group representing managers in the entertainment industry.
But in 2020, a former CAA employee recognized a quirk in the law that managers could take advantage of. By his thinking, obtaining a license to secure work opportunities for clients wasn’t required if you could tolerate the risk of getting sued and losing the commission.
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“It looks like there is a ‘gray area’ on how managers are supposed to technically procure material since they don’t have a license form the California Labor Commission,” this unidentified ex-CAA employee wrote in an email. “However as long as the artist doesn’t sue the manager … looks like managers are fine?”
The theory outlined in that message became the central business model for Range Media Partners, a management and brand development firm founded later that year by departing partners from a series of agencies, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court from CAA against the company. It seeks a court order blocking Range from further violating the TAA by engaging in activities reserved for licensed agents and representing Writers Guild of America members without permission from the guild, which would effectively foreclose core functions related to securing work opportunities for talent.
The thrust of the complaint is grounded in Range allegedly stealing confidential information to poach clients, but its scope reaches the heart of the firm’s business dealings. CAA claims that Range, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, is actually just a rival talent agency masquerading as a management company, allowing it to skirt laws and guild agreements that give it an unfair advantage over competitors. In practice, Range is performing all the tasks of a talent agency, while also structuring deals in ways that agencies cannot, the lawsuit says. One example: the company can offer high-profile clients the ability to avoid paying a commission in favor of giving it a producer fee or credit on their project.
“The Range Founders told at least some of these CAA clients that they did not ‘need’ a talent agent to procure work for them, because Range could do it all,” states the major talent agency’s complaint, which flags stolen confidential information on client negotiations, revenues, preferences, interests and upcoming projects, among other things.
In a pitch deck to investors, Range proclaimed itself as the “revolutionary” successor to CAA and Endeavor, according to the lawsuit. It touted plans to “recruit high end representatives away from their current incumbent,” and to “rethink the system of representation,” with “production services as a cash cow.”
Since its inception four years ago, Range has surfaced as a competitor — albeit a small one — in a talent agency landscape that’s consolidated into three major players after CAA in 2022 closed its acquisition of ICM Partners. It’s drawn investments from hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures, media mogul John Malone’s Liberty Global, TPG founder David Bonderman’s Wildcat Capital, family entertainment company Playground Productions and A+E Networks, which serves as a co-producer on scripted TV projects set up at the company.
Range’s emergence coincides with a time in which talent is questioning whether they even want an agent. After the Writers Guild of America in 2019 sued Hollywood’s four biggest talent agencies in a fight over packaging fees and agency-owned production entities, thousands of writers fired their agents, with some power players, like Damon Lindelof, never hiring them back. Some, including Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio, haven’t had agents for years. Those two megastars have their interests represented by Rick Yorn of business management firm LBI Entertainment as Hollywood evolves into a business where there’s often overlapping responsibilities between agents and managers. In practice, both provide career advice and engage in activities related to getting clients work.
Amid this shift, agents are increasingly pivoting to management. Theresa Kang-Lowe and Phil Sun have both left WME in recent years to start their own management firms. Dave Bugliari, Mackenzie Condon Roussos, Rich Cook, Michael Cooper, Susie Fox, Sandra Kang, Rachel Kropa, Chelsea McKinnies, Peter Micelli, Mick Sullivan and Jack Whigham all left top agencies to become founding partners at Range. Some of the ex-CAA employees who left for Range are in arbitration with the agency over cancelled equity.
“Before, the agents were the most powerful. Period,” UTA CEO and cofounder Jeremy Zimmer told Vanity Fair last year of the rise of management firms. “Now there might be a splitting of the power.”
Still, the gambit could backfire on management firms engaged in “procuring” work for clients. The Deftones in 1997 filed a complaint with the California labor commission seeking to void agreements with ex-manager Dave Park for violations of the TAA. A commissioner later voided fees on the basis that Park secured 84 performances for the band. Marathon Entertainment owner Rick Siegal later sued the state Attorney General in a lawsuit claiming it’s unconstitutional to enforce the law on talent managers. After he lost that case, nearly 200 talent managers supported his appeal to challenge the TAA, which still stands.
In its lawsuit, CAA argues that the TAA bars Range from engaging in activities related to obtaining work for clients and that civil lawsuits from talent can’t be the only recourse. But it remains to be seen whether the agency has the right to pursue a court order blocking further violations of the law since it may not have been directly harmed by the conduct.
In that scenario, it may be up to the WGA, which didn’t respond a request for comment, to take action against Range if it’s found to have violated rules related to securing work for clients. CAA alleges that the company is violating a guild rule barring agencies from acting as packaging agents or owning a major stake in a production entity.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
Feid has officially signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which will be representing the multi-platinum artist in all areas globally, Billboard can exclusively announce today (Sept. 26).
With CAA’s representation—across music, film, television, endorsements, sports, business development and more—the Colombian artist is “poised to further expand his international reach and will work closely with CAA on future endeavors, including his highly anticipated world tour,” according to a press statement.
The artist born Salomón Villada Hoyos is known for his No. 1 hits on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart such as “Perro Negro” with Bad Bunny, “Luna” with Atl Jacob, “Yandel 150” with Yandel and “Hey Mor” with Ozuna. He’s also one of this year’s top finalists at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards boasting 11 entries, including Global 200 Latin artist of the year and Latin rhythm album of the year for Ferxxocalipsis, in addition to the five he achieved for “Perro Negro” with Bad Bunny.
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Feid is also a four-time Latin Grammy nominee, where he’s up for best reggaeton performance (“Perro Negro”); best urban music album (Ferxxocalipsis); and best urban song for two tracks, “El Cielo” with Sky Rompiendo and Myke Towers and “Luna.”
Additionally, his Ferxxocalipsis World Tour that sold out dates in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and more, kicked off the Latin American leg of stadium shows with two sold-out concerts in Mexico City last month. The tour will continue through December, wrapping with three consecutive sold-out stadium gigs in his hometown of Medellín, Colombia.
Feid is managed by Luis Villamizar.
Both Feid and Villamizar are set for the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week returning to Miami Beach on Oct. 14-18, with confirmed superstars including J Balvin, Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz and Peso Pluma, among many others. For tickets and more details, visit Billboardlatinmusicweek.com.
Welcome to another edition of Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. While you’re here, we also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Adam Muhlbaum is the newly minted general manager of Big Noise Music Group, the pop/punk label home of The Used, The Veronicas, girlfriends, Goldfinger and more, Billboard can announce. In Muhlbaum’s Los Angeles-based role, an upgrade from his gig as senior vp of marketing and project management, he’ll zero in on A&R, licensing and brand partnerships while also overseeing royalties and administration for the label’s roster, which also includes iann dior, Escape the Fate and MOD SUN. Prior to joining BNMG in mid-2018, Muhlbaum spent more than five years at BMG, where he led production runs for major releases from Blink-182, Janet Jackson, Iron Maiden and more. He also had a stint as head of digital sales and operations at Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak. As part of the transition, Muhlbaum will pass day-to-day operations to Heather Castillo, the label’s vp of marketing, and Josh Cohen, manager of label operations.
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Big Noise Music Group was launched in 2018 by former Vagrant Records head Jon Cohen and Goldfinger members John Feldmann and Nick Gross. “Adam has been with us since day one and has consistently proven his value and expertise while still making Big Noise a positive, productive home for our artists and writers,” said Gross, who is also CEO. “The sky’s the limit for our whole amazing team.”
Muhlbaum added: “Helping to build Big Noise for the past six years alongside Nick, Jon, Feldy, and our incredible label team has been a true highlight of my career and more fun than I ever could have imagined. Our next chapter will be focused on bringing broader creative opportunity to our entire roster — current and future.”
Universal Music Publishing Group picked veteran branding executive Alix Kram as the company’s first head of marketing. In the newly created global role, which she’s held since November, Kram oversees marketing efforts at the publisher with a focus on creative storytelling in order to, as UMPG COO Marc Cimino states, “enhance the incredible stories our songs tell and bring them to life.” Additionally, Kram works closely with Bravado, Universal’s merch specialists, to create strategic opportunities for the UMPG catalog. Prior to joining the Universal fam, Kram spent a year-and-a-half leading a retail business development and marketing team at Netflix. Before that, the NYC-based exec spent seven-plus years at Warner Music Group, where as head of global brand licensing and retail she and her team developed creative opportunities for roster artists including Grateful Dead and Wiz Khalifa. She is also the founder of theKRAMcollective, a boutique marketing and branding agency specializing in experiential storytelling, whose clients have included Hasbro, HBO, Atari and others. She reports to Cimino and chairman/CEO Jody Gerson, and also Bravado president Matt Young. “Upon first meeting [Gerson and Cimino], it was clear that they have created a truly global and unique culture – a force in the industry which leads with a passion for songwriters and champions the expertise of the people that make up the company,” said Kram.
ASM Global did some local hiring and promoting in Arizona, naming Ralph Marchetta to regional vp of live entertainment and elevating Melissa Wasson to general manager of State Farm Stadium. Marchetta, previously GM and svp of Footprint Center in Phoenix, has the mighty task of booking both the Desert Diamond Arena and State Farm across Maryland Ave. in Glendale. “He is well-respected by all, and now we have him playing for our team,” said Jason Rio, ASM Global svp of live entertainment and content development. Wasson joined the stadium staff in 2006 back when it was University of Phoenix Stadium and for the last 13 years has served as assistant GM. She has a lifelong connection with the stadium’s biggest tenant — the Arizona Cardinals — given she’s a native of St. Louis, the team’s former home. “Her decades of in-depth experience will prove invaluable as she continues creating unparalleled memorable experiences that thrill locals and visitors,” said Doug Thornton, executive vp.
Across the pond, ASM Global shifted industry veteran Ed Sanderson from a Singapore-based role, where he’s been working on the massive Kai Tak Sports Park project, to executive vp of business for Europe and the UK. Poor guy has to move to Milan, where he’ll be based as he bounces around Europe in support of ASM’s plans to expand its footprint there. “Living by my personal philosophy of ‘biting off more than you can chew and chew like crazy,’ I’m eager to get started, learn, and make a meaningful impact for our customers, clients, partners, and colleagues,” he said.
Former ASM Global executive Roger LeBlanc joined Romeo Entertainment Group as vp of sales development. With decades of experience, LeBlanc most notably founded and led booking and talent buying agency Madison Entertainment before its sale to ASM in early 2023. “Roger’s vast knowledge and his commitment to mentorship will not only enhance the capabilities of our sales team but also propel our growth and set new standards for excellence in our company and the broader industry,” said R.J. Romeo, president and CEO. LeBlanc can be reached at rleblanc@romeoent.com.
courtesy of FivePointFive
Jelena Grozdanich is the new vp of music at FivePointFive, a music-centric welltech app launching soon that will offer live and on-demand classes of functional breathwork. Grozdanich (GROWS-duh-nitch) is coming off a 10-year run at Sony Music Entertainment and Columbia Records, where she rose to director in the latter’s film and TV licensing division. While at Sony/Columbia, she represented a who’s-who of influential artists including Beyoncé, Adele, Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest and Elvis Presley, among others. During this decade, she also founded her own talent management firm (Guardian MGMT) and wellness community (TheSecret.LA). Grozdanich is based in Los Angeles. “We are excited to welcome Jelena as our vice president of music at FivePointFive to head up our music division,” said Adam Ludwin, CEO. “Jelena’s love of music, combined with her passion for wellness has led to her being seen as a key figurehead for wellness within the music industry over the last 10 years, so we are thrilled to have her as part of the team.”
CAA promoted Blair Adour, Jibran Ahmed and Sam Reisman to agent roles in the company’s global touring department. All three come from CAA Elevate, the agency’s agent trainee program, and they’ve all put in the work: Ahmed joined CAA in 2018 in the music crossover division before being upped to professional last year; Reisman started in 2019 as an assistant in the music touring division and most recently worked as a coordinator; and Adour joined as a professional in 2021 following a stint at Paradigm. Adour and Reisman are based in New York while Ahmed is in Los Angeles.
Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) promoted three executive staffers. Emily Dashiell has been promoted to senior vp of commercial partnerships, Jeff Gunkel has been upped to svp of market development, and Carlos Monnaco has been elevated to svp of finance. Dashiell will oversee the company’s revenue strategies across its portfolio and continue to focus on partner activations with DSPs while guiding the label business across global distribution, e-commerce/D2C, catalog marketing, and more. Gunkel will oversee areas of market development and digital rights, as well as Re:Think Records. Monnaco’s responsibilities expand to include oversight of financial planning and analysis, royalty accounting, and IT. Among the artists on CCMG’s roster are Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant, TobyMac, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, and Crowder. –Jessica Nicholson
Canada native Jenn Dobbins joined BMG as senior vp of rights and royalties in the music company’s U.S.-based copyright and royalties hub in Nashville. Dobbins previously handled asset operations for JKBX, a music investment platform, and earlier she spent six years at Big Machine Label Group, where she rose to director of royalty accounting and income analytics. Throughout her 18-year career in the field, she also made stops at payroll platform Exactuals and Sony Music. At BMG she reports to Eric Scott, evp of rights administration and royalty services, who pointed out her “extensive expertise, deep knowledge, and proven experience in managing complex rights and royalties.”
RADIO, RADIO: Susie Hedrick was named CEO of WideOrbit, a San Francisco-based tech platform that helps broadcasters buy and sell advertising. She replaces founder Eric Mathewson in the role … Nashville Harbor promoted Ryan Dokke to senior vp of streaming and digital partners/radio promotion from vp of promotion and marketing. The label also bumped Andrew Thoen to director of streaming and digital partners/radio promotion from director of Northeast promotion and marketing.
Jessica Roffe joined SoundExchange as associate director of the industry relations team. Roffe has years of artist relations, brand marketing, TV/film production and royalty distribution experience, and joins the collective rights organization following roles at MTV, BMI, NBCUniversal and her own AsUWISH Productions. She is based in Miami and will report to Doug Cohn, vp of artist & label relations. “Excited to be part of the band!!” she said.
Musicians On Call, which brings live and recorded music to hospitals and other health care facilities, announced five new members: Aniket Adhikari as technology manager, Michael Blazer as operations manager, Gabi Coccio as strategic partnerships coordinator, Taylor Leibold as fundraising coordinator and Jennie O’Rourke as digital marketing coordinator. “The talent and experiences Aniket, Michael, Gabi, Taylor and Jennie bring to their roles will take MOC to a whole new level,” said MOC president & CEO Pete Griffin. “I’m confident that the innovative ideas they’ll bring to the table will have a great impact on our mission.”
ICYMI:
Julie Greenwald
Julie Greenwald, one of the most celebrated and influential executives in the music business, will step down from her role as co-chair and COO of Atlantic Records and chairman and CEO of Atlantic Music Group. 10K Projects founder Elliot Grainge will take over the music group-wide role on Oct. 1, while Greenwald will officially exit the company early next year. The announcement arrived days after Warner Music announced it would be undergoing a major restructuring, with CEO of recorded music Max Lousada stepping down soon and Greenwald transitioning to chairman.
Last Week’s Turntable: Mammoth Launches Touring Division
Liam Payne has signed with CAA for representation for all areas of representation. In March, the former member of One Direction released a single, “Teardrops,” written with *NSYNC’s JC Chasez. It was his first new music in three years. “Teardrops is out now,” Payne posted on Instagram. “This song is born from many tears, not all […]
CAA’s global touring division has made its first major hire since announcing new leadership earlier this month, bringing veteran music agent Cheryl Paglierani and her A-list clients Post Malone, rapper 21 Savage, Flo Milli, Jessie Murp and Dominic Fike to the agency. Paglierani joins CAA from UTA, where she served as a partner. She previously […]
Miley Cyrus has signed with CAA, re-joining the agency more than four years after moving to WME, it was announced Thursday (June 20).
The signing comes roughly a year and a half after Cyrus enjoyed her biggest hit to date, “Flowers,” which spent eight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. In February, the song also netted Cyrus two Grammys: record of the year and best pop solo performance. Earlier this year, she dueted with Beyoncé on the Cowboy Carter track “II MOST WANTED.”
Cyrus has been a household name for nearly two decades, ever since breaking through as the star of Hannah Montana, the Disney Channel sitcom that skyrocketed her to fame as both an actress and a singer. As Hannah Montana, she racked up 20 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including one top 10 (“He Could Be The One”), and scored three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 (Hannah Montana, Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana: The Movie).
After Hannah Montana concluded in 2011, Cyrus enjoyed success under her own name, notching 61 entries on the Hot 100, including 13 top 10 hits and two that topped the chart: “Flowers” and 2013’s “Wrecking Ball.” She also scored two more No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200: 2008’s Breakout and 2013’s Bangerz.
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In recent years, Cyrus appeared on a 2019 episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror and brought Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party to NBC in 2022 with executive producer Lorne Michaels, hosting the show alongside her godmother, Dolly Parton.
Cyrus’ philanthropic endeavors include the launch of her Happy Hippie Foundation, which has raised millions to support youth suffering from homelessness, especially those identifying as LGBTQ+. This year, she announced the launch of the Miley Cyrus Foundation, an extension of her philanthropic work that focuses on supporting mothers.
Cyrus continues to be represented by Crush Management and attorney Bill Sobel at Laird and Sobel.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has promoted Emma Banks, Darryl Eaton and Rick Roskin to new leadership roles at the agency. The three veteran agents have been named co-heads of the agency’s global touring division, leading 340 employees across music, comedy and podcast touring as well as brand partnerships, tour marketing, private events and crossover opportunities in film, TV and books.
The promotions follow the elevation of CAA veteran Rob Light, who served for more than 25 years as CAA’s head of global touring. Light was recently named a CAA managing director, working alongside other company leaders in guiding the agency’s overall strategic direction. The promotion came in the wake of last year’s sale of CAA by majority owner TPG to Artémis, the investment firm controlled by François-Henri Pinault, CEO of fashion firm Kering and billionaire scion of a French luxury goods fortune.
“With the most talented team of agents ever at one agency, and serving the most influential artists in the world, we see unlimited opportunities ahead,” a statement attributed to Roskin, Eaton and Banks reads.
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“The live business has never been stronger nor had more momentum, and artists have never had more ways to express themselves and grow their careers, making this an absolutely incredible time to help chart CAA’s path for the future,” the statement continues. “We’re fortunate to have shared in the success, stability and uniquely strong culture that the department has enjoyed under Rob’s outstanding leadership. Our vision, and commitment moving forward, is to foster cutting-edge ideas that drive the market and ensure that CAA remains the most exciting and empowering agency for the industry’s best agents and artists to thrive.”
Banks has co-led the CAA’s now 60-person London music office since joining the agency in 2006. In addition to her new leadership position in touring, she serves on CAA’s internal agency board that focuses on the company’s culture of service, collaboration and excellence. She was the first female executive to receive the music industry’s coveted Music Industry Trust (MITS) Award in 2018, was honored with the prestigious Strat award in 2023 for outstanding contributions to the music business and serves on the board of Nordoff Robbins, the United Kingdom’s premier music therapy charity.
Eaton and Roskin became co-heads of contemporary music for North America in 2015, running the day-to-day operations of the North American touring department and supporting more than 100 agents and 280 employees. Eaton, who joined CAA’s mailroom in 1991, has played a pivotal role in the department’s expansion, leading its efforts to launch and grow its electronic, Latin, and hip-hop/R&B divisions. Roskin began his career at CAA and has worked in the touring department for 35 years. He was an original member of CAA’s internal agency Board and was part of the leadership group that completed the successful integration of talent agency ICM.
“CAA remains the dominant music and comedy touring agency thanks to a profoundly deep culture of collaboration, innovation, and unyielding devotion to clients,” said Light, who recently signed a long-term contract to remain at the agency. “For years, Darryl, Rick and Emma have been extraordinary partners to me in leading our touring group in North America and London, respectively. I am immensely proud of all that we have achieved to date and look forward to what they will create in the years ahead. Along with my new strategic responsibilities, I look forward to continuing to sign and empower great artists, creatively build long-term careers, and mentor young executives.”
CAA co-chairman/CEO Bryan Lourd added, “Rick, Darryl and Emma have long been among the most talented and widely admired leaders in the industry, not to mention three of the best agents in the world.” He continued, “The leadership role they each already play at CAA has earned them deep respect and trust among our colleagues across all departments.”
With employees in Los Angeles, Nashville, London, New York, Austin, Miami and Toronto, CAA’s global touring department boasts a roster that includes The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Katy Perry, Dua Lipa, John Mayer, Rüfüs Du Sol, Jelly Roll, Kelly Clarkson, Blink-182, Kelsea Ballerini, Peso Pluma, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Trevor Noah, Red Hot Chili Peppers and David Guetta. Since the end of the pandemic, CAA has signed Shawn Mendes, My Chemical Romance, Janet Jackson, Cody Johnson, Koe Wetzel, The 1975 and Bleachers, among many others. In the past year, the agency has booked more than 38,000 shows.
As the summer kicks off, the music business is shifting into the 2024 festival season, which has already seen its fair share of surprises. From Coachella only selling 80% of its available inventory, to Lovers & Friends getting canceled over severe weather and the steady growth of genre-specific or niche festivals like Chicago’s Sueños, the market is moving and fans’ tastes are shifting, with promoters, agents, managers and artists all looking to find the right formula to build out the best ecosystem.
At the forefront of all festival booking is CAA’s co-head of North American music Darryl Eaton, who books acts like blink-182, The Weeknd and RBD and helps develop festival booking strategy for major stars and emerging acts. He’s had extensive experience both booking his acts and watching the festival scene in the U.S. grow over the years, as players like Lollapalooza, Coachella and Bonnaroo move from scrappy upstarts to staples of the scene and the market begins to diversify with genre-specific lineups and new, previously-untested locations.
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Eaton sat down with Billboard to discuss how the 2024 festival season is faring, the appeal of nice festivals and where festivals fit into artist’s careers. “Things go in cycles,” Eaton says. “Look at Lollapalooza and Governors Ball this year — they had their fastest selling years in a decade. The formula is not black and white.”
How do you feel about the overall state of the festival business right now?
It’s really good. It’s been strong and growing over the last several years. There are new festivals coming up every year. One that goes up and doesn’t do well, or gets cancelled, or business is off, gets the biggest headlines. But for every one that’s not doing well it seems to be two or three that are coming online that are doing well. Overall, I see it as a growth sector.
We’re in a state where it is hard to create a new Bonnaroo, Coachella, Lollapalooza — a big, established [festival] — and those legacy brands are great and dominant. But what I’m seeing is a lot of growth in these smaller, niche festivals that are either very genre-specific or in new locations. They are popping up all over the place.
Why are these newer niche festivals doing so well?
Hard to say. For instance, there’s Jeffrey Shuman, who curates a couple of these very specific festivals that he puts out. He’s got hard rock festival Sick New World, Lovers and Friends that recently launched, When We Were Young which is a retro punk vibe, Besame Mucho which is Latin-driven. Goldenvoice just put up a new festival called No Values, which is punk rock. All those festivals have done really well.
They are very targeted: targeted music, targeted demo. They do a good job of creating a lineup that is undeniable. Festivals are driven by the talent. You can have as much vibe out there as possible, but it’s really about who you book that drives sales.
We saw slower-than-usual Coachella sales this year. Do you think that has anything to do with their lineup or the repetition in lineups for these legacy festivals?
From a touring standpoint, the business is very cyclical. The right artists dropping the record at the right time is what enables you to get Beyoncé to be your headliner at Coachella. Sometimes the planets don’t align for some of these festivals, that the time period is off for key artists. And sometimes things come together and there’s a lot of available headliners where there is too much to choose from.
If Coachella was off this year, I don’t think it is indicative of the festival or the talent. Things go in cycles. Look at Lollapalooza and Governors Ball this year — they had their fastest selling years in a decade. The formula is not black and white.
Where do festivals fit into artist development these days?
It depends on the artist. Getting in front of a lot of eyeballs at one time is a big part of the draw, both on the way up and when you’re established. Look at blink-182, who is headlining Lollapalooza. Last year, they sold out two nights in Chicago at the United Center and made way more money than you could make playing Lolla as a headliner. But they wanted to be in front of 100,000 people and find new fans and keep regenerating their audience. That’s why some artists will take a bit of a pay cut to play in front of an audience that could be four to five times their draw.
On the way up, for developing artists it’s about getting in front of people and being around other artists. Having that sense of community in the artist sense is important to a lot of these are artists that play [festivals]. The majority of the reason is to get those eyeballs and, if you’re good, win them over. [When clips of festival performances go viral], it can be like a giant online infomercial for you as a band.
Is it more lucrative for big artists to be playing festivals over headlining arena tours? Or have increasing ticket prices made it more valuable to stick to their solo tours?
Post-pandemic demand has been really strong and ticket prices have creeped up. For a lot of artists, it used to be you’d get an offer for a festival and, because it was a one-off and not necessarily part of your tour routing, you would demand fees that were much greater than what you might get if you played the market for a solo tour date. But at the higher end, if you’ve got the demand and you can sell tickets, you can generally make as much if not more doing your own show. So, it’s about strategic desires to get new fans. Artists always aspire to play these festivals because it’s a small group that gets invited to play and it’s a badge of honor.
It is getting more expensive and more difficult for smaller acts to do their own headlining tours. Do festivals make more sense for them?
You can’t develop a career only playing festivals. There are some artists who do it. They’re the perennial festival artists that have no hard ticket sales, but for the most part, in order to develop a career and have long-term solid fan bases, you need to be out there earning it — being on the road, selling hard tickets, developing fans.
Are there any niche festivals that have impressed you lately?
Some of the ones I mentioned before, like When We Were Young. They did a great job of making an undeniable lineup that captured the imagination of everybody who ever listened to that music for a period of time. They had to be at that show. When they started the one in Las Vegas three years ago, they blew out 65,000 tickets and then added a second show and immediately blew out another 65,000 tickets and then added a third show. Anything that captures that kind of audience with that kind of velocity is impressive.
Because these lineups are so specific, it seems there can only be so many artists that will fit the bill. Do you think they will be able to sustain that enthusiasm from festivalgoers?
I don’t know. Thankfully, that’s not my job. [Laughs] That would cause me great stress. But it remains to be seen. I’ve heard rumors about what they are coming up with for this year, but that’s the struggle for the niche festivals. Maybe they do burn out of their lineups over time, but I am sure these festival organizers are already thinking of what might be the next idea, the next niche, the next festival. Someone like Goldenvoice, who does Coachella, they’re always trying to do other festivals and other ideas. You’d think if you had Coachella and Stagecoach, you’d be like, “Yes, we’re good,” but it always seems like they’re hungry to come up with new ideas. There’s a particular addiction for all these festival curators to do more and come up with new and fresher ideas.