KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE: AGENCIES

Rhian Jones looks back at the live landscape with UTA’s Hannah Shogbola, CAA’s Paul Wilson, WME’s David Bradley and Wasserman Music’s Adele Slater.

Acts to watch: SwitchOTR, Pip Millett, Bakar, Master Peace

What have you been working on over the last year?

Hannah Shogbola, Agent, UTA: We’ve been working hard to recover from the shutdown of live events during COVID-19. We’re using the lessons we learned from the pandemic and are taking a more mindful approach to our business by finding innovative ways for artists to perform. For example, we’re planning additional unique concept shows in the electronic world in nontraditional venues to create a more personal and intimate experience.

Paul Wilson, Agent, CAA: Dermot Kennedy and Sam Fender were both about to play their first sold-out U.K. arena shows when COVID hit, so it’s fantastic to see them move on to the next stage of their careers. Sam recorded his second album during lockdown and has had an unbelievable 12 months, with two sold-out arena tours, a standout Glastonbury this summer, his first festival headliners and his own, 40k-capacity London Finsbury Park show. Dermot played outdoor headline shows to more than 100k fans in Ireland, plus big festival moments in Europe, a major Australian tour and in September he headlined the huge Electric Picnic Festival. A special mention for Lianne La Havas, who played three nights at the opening of the new Koko venue in London almost a year after her critically acclaimed lockdown album was released.

David Bradley, Partner, WME: It’s been a crazy year. Most, if not all, of my artists have been on tour following two years on the bench. Dua Lipa has been a highlight—after we rescheduled her tour several times during the pandemic, she’s had the biggest year of her touring career to date. We did a huge run of sold-out arenas, festival headlines and stadiums. Griff has been on tour pretty much constantly since March. She sold out Brixton Academy, I put her on tour with Dua, she’s done a couple of stadiums with Ed Sheeran and Coldplay and she had a few festivals in Japan. LCD Soundsystem has been a fun one—they did a sold-out six-night residency at Brixton. Greta Van Fleet had a monster year, starting out in stadiums with Metallica, then going on to Europe. They also sold out Alexandra Palace and played a raft of festivals.

Adele Slater, Agent/Partner, Wasserman Music: The past year has been very busy. Highlights include Liam Gallagher’s biggest solo U.K. shows to date, including two sold-out Knebworths for a total of 170k people. Wet Leg has had a meteoric rise, with their debut album going straight to #1 and selling out shows all over the world. They recorded the biggest crowd ever seen at The Park Stage at Glastonbury.

What are the biggest challenges in the British live-music market today?

Shogbola: Maintaining live shows consistently and safely. The lack of staffing has played a huge part in events this summer, leading to more cancellations. I’ve really felt for promoters and artists because the return to live shows certainly hasn’t been smooth, but it’s finally feeling like we’re getting there, slowly but surely.

Wilson: To create exciting live shows and events to engage audiences who’ve had 18 months of alternative entertainment and distractions.

Bradley: Rising costs and shortages of production equipment, crews, buses, pretty much everything, which is only exacerbating the inflation of costs. Tours for most developing artists would have run at a loss pre-pandemic anyway, but with the rising prices, these tours are even deeper underwater, to the extent that smaller artists simply can’t afford to tour at all. And we’re seeing less money coming from labels to support those tours. So it’s getting tough.

Slater: We’re faced with a myriad of challenges in touring today, including the cost implications from Brexit for U.K. artists touring in Europe and the cost-of-living crisis and the effect it’s going to have on disposable income. The fallout from COVID has led to a lack of infrastructure and a shortage of staffing. And let’s not forget climate change—this summer saw soaring temperatures, especially across Europe, and the weather impacting festivals and outdoor shows, which is only going to get worse.

How are you navigating those challenges?

Shogbola: By approaching things carefully and safely, working closely with promoters on tackling issues together and not rushing back into unsure situations.

Wilson: Facing down the new problems of logistics, increased costs, Brexit and anything else that comes along and concentrating on building artist careers.

Bradley: We’re having to book everything much earlier to beat rising prices and shortages. Another interesting development is that residencies are becoming increasingly popular, for superstar artists particularly. You’ll see an act park at the O2 Arena for a six-night run rather than do one night at Wembley Stadium and tour around the country. It’s more humane for the artists, it tends to be cheaper because you’re amortizing your costs over a week and it’s less risky than exposing yourself in stadiums. Like I said, labels are tightening their belts in respect to tour support, so agents are having to get creative with their promoter relationships. I think you’ll see artists entering tour deals with national or global promoters at a much earlier stage, often in exchange for big advances, which will bankroll their touring.

Slater: As a company, we’re fully supportive of the industry’s sustainability initiatives, such as the green rider, and practices to help reduce the environmental impact of touring. This is something we will continue to learn from and help educate others about. Also very prevalent in our industry are a privileged work force and nepotism. Being from a working-class background in the West Midlands with no connections to the industry, I know from experience how hard it can be to break through.

How about the most exciting things? Where are the opportunities and innovations?

Shogbola: It’s been incredible to finally see a spotlight on the need for more diversity and inclusion in the live-music space. A first-of-its-kind U.K. dance-music report from The Jaguar Foundation, for example, shed some much-needed light on the state of gender balance in music, which is improving. Artists and industry professionals have dedicated themselves to tackling these issues and are making vast changes.

Wilson: The best shows are about the communal live experience and that value has probably only increased post-COVID. Artists have that special ability to create communities, and the exciting thing now is that there are so many new tools and opportunities to magnify that. One of our artists, Tamino, recently played his first show in three years at a small club in London, and his fans in Paris, Istanbul and New York were feeling the anticipation just by seeing clips of their fellow fans lining up ahead of it, then spreading that excitement to other fans. Opportunities are there for artists to build direct connections, moments and fan bases as never before. The challenge is to turn that into successful live careers.

Bradley: The excitement for me always comes from the music. There’s a shift from hip-hop being the dominant art form towards pop and guitar music having another run. The stage is set for something interesting to happen. Sam Fender has obviously had a huge year and you have bands like Inhaler coming in his wake. The role of promoters in replacing the old record-label business by acting as the bank is an exciting development that creates a lot of opportunities for artists and perhaps eases the burden financially for them.

Slater: We’re now part of the wider Wasserman company infrastructure and they already have an initiative in place called The Collective, which raises the visibility of women in sports and music. It’s important to have staff as diverse as the artists we represent. We’re working with the nonprofit Small Green Shoots [which offers an alternative to the conventional system of education, training and entry into the job market] and have just started an internship program with Sony Music Publishing and Method Management. It’s a paid internship rotating every four months between the companies. It’s only just started but is going really well and will hopefully open up our world to a wider network and help diversify our workforce. We’re still looking for a label partner to come on board, so let us know if any of your readers want to be a part of it.

A recent report suggested a 45% drop in British acts booked for European festivals due to Brexit issues. Does that mirror your experience? How is Brexit affecting the live careers of the acts you’re working with?

Shogbola: We’re wading through huge visa delays for some clients, increases in visa costs and travel restrictions and delays. Hopefully over time this will become smoother.

Wilson: Not sure that report is the full picture as Brexit coincided with COVID, which was also a huge disrupter for British acts. I expect there was a similar or greater drop of British acts going to Australia, for example, during this period for COVID rather than Brexit reasons. However, Brexit is a huge negative and does present very significant challenges in terms of costs and logistical issues. The real concern is for new and developing artists to learn their craft and build audiences. As COVID restrictions ease, it’s imperative that we continue to develop innovative new British artists and find every way possible to encourage European and worldwide touring.

Bradley: I haven’t felt that impact across my roster. Ultimately, if you have a hot act, they’ll get booked regardless of where they’re from. The reality is that there are fewer slots on major festivals because they’re increasingly scrupulous with their budgets. It’s been a horrendously tough period for them so I get it—a festival would rather book a domestic act with proven hard tickets than an unknown baby act in the U.K. to help out an agent, as they might have previously. It’s going to cost them less and will probably help them sell more tickets. But I don’t know if that’s specific to British artists; I think it’s a trend across Europe and the world at large.

Pandemic restrictions seem to be on their way out. Are you feeling a lasting impact from the last two years?

Shogbola: Unfortunately, the repercussions of the global pandemic will last for years. Things will never be exactly the same as they were prior to COVID, but we must embrace the positives and learn from what we’ve lived through.

Wilson: The lasting impact is the loss of confidence from ticket buyers. Some markets were closed for more extended periods than in the U.S. and U.K. It’s coming back but not uniformly and varies considerably via age group and country. Our hope is that the touring infrastructure will remain in place.

Bradley: The tailwind of COVID is its effect on the market. We’re seeing soft ticket sales as a trend, across continental Europe particularly. There are many different theories as to why that might be, but it’s quite clearly linked to COVID and the effect on local economies. As far as the globe is concerned, Asia is the last piece of the puzzle. I have several tours going on there this year, including Anne-Marie, who was out in October. Those tours are going ahead, with some restrictions on capacity more than anything else. And there are still quarantine requirements coming in and out of certain countries. It feels like those rules are shifting regularly and moving in a positive direction, but they could fall back.

Who are the most exciting new British live acts we should be keeping an eye out for?

Shogbola: Crikey, there are so many! I’m super-excited about TYSON, Bel Cobain, Hak Baker, Kilimanjaro, Debbie and Mahalia.

Wilson: Great to see artists such as Harry Styles and Sam Fender explode over the past year, both as major U.K. and international artists, but it’s also refreshing to see so many exciting new acts like Little Simz, Self Esteem and Wet Leg carry on the tradition of groundbreaking British artists. A couple of brand-new hot tips—Wunderhorse and Sophie May.

Bradley: I’m particularly excited about Master Peace. He just signed to PMR Records, and it looks like he’s going to be a very explosive live prospect. Valencia Grace, who’s signed to Sony globally, in a JV with Columbia in the states and Ministry of Sound in the U.K., is an incredible songwriter, incredible singer. It looks like she’s going to have a big year.`

Slater: Artists with debut albums to look out for next year include Dolores Forever, Prima Queen and Lynks.

What are your ambitions and plans going in 2023 and beyond?

Shogbola: To continue to build an incredible roster at UTA and pave the way for like-minded individuals. I’m continuing my work on building fairer, more inclusive lineups when it comes to gender and race and continually encouraging Black women to join the agency world. Additionally, I’m working with Jaguar, Helena Star and Black Artist Database on launching the Black Electronic Music Awards.

Wilson: Have a holiday after this crazy summer!

Bradley: I love touring but one of the great things about working at a place like WME, and in the modern agency business in general, is that we get to tap into other areas of entertainment. Right now, on any given day, I’ll be discussing a scoring opportunity for one of my artists, a book deal, acting roles, fashion shows, art installations, tennis, anything, which is really exciting. Beyond that, I just want to keep pushing the envelope for everyone I work with. Stadiums would be nice but building lasting careers is always the goal.