Australia’s Untitled Group installs new GM
Australia’s largest independent promoter Untitled Group has hired former Live Nation and Three Six Zero veteran Andrew White as its new general manager.
White brings 17 years of music industry experience including a six year-stint at Los Angeles-based Three Six Zero, where he served as a day-to-day manager for clients such as Deadmau5, Duke Dumont, Cut Snake, Chris Lake, Congorock, Michael Woods, Knife Party and Pendulum.
He also spent four years as senior tour operations coordinator for Live Nation Australasia and founded Milk Bar Management, and was in the process of putting together a new business venture when he met with Untitled Group’s managing partners to explore potential opportunities with the company.
“From the very first meeting I was amazed by their collective and complementary skillsets,” says White. “Their understanding of the Australian festival market coupled with their innate sense of experiential brand building had me hook, line, and sinker.
“Untitled Group are at the absolute forefront of the Australian festival and events industry, and have a direct finger on the pulse of the next generation’s trending needs and wants.”
“I don’t believe we’ve even begun to tap into our own homegrown population of artists, creators and entertainment business leaders”
The Melbourne-based firm restructured its booking team following its expansion to Asia Pacific and Europe in 2022, upping senior touring agent Monty McGaw to head of electronic, and went on to announce a further spate of new hires and promotions earlier this year.
The touring team has worked on tours for the likes of Glass Animals, The Kooks, Hayden James and Wu-Tang Clan, as well as its established festivals such as Beyond The Valley, Wildlands and Grapevine Gathering. White says he is passionate about levelling the playing field for Australian talent.
“We have predominantly been an import economy i.e, always at the mercy and whim of artists and businesses based in the major US and UK markets,” he says. “I don’t believe we’ve even begun to tap into our own homegrown population of artists, creators and entertainment business leaders. This is the one thing I believe Untitled Group do well, and continue to prioritise.
“For Untitled Group, I want to help future-proof the business. It’s crucial to stabilise a company’s foundations by implementing systems and processes so that it has capacity, and is robust enough, to continue its growth.”
White discloses the reasons he was compelled to return to his native Australia following his time in the US.
“I became heavily focused on, and passionate about, mental health in the music business”
“The honest truth is that I returned to Australia because I completely burnt out,” he says. “Subsequently, I became heavily focused on, and passionate about, mental health in the music business.
“My time in the US feels like a movie – I recall moments that are completely unbelievable and I rarely talk about them because in hindsight they sound completely outrageous. The entire experience was one giant contradiction – the best and worst times, the highest of highs and lowest of lows – but it was easily, to date, the most formative learning experience in both my personal and professional life.”
White considers the pandemic to have “induced a level of collaboration between competing companies like never before”, and shares his goal to improve diversity in the business.
“We’re now sharing unprecedented amounts of intel with neighbouring companies in order to unlock and deliver a greater amount of value for our staff, the industry, and consumers,” he says. “We’re not yet doing nearly enough to support women, people of colour, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and minority cultures rise into senior leadership positions. This is a huge priority for me.”
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.