Modern Talent / Booking Agency Slides - MTSU RIM 4810 Spring 2014

1. RIM 4810 - Talent Agencies
History of Talent
Agencies
Prof. Charlie B. Dahan

2. Intro
❖
link to lecture slides:

3. Three Eras of Talent
Agencies*
❖
Before 1975: Music only focus
❖
1962 - 1975: development of
popular music as a major event.
❖
1975 - 2010: Entertainment
Conglomeration
❖
2010+: Multimedia / Diversification

4. 2013 Top Agencies
Messina Group / AEG
Based on 2013 Pollstar Top 100 Grossing Tours: http://www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2013/2013YearEndTop100WorldwideTours.pdf

5. To Me the Modern Talent Agent Begins with…
Frank Barcelona
Sid Bernstein

6. Frank Barcelona
The Only Agent In
Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame
Started at GAC
1964 founded Premier Talent
Agency
(sold to Wm. Morris in 2002)

7. Frank Barcelona
The Only Agent In
Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame
Saw that musicians' compensation and treatment
improved whereby they could earn a significant
portion of their living through touring and not be
dependent on record companies and selling
records.
He is also credited with improving the fan
experience through working with managers and
venues to upgrade the quality of live rock
performances.
http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2012/11/legendary-rock-agent-frank-barcelona-passes-away.html

8. Frank Barcelona
The Only Agent In
Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame
Dave Marsh "Frank Barcelona had a
vision: acts and promoters and record
companies working in coordination to
build careers. Rock performers now had
an economic base outside of the record
companies, they had the time and
money and facilities to upgrade the
quality of their shows.”
http://www.musicnewsnet.com/2012/11/legendary-rock-agent-frank-barcelona-passes-away.html

9. Sid Bernstein
Not Just the
Beatles…
Started at GAC.
In 1962, he took a course on Democracy at
the New School of Social Research that
required him to read foreign newspapers.
In the entertainment section of the Daily
Express he read about the hysteria there the
Beatles were generating.

11. The Beatles First Tour - 1964
$6,500 for
2 shows a
day. per show
Bob Hope = $25,000
Kids camped out for tix
Sold out in 40 minutes (2800 tix) - could
have sold out 5 nights easy. Made seats
on stage available.
The Ed Sullivan Show

12. Then…

14. The Most Important Concert
Ever

16. The Most Important Concert Ever
❖
Based on Carnegie success, Bernstein envisioned a stadium
show (Madison Square Garden).
❖
Shea Stadium = 55,000 seats. Bernstein had to guarantee
that every single one would be sold or pay $10 per each
unsold ticket (tickets were ~$5.00).
❖
Sold out via word of mouth & tickets sold through a PO
Box. $0 spent on advertising.

17. The Big Boys

19. In The Beginning…
❖
1975 - Former William Morris Agents,
Michael Ovitz, Mike Rosenfeld, Ron Meyer
❖
Represented actors
❖
“Be a team player and return phone calls
promptly”
❖
As students of Japanese management
techniques, they teach fellow agents to
suppress individual ego, Hollywood's bane,
in the service of the agency and its clients.
As consummate insiders, they despise
publicity and often conceal their methods
from even close associates in the tiny
community of deal makers.

20. In The Beginning…
❖
CAA fought back by raiding clients from the
bigger rivals and merging with a company
owned by veteran agent Martin Baum, who
brought the young agency its first significant
movie clients, including Sidney Poitier and
Peter Sellers in 1977.
❖
Ovitz “(The clients) become the motor, and
we really are like the body around the car.
We try to shape it with them. But they make
the choices. We make suggestions, there's no
question. But we never make singular
suggestions. We suggest alternatives. If
there's a director, we suggest an actor. If it's
an actor, we suggest a director. If it's just an
idea and an actor, we'll suggest a writer. . . .
You see the permutations."

21. CAA & Music
❖
Formed Concert Division at
the end of 1983
❖
Headed by Tom Ross
❖
Because there became “… a
tremendous crossover
between music and the TV &
motion picture fields in
which CAA has specialized.”

22. CAA & Music
❖
Ross came to CAA via A.P.A.,
A.B.C. & Int’l Famous / ICM
❖
Helped the business change
from a flat fee club to fee plus
% in arenas thanks to working
with Peggy Fleming
❖
Quickly grew CAA into the
largest music talent agency in
the US

23. Tom Ross & Starting CAA Music
Division
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/tom+ross

24. 2010
❖
Private equity firm TPG
acquired a 35% stake in CAA
for $165 million.
❖
Equity helped CAA expand
internationally & into sports
(including Jay-Z’s Roc Nation)

25. Rob Light
CAA’s head of
music and
managing partner
Took over from mentor Tom Ross in
1998, who retired.
CAA reps over twice as many
artists as it nearest competitor on
the Pollstar Top Tour charts of 2013.

26. John Huie
CAA Nashville
Pollstar Third Coast Agent of the Year
Founded FBI with Ian Copeland in 1972.
Started the John Huie Agency in 1985

28. In the Beginning…
❖
Started in 1898
❖
Entered music in 1965 w/ The
Rolling Stones, Beach Boys & Byrds
❖
Opened Nashville office in 1973

29. WMA Agent Training Program
❖
Established in the 1940s
❖
‘The Mailroom’ - new hires rotate their way
through the mailroom, to assistant agent and
coordinator.
❖
"The Harvard School of Show Business - only
better: no grades, no exams, a small stipend
and great placement opportunities."
❖
Alumni include Michael Ovitz, &
David Geffen
“Inventing David Geffen”

31. Endeavor orchestrated a take-over of WMA. Eventually
WMA head, Jim Wiatt, stepped aside.
“Endeavor brought leadership skills, swagger & a sense of
collective purpose that re-energized the combined
company”
April
2009

32. Endeavor Talent Agency
❖
Founded in 1995
❖
Ari Emanuel, Rick Rosen, Tom
Strickler, and David Greenblatt
❖
All were TV agents at ICM
❖
Emanuel started as a trainee at
CAA. He was a partner at
InterTalent and senior agent at
ICM

33. The Emanuel Brothers - “Rock Center”
http://bit.ly/1hJ2riz

34. 2012
Sold 31% of WME to private equity firm
Silverlake for $200 million.
Motivation: “Gain access to capital and a
more sophisticated view of potential
acquisition and investment opportunities.”

35. Merger / Acquisition & Partnerships
The Merging /
Partnerships Never
Stop
Built partnerships with such tech companies as
The Audience (social media marketing), Chaotic
Moon (apps & mobile development), and Open
Sky (e-commerce platform)
Dec. 2013 - WME acquires IMG for 2.3 billion (IMG
reps Taylor Swift, Peyton Manning, Justin
Timberlake & Joe Mauer)

36. 2014
Opens Christian
Music Division in
Nashville
Headed by Mike Snider
- formerly co-head of
Paradigm Nashville (after they
acquired Third Coast Artist
Agency)

37. Marc Geiger
Head of Music,
WME
Started at Triad Agency
Founded Lollapalooza w/ Perry Farrell
1991, Exec VP of A&R at American Recordings
2000 - 3, CEO ARTISTdirect - high traffic e-commerce site, talent
agency & label
2003 - Senior VP at WMA
2/2/14 - 6:15 (ET) MIDEM keynote “20 Years of Pain. No More
Fooling Around: The Definitive Future of the Music Business.”

38. May 2013
WME Taunts CAA with
‘CAAN'T’ Poster Blitz,
Website
The Westfield Century City mall in L.A.
has been the unlikely battleground for an
advertising blitz which has reportedly
seen dozens of ads posted with the words
"CAAN'T" -- a play on CAA’s initials and
rendered in the agency’s familiar redand-white colors.

40. ICM was formed in 1975 through the merger of Creative
Management Associates and International Famous Agency
In 2012, the agency completed a management buyout from
private equity firm Rizvi and formed a partnership with the
new name, ICM Partners.
Steve Levine,
Partner / Head of
Concerts Dept.

42. ❖
Founded in 1986 (as QBQ Ent.) by CEO Dennis Arfa, Artist
Group International ("AGI") is a leading live entertainment
agency that books an expansive roster of musicians, comedians,
and sporting events worldwide.
❖
Arfa was co-head of music at William Morris.
❖
AGI was acquired by Y Entertainment Group in 2012, a music
investment & entertainment firm.

44. Paradigm
❖
Paradigm was founded in 1982
❖
Headed by Sam Gores
❖
Founded SGA

45. Paradigm Buys…
Paradigm is the result of several agencies that Gores started, purchased and
merged with (SGA, Jack Fields, ATM & Assoc., Ellis Industries)
2004 - acquired industry heavyweight, Monterey Peninsula.
- Monterey International remains as a stand alone agency

46. Paradigm Buys…
Paradigm is the result of several agencies that Gores started,
purchased and merged with (SGA, Jack Fields, ATM & Assoc.,
Ellis Industries)
2004 - acquired industry heavyweight, Monterey Peninsula.
- Monterey International remains as a stand alone agency
2009 - acquired Third Coast Artists Agency (the largest
independent Christian Music agency) based in Nashville.
2012 - developed joint venture with AM Only, a leading EDM
agency. One of the key agents is Lee Anderson.

47. Chip Hooper
Was at Monterey Peninsula at the
time of the purchase.
Overseeing development of EDM
division with AM Only

49. ❖
Founded by Tom Windish in 2004 in Chicago
❖
Spent 7 years as an agent at The Billions Corp.
❖
emerged as one of the most innovative leaders in key aspects of the
music industry – touring and connecting with fans – and is committed
to the sustainable, long-term success of its artists, concert promoters,
partners and the internal talent that is at the heart of the company.
❖
Opened a Music Licensing division.
❖
Tom Windish was named to Billboard’s 40 under 40 in 2012

50. Building a Touring Strategy with Tom
Windish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hgPfGj2Vbc