Accidentally falling into the agency world, Maria May has helped to define the parameters of dance music over the past 30 years.

In part two of our in-depth look at May’s 30 years as an agent, IQ looks at the highlights, lowlights, and future of the CAA agent. Find part one here.

Team Disco
While there were early suggestions that May’s department at CAA be named “EDM,” she insisted on the “Team Disco” moniker that she and assistant Gina Gorman had adopted at ITB. “In London, there are 11 of us, while in America, we’re up to around the same number including agents and assistants – it’s no longer a niche business; it’s huge! But there’s still lots of room for this business to grow. The scenes are constantly evolving with new talent and new genres coming through.”

Looking back to the original Team Disco at ITB, May was one of the pioneers in cementing Ibiza’s place at the centre of the electronic music business. “I was part of the first residencies in Ibiza, thanks to Danny Whittle who wanted to do a residency at Pacha with Paul [Oakenfold]. He told me that if it worked, he also wanted to do it with Death Mix – David Morales, Frankie, Satoshi Tomiie, and all of those guys, and obviously I repped all of those people. The Paul Oakenfold residency was massively successful, and the rest is history.

“Being part of that and setting the building blocks is something I’m pretty proud of, even though we were just doing stuff instinctively. We didn’t really know whether it was gonna work half the time, but it did, so well done us,” she laughs.

Again, she names Judy Weinstein as one of the architects behind the strategy that propelled dance music to a global phenomenon. “It’s a partnership, and the managers who understand that are the best people to work with,” states May. “But I also represent a lot of artists that don’t have managers, so I work with them directly.”

Drawing comparisons to the worlds of rock and pop, she notes, “A DJ schedule is 365 days a year if you want it to be. It’s not built on a model where an album comes out and you’re touring and then you have a year off. I do a lot of live acts as well – Black Eyed Peas has been a fantastic relationship for me, because their management, Polo Molina and Seth Friedman, always trusted me with access to their diaries. I never imagined that I could be their agent, but Rob Light signed them to CAA, and then phoned me to ask if I wanted to be the Black Eyed Peas agent. I just love things that end up being beautiful happy accidents.”

“Suddenly I was working with this guy that I knew from my local area who turned into a massive act”

Losing Talent
Of course, for every happy accident there’s a flip side, and May admits that losing clients can be tough. “I was sad to lose Soulwax and 2manydjs – that was probably the biggest loss of my career, and of course they went to David Levy. That was a wake-up call because I realised that while David is my friend, he’s also my rival. We got through it, but I didn’t handle it very well in the beginning. It happened as soon as I started at CAA, and I’ll always remember going to see Emma Banks, and she was really clear, telling me that CAA didn’t employ me for my acts; they employed me because they believed in me.”

Indeed, May highlights the support her bosses and colleagues provided during some of her darkest moments. “About six years ago, my dad got very ill, and the company allowed me to do whatever I needed to do, so I made the job work around being a single parent with two kids and a dying dad,” she recalls. “And then six months after Dad died, my mom was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and needed round-the-clock nursing. It was a horrible time, but Emma and Mike and everyone at CAA were amazing.”

Career Highlights
Thankfully, the good times vastly outnumber the bad, and May has had some spectacular highlights in her career to date.

“David Guetta at Masada in Israel – I was the first person to do it with a major artist,” she says of her most memorable shows. “I also did Paul Oakenfold on the Great Wall of China before anyone had ever done it. Róisín Murphy at sunset on West Holts at Glastonbury is always fucking amazing – Róisín is one of my favourite partnerships. I’ve loved every second of being her agent, and I genuinely can’t wait for her next record.”

May also cites X-Press 2 as a standout client. “My relationship with their manager, Chris Butler (currently the manager of Jalen Ngonda also repped by CAA), is fantastic. He gave me my first band, Red Snapper, and when I’d been their agent for about a year, we sold out the Astoria, and I just remember being so proud. So, when X-Press 2 blew up, it was just brilliant, as I’d known [DJ] Rocky from growing up, and suddenly I was working with this guy that I knew from my local area who turned into a massive act.”

“Being able to make stuff like that happen that has a legacy is just the cherry on the cake”

She also talks fondly of American talent David Morales and the late Frankie Knuckles. “They taught me all about the New York club scene, and I’d go there every other month. It’s the privilege of a lifetime to know those guys – the originators of house music – and bring them to Europe. Frankie was an enduring friendship that I really am very grateful for. He was an amazing man, and I loved him, so it was really hard when he died.”

May’s association with the godfather of house music continues to this day, through her work as a board member of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation, and she recalls ways in which their relationship helped elevate one act to iconic status.

“I repped Hercules and Love Affair for a long time, and he brought this collection of music to me that included a track called Blind, and his biggest wish was for Frankie to work on remixes. So, I asked Frankie if he would do it, and he was a bit non-committal, so I kept nagging him, and in the end, he said he’d do it for me. And Frankie’s Blind remix is one of the club-defining tracks, even now. So being able to make stuff like that happen that has a legacy, is just the cherry on the cake.”

The Darling Buds of May
While May’s life ultimately revolves around her children, her devotion to her clients’ careers, and the growth of electronic music, means her workaholic approach is more of a vocation than a job. “I’m hugely proud of my two kids,” she states. “They are my greatest achievement.”

Within Team Disco, May works closely with colleague Jen Hammel in CAA’s London office. “We’re a bit of a dynamic duo,” she comments. “[Jen’s] proved to be a formidable agent. She’s just killing it, and I love working with her.”

The Future
With 30 years under her belt, May’s love for her craft shows no sign of waning, and she remains committed to helping guide the careers of a new generation of talent amidst an ever-accelerating pace of evolution in the dance sector.

“Due to TikTok and streaming, we’re starting to see genres changing really quickly,” she observes. “Being able to create longevity is definitely becoming more challenging, and it’s up to us agents to help our clients achieve prolonged careers, if that’s their goal.

“I prefer taking my time, underplaying, believing in the artist long-term, and building a fanbase that will stick by them”

“But at the moment, there seems to be a desire for people to just rinse the shit out of things. It’s almost like pop, and a lot of people are spending an awful lot of money on social media in order to maintain their careers, because there’s a lot of stuff that comes along that’s super hot, super firing, and doing massive numbers. But by the second summer, the kids have moved on.

“I also find that the leverage-on-leverage-on-leverage model, which was really strong in the dance music scene for many years, may be on the way out. For example, people who hit 25m streams would leverage that number, then they’d leverage on the leverage. I’ve never really bought into that. I prefer taking my time, underplaying, believing in the artist long-term, and building a fanbase that will stick by them. There’s definitely a style here within Team Disco (and at CAA in general), where we try our best to sign career artists, because we want to be part of that journey.”

Predicting both short-term and long-term growth for dance music, she tells IQ, “It’s interesting, China is definitely coming back strong again for electronic, and Southeast Asia seems to be really pumping again, post-Covid. Holland is doing extremely well in terms of certain sounds, certain scenes – and there are really strong ticket sales.”

“Our job (as agents) now is to slow time down and take more care”

Breaking new markets is also on May’s radar – an ambition that she believes is easier given the genre her clients occupy. “If you are a DJ, and it’s just you and a tour manager when you start out, you can go anywhere. And you have no costs, really, because the promoter pays for your flights. You can go anywhere you want, and we send people into new territories all the time. And the artists that come to you saying, ‘I just want to tour these markets and build my career,’ they’re the keepers. They’re the ones that put the graft in.”

Naming new clients such as Marlon Hoffstadt, Malugi, Jammer with Más Tiempo (a label/events brand owned by Jammer and Skepta), and Arcadia (Glastonbury structure and field), May concludes that the electronic sector is facing a bright future as dance music has established itself as a mainstay across most major festivals with more and more headliners coming from Team Disco’s roster.

“Our job (as agents) now is to slow time down and take more care, be totally confident in our artists, and help build long-term artist careers based on real ticket sales and exceptional experiences for the artist and the audiences,” she concludes.

“We need to achieve that in the most authentic and fan-led way possible – guardian angel-like – while having the experience, the knowledge, and the confidence in how to do that. I am lucky to be at CAA and to be surrounded by other people doing exactly that every single day.”

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Accidentally falling into the agency world, Maria May has helped to define the parameters of dance music over the past 30 years, allowing such talent as David Guetta, Paul Oakenfold, Black Eyed Peas, The Chainsmokers, Róisín Murphy, Paul Kalkbrenner, Robin Schulz, Meduza, Hugel, Sara Landry, and Lee Burridge to achieve global fame and long-term careers.

While her academic abilities perhaps had her parents and teachers predicting a job in the city, Maria May’s evening routine introduced her to a world in which she would ultimately become one of the global powerbrokers.

Born in Bedfordshire, Maria Hutt, as she then was, grew up in west London where her parents ran a pet shop – sparking a lifelong love of animals. “My dad, John Hutt, was also a security guy and did loads of different jobs before ending up as head of security at Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium,” says May. “So I went to concerts from a very young age – my first gig was ABBA, when I was six or something, at Wembley Arena. It changed my life. That’s probably why I’m into disco.”

That serendipitous behind-the-scenes lifestyle became part and parcel of May’s daily ritual. “When I was 11, I got into a really good school – City of London School for Girls. At the end of each day, I’d catch the train to Wembley, watch a show, and then get a lift home with Dad. I’d often be doing my homework during sound check. And so I saw everything – Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, Luther Vandross, Tina Turner, Spandau Ballet, Tears for Fears, Dr Hook, you name it. And often I saw them on multiple nights.”

While she was still unsure about what to pursue as a career, a seed had been planted. “I was at the venue often till 10 or 11 o’clock, so I got used to being a night owl at an age where most people had never even been to a gig. Ultimately, after each show, I’d go backstage, and I really got into the atmosphere of all the hustle and bustle. Otherwise, I worked for my parents at the shop and did a load of part-time jobs to earn money. And then the rave scene hit and everything changed.”

“We pretty much were the architects of where the electronic scene sits right now”

While May seemed destined for higher education, acid house presented a different route entirely. “I just announced I didnt want to go to uni,” she recalls. “Mum and Dad’s reaction was that if I wasn’t going to university, I had to get myself a job. As a result, I found myself working at a recruitment firm, and within about three months, I was running the payroll across two agencies, because I just found the work really easy. And then I saw a job advert for an assistant at a private recording studio in West Hampstead, which was owned by Robert Howes, and at the time was rented to Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

“It was a great job – once a week, they’d give me the tapes, I’d drive down to Abbey Road to get them mastered, and I’d hang out with the studio manager there. My parents were quite impressed, because I was on a decent salary, so they sort of relaxed. And meanwhile, I was in this crazy world of latenight studio sessions, with different people like Squeeze, Aled Jones, and Gary Barlow popping in all the time. It was fun, but I didn’t really understand that I was in the music industry… I was just turning up every day to make sandwiches and coffee, do invoices, and run errands.”

Mixing with musicians and DJs soon led May to rave culture. “I started going out with this guy, Chris Binns, who was running the World Party illegal raves. We did quite a few massive events, and I got caught up in that whole scene. I basically wasn’t going to bed four days a week because I was dancing in fields. I was very tired, but I was having the time of my life while trying to hold down my day job.”

However, that was all set to change, thanks to Phil Nelson, manager of the Levellers. “He rented an office opposite the studio, and he’d come over to collect his post, and we’d always have a chat. Then, one day, he asked if I’d like to be his assistant. Being 18 years old and not even knowing who the Levellers were, I just went, ‘Yeah, that sounds great.’”

Not everyone in the Hutt family was as enthusiastic. “I remember an item on the TV news about the Levellers as the whole counterculture thing was blowing up. They were sort of portrayed as the devil, and my parents were not impressed.”

But it was May’s work with the band that sparked her passion for activism and first got her noticed on a national scale.

“I was young and opinionated, but they put me in my place a lot and taught me loads about myself”

“The government had announced the Criminal Justice Bill and the Levellers decided they were going to fight it, so they got me to run their campaign. The challenge was to get the message out about all the rights the government was trying to take away from people. We didn’t have a budget, so we did all sorts of mad things: we blagged free adverts in the music press, we did billboards on Vauxhall Bridge, we organised marches, and it was so successful that I got profiled in The Times and The Big Issue which, for a teenager, was a bit mad.”

The campaign would also introduce her to David Guetta manager Caroline Prothero, who at the time was working at Ministry of Sound, and who, after meeting May, insisted that everyone entering the club needed to sign the petition against the Criminal Justice Bill.

In a stint that at one point saw May singing backing vocals for the band, she describes her time with the Levellers as an experience that shaped the rest of her adult life. “They were brilliant to work with,” she says. “I was young and opinionated, but they put me in my place a lot and taught me loads about myself. I learned about politics, and that’s something that has remained a big thing for me – being actively involved in trying to make people aware what the ramifications of new legislation might be on their lives. The Levellers were true human beings, who did the right thing, always, no matter what the consequences, and that really inspired me.”

The subsequent beneficiaries of May’s creative campaigning and strategic skills have included a number of music-related trade bodies and organisations. She is a founding board member of the Association For Electronic Music (AFEM) and also a former board member of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). Meanwhile, she sits on the boards of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation and Lady of the House and is also on the executive board of Beatport.

The Accidental Agent
While other friends had gone to university and even enjoyed the luxury of gap years, May had been working since she was 17 and, at 21, decided she needed some time out.

“I had a new DJ boyfriend who ran clubs like Indulge in Brixton. We’d go to Ministry of Sound to see [David] Morales and Knuckles and [Tony] Humphries, and otherwise, I decided I was just going to sit around for six months and have a nice time. But then the Levellers’ agent, Charlie Myatt, introduced me to David Levy who he worked with at ITB. David was in the dance music side of things, and when he asked me about my musical influences and I named Chaka Khan and Jazzy Jeff, he said he wanted to give me a job on the spot.”

“There were many situations where I had to deal with people who were not very nice because I was a woman”

As a result, in early 1995, May embarked on a new journey, alongside Levy. “I barely knew what an agent did, and on day one, David handed me a list of promoter contacts and got me to call them to ask if they wanted to book Paul Oakenfold. And shortly afterward, I met Paul himself. It was just before he started to really blow up. But basically, me, David, and Paul made it up as we went along, and we pretty much wrote the book, and I only now realise the importance of all the stuff we did in the 90s – Paul taking things dance music mainstream through supporting the likes of U2 and Madonna on tour, for instance.”

May also cites dance music matriarch Judy Weinstein as a big supporter. “If I’m in New York, I make sure I visit Judy. She has been a huge influence on me, and in those early days, she helped David and I build the business internationally.”

Lauding Levy as her mentor, May states, “We were an absolute dream team. He was fierce, and I learned so much from him. In fact, I introduced him to one of my best friends, Irina, and they got married. We remain close, and the lovely thing is that our kids are friends. I spend every summer with David and his family in Ibiza. I love him. He’s one of my dearest friends, and the 17 years that I worked with him were just the best, because in that time, we worked with everyone – we pretty much were the architects of where the electronic scene sits right now in terms of superstar DJs, headline billing, and residencies.”

She continues, “Before us, there were no dance agents. It was David, me, and a handful of others. And there were certainly no other women. As agents, we were treated like second-class citizens, because the larger live music business didn’t understand our world. But we were quietly making shit loads of money for our clients, so it was a fantastic time during which I learned how to be an agent.

“David never let me make a mistake; he’d always catch them before they went out, so he absolutely protected me. In saying that, there were many situations where I had to deal with people who were not very nice because I was a woman. But David defended me to the hilt. He was absolutely invested in my success.”

“I’ve grown with the client, and we’ve just been able to do the most amazing things all over the world”

That working relationship ended when Levy departed for William Morris in 2010. “I totally understood his decision,” says May. “He’d gone as far as he could go. And it allowed me, perception-wise, to come out of his shadow. He never treated me that way, but I know other people in the business saw it that way.”

Levy’s departure also helped solidify May’s own roster. “Of course, David took most of his artists with him, but a lot of acts who I had worked with day-to-day decided to stay with me – 2manydjs, Soulwax, Paul Oakenfold, David Guetta, and Róisín Murphy, for instance.”

While May remained at ITB for a couple more years, in 2012, she decided it was time for a change. “The likes of David Guetta, 2manydjs, and Soulwax were really big, and I ended up getting a few more assistants. At the same time, the industry was waking up to the power of electronic music and the money that can be made. As a result, a lot of the American agencies were trying to lure talent away, so maybe it was insecurity on my part, but I really felt I needed to be at a major agency so that I could better represent a client like David Guetta, for instance.

“I’ve been at CAA for nearly 13 years, and I made the decision to come here because Emma and Mike treated me so well. Back in 2012, CAA didn’t have an existing dance or electronic department, so one of the big attractions was coming in to set it up and do it globally.”

Recognising idiosyncrasies, she adds, “I don’t think I’m that easy to work with. I’m all over the place with my train of thought. But at CAA, there’s a genuine sense of looking after each other.”

Among the beneficiaries of May’s stewardship is Guetta, who has been at the top of the tree for decades. “It was just obvious he was gonna be a huge pop star even though he’s still a DJ,” says May. “Maintaining the DJ side of it has always been critical to his career path, and it’s something that we’ve pretty much pulled off in the sense that he makes commercial pop hits but does lots of underground stuff as well, so he’s now doing major festivals and stadiums as a headliner, like a pop artist with huge production. That’s been a brilliant relationship in the sense that I’ve grown with the client, and we’ve just been able to do the most amazing things all over the world.”

“Setting the building blocks is something I’m pretty proud of, even though we were just doing stuff instinctively”

Team Disco
While there were early suggestions that May’s department at CAA be named “EDM,” she insisted on the “Team Disco” moniker that she and assistant Gina Gorman had adopted at ITB. “In London, there are 11 of us, while in America, we’re up to around the same number including agents and assistants – it’s no longer a niche business; it’s huge! But there’s still lots of room for this business to grow. The scenes are constantly evolving with new talent and new genres coming through.”

Looking back to the original Team Disco at ITB, May was one of the pioneers in cementing Ibiza’s place at the centre of the electronic music business. “I was part of the first residencies in Ibiza, thanks to Danny Whittle who wanted to do a residency at Pacha with Paul [Oakenfold]. He told me that if it worked, he also wanted to do it with Death Mix – David Morales, Frankie, Satoshi Tomiie, and all of those guys, and obviously I repped all of those people. The Paul Oakenfold residency was massively successful, and the rest is history.

“Being part of that and setting the building blocks is something I’m pretty proud of, even though we were just doing stuff instinctively. We didn’t really know whether it was gonna work half the time, but it did, so well done us,” she laughs.

Again, she names Judy Weinstein as one of the architects behind the strategy that propelled dance music to a global phenomenon. “It’s a partnership, and the managers who understand that are the best people to work with,” states May. “But I also represent a lot of artists that don’t have managers, so I work with them directly.”

Drawing comparisons to the worlds of rock and pop, she notes, “A DJ schedule is 365 days a year if you want it to be. It’s not built on a model where an album comes out and you’re touring and then you have a year off. I do a lot of live acts as well – Black Eyed Peas has been a fantastic relationship for me, because their management, Polo Molina and Seth Friedman, always trusted me with access to their diaries. I never imagined that I could be their agent, but Rob Light signed them to CAA, and then phoned me to ask if I wanted to be the Black Eyed Peas agent. I just love things that end up being beautiful happy accidents.”

“Suddenly I was working with this guy that I knew from my local area who turned into a massive act”

Losing Talent
Of course, for every happy accident there’s a flip side, and May admits that losing clients can be tough. “I was sad to lose Soulwax and 2manydjs – that was probably the biggest loss of my career, and of course they went to David Levy. That was a wake-up call because I realised that while David is my friend, he’s also my rival. We got through it, but I didn’t handle it very well in the beginning. It happened as soon as I started at CAA, and I’ll always remember going to see Emma Banks, and she was really clear, telling me that CAA didn’t employ me for my acts; they employed me because they believed in me.”

Indeed, May highlights the support her bosses and colleagues provided during some of her darkest moments. “About six years ago, my dad got very ill, and the company allowed me to do whatever I needed to do, so I made the job work around being a single parent with two kids and a dying dad,” she recalls. “And then six months after Dad died, my mom was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour and needed round-the-clock nursing. It was a horrible time, but Emma and Mike and everyone at CAA were amazing.”

Career Highlights
Thankfully, the good times vastly outnumber the bad, and May has had some spectacular highlights in her career to date.

“David Guetta at Masada in Israel – I was the first person to do it with a major artist,” she says of her most memorable shows. “I also did Paul Oakenfold on the Great Wall of China before anyone had ever done it. Róisín Murphy at sunset on West Holts at Glastonbury is always fucking amazing – Róisín is one of my favourite partnerships. I’ve loved every second of being her agent, and I genuinely can’t wait for her next record.”

May also cites X-Press 2 as a standout client. “My relationship with their manager, Chris Butler (currently the manager of Jalen Ngonda also repped by CAA), is fantastic. He gave me my first band, Red Snapper, and when I’d been their agent for about a year, we sold out the Astoria, and I just remember being so proud. So, when X-Press 2 blew up, it was just brilliant, as I’d known [DJ] Rocky from growing up, and suddenly I was working with this guy that I knew from my local area who turned into a massive act.”

“Being able to make stuff like that happen that has a legacy is just the cherry on the cake”

She also talks fondly of American talent David Morales and the late Frankie Knuckles. “They taught me all about the New York club scene, and I’d go there every other month. It’s the privilege of a lifetime to know those guys – the originators of house music – and bring them to Europe. Frankie was an enduring friendship that I really am very grateful for. He was an amazing man, and I loved him, so it was really hard when he died.”

May’s association with the godfather of house music continues to this day, through her work as a board member of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation, and she recalls ways in which their relationship helped elevate one act to iconic status.

“I repped Hercules and Love Affair for a long time, and he brought this collection of music to me that included a track called Blind, and his biggest wish was for Frankie to work on remixes. So, I asked Frankie if he would do it, and he was a bit non-committal, so I kept nagging him, and in the end, he said he’d do it for me. And Frankie’s Blind remix is one of the club-defining tracks, even now. So being able to make stuff like that happen that has a legacy, is just the cherry on the cake.”

The Darling Buds of May
While May’s life ultimately revolves around her children, her devotion to her clients’ careers, and the growth of electronic music, means her workaholic approach is more of a vocation than a job. “I’m hugely proud of my two kids,” she states. “They are my greatest achievement.”

Within Team Disco, May works closely with colleague Jen Hammel in CAA’s London office. “We’re a bit of a dynamic duo,” she comments. “[Jen’s] proved to be a formidable agent. She’s just killing it, and I love working with her.”

The Future
With 30 years under her belt, May’s love for her craft shows no sign of waning, and she remains committed to helping guide the careers of a new generation of talent amidst an ever-accelerating pace of evolution in the dance sector.

“Due to TikTok and streaming, we’re starting to see genres changing really quickly,” she observes. “Being able to create longevity is definitely becoming more challenging, and it’s up to us agents to help our clients achieve prolonged careers, if that’s their goal.

“Our job (as agents) now is to slow time down and take more care, be totally confident in our artists”

“But at the moment, there seems to be a desire for people to just rinse the shit out of things. It’s almost like pop, and a lot of people are spending an awful lot of money on social media in order to maintain their careers, because there’s a lot of stuff that comes along that’s super hot, super firing, and doing massive numbers. But by the second summer, the kids have moved on.

“I also find that the leverage-on-leverage-on-leverage model, which was really strong in the dance music scene for many years, may be on the way out. For example, people who hit 25m streams would leverage that number, then they’d leverage on the leverage. I’ve never really bought into that. I prefer taking my time, underplaying, believing in the artist long-term, and building a fanbase that will stick by them. There’s definitely a style here within Team Disco (and at CAA in general), where we try our best to sign career artists, because we want to be part of that journey.”

Predicting both short-term and long-term growth for dance music, she tells IQ, “It’s interesting, China is definitely coming back strong again for electronic, and Southeast Asia seems to be really pumping again, post-Covid. Holland is doing extremely well in terms of certain sounds, certain scenes – and there are really strong ticket sales.”

Breaking new markets is also on May’s radar – an ambition that she believes is easier given the genre her clients occupy. “If you are a DJ, and it’s just you and a tour manager when you start out, you can go anywhere. And you have no costs, really, because the promoter pays for your flights. You can go anywhere you want, and we send people into new territories all the time. And the artists that come to you saying, ‘I just want to tour these markets and build my career,’ they’re the keepers. They’re the ones that put the graft in.”

Naming new clients such as Marlon Hoffstadt, Malugi, Jammer with Más Tiempo (a label/events brand owned by Jammer and Skepta), and Arcadia (Glastonbury structure and field), May concludes that the electronic sector is facing a bright future as dance music has established itself as a mainstay across most major festivals with more and more headliners coming from Team Disco’s roster.

“Our job (as agents) now is to slow time down and take more care, be totally confident in our artists, and help build long-term artist careers based on real ticket sales and exceptional experiences for the artist and the audiences,” she concludes.

“We need to achieve that in the most authentic and fan-led way possible – guardian angel-like – while having the experience, the knowledge, and the confidence in how to do that. I am lucky to be at CAA and to be surrounded by other people doing exactly that every single day.”

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.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is suing management company Range Media Partners in the US, accusing the firm of stealing confidential information.

The explosive lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, describes Range, which works with talent such as Jack Harlow, Rita Ora, Shaboozey, Pentatonix, Saweetie and PartyNextDoor, as “an unlicensed talent agency built on deceit”.

It alleges that Range’s founder – former CAA agent Peter Micelli – sought a “shortcut to success” by finding “four highly-paid CAA leaders to act as his accomplices” in the run-up to launching Range in 2020.  CAA identifies Range co-founders Jack Whigham, David Bugliari, Michael Cooper and Mick Sullivan as the alleged “accomplices” who “carried out a scheme designed to give Range an unlawful competitive edge”.

It accuses the agents of “posing as loyal CAA members, sitting shoulder to shoulder in confidential CAA meetings about clients and business, all while covertly working to benefit Range and themselves, and to harm CAA”.

“Range’s founders publicly announced its launch in August 2020,” reads the filing. “However, in truth, by August 2020, Micelli and the accomplices had spent months stealing confidential information from CAA for Range’s benefit.”

The complaint, which demands a jury trial, continues: “Specifically, Micelli and the accomplices sought to benefit Range by breaching their obligations to CAA and causing other CAA employees to do the same. The accomplices, working in concert with Micelli, induced other CAA employees – who the Range founders knew were bound by confidentiality and loyalty obligations to CAA – to assist in stealing CAA’s confidential information.

“CAA will fiercely protect the agency against improper market conduct and the misuse of its confidential information”

“The Range founders understood they were engaging in misconduct and tried to cover their tracks to avoid getting caught: urging more junior CAA employees to download encrypted messaging apps to avoid CAA detecting their communications, and directing CAA employees to export confidential information for delivery to certain of the accomplices’ personal email accounts and cellphones. The accomplices did all this while still working as senior CAA leaders and talent agents.”

Furthermore, CAA claims the company’s business model is “the pursuit of unlawful profit through deception” by not registering as an agency to circumvent the WGA Code of Conduct.

“Range skirts rules that California legislators and artists’ guilds put in place to protect those working in the entertainment industry,” adds the lawsuit. “The core ‘trick’ of Range is that it acts as a talent agency but labels itself a management company,” it says. “Range thereby engages in lucrative transactions foreclosed to law-abiding talent agencies.”

In a statement to IQ, CAA counsel Elena Baca of Paul Hastings LLP adds: “CAA is prepared to prove that Range Media was formed through dishonest conduct and, as reflected in other public, pending legal proceedings about Range’s failure to comply with arbitration subpoenas, has concealed evidence of its founders’ actions.

“Peter Micelli, along with his accomplices who were at CAA while founding Range, conducted a lengthy scheme to enrich themselves in ways that violated their contracts and legal obligations to CAA, talent guild regulations, and ethical boundaries, as CAA will demonstrate in court. CAA will fiercely protect the agency against improper market conduct and the misuse of its confidential information.”

IQ has approached Range Media for comment.

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The LGBTIQ+ List 2024 – IQ Magazine’s fourth annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business – has been revealed.

The ever-popular list is the centrepiece of IQ’s fourth Pride edition, sponsored by Ticketmaster, which is now available to read online and in print for subscribers.

To get to know this year’s queer pioneers a little better, we interviewed each of them on the development of the industry, the challenges that are keeping them up at night and more.

Throughout the next month, IQ will publish a new interview each day. Catch up on yesterday’s interview with Priscilla Nagashima (she/her), VP of engineering at DICE.

The series continues with Rhys France (he/him), corporate and private events booker at CAA.

Rhys France is a member of the Music Brand Partnerships team at CAA, serving as the corporate & private events booker. He works across a diverse music roster, from legendary icons to new emerging talents. Originally from Australia, Rhys began his career in Shanghai, China. There, he spent five years as a music promoter, booking artists for performances across Asia. Eight years ago, he relocated to London where he has since collaborated with hundreds of artists on thousands of shows across the world while working in the live music touring industry. Additionally, Rhys is one of the leaders of the CAA LGBTQ+ Alliance, contributing to annual Pride events, charity partnerships and yearly programming.

Tell us about the professional feat you’re most PROUD of in 2024 so far.
Connecting with client Kim Petras backstage at her sold-out Apollo show earlier this year about the impact she has had on me personally and the queer community was pretty special. In that moment I was proud to work for an agency that represents such influential LGBTQ+ talents.

Tell us about a professional challenge you’ve come across as a queer person in this industry.
Learning to integrate my queer identity into my professional life has been a challenge. I’ve always tried to be proudly and unapologetically myself, in all spaces at all times. But when I was younger, I felt pressure to conform to heteronormative expectations to be taken seriously in a professional setting. Over time I learned the power and strength of my own authenticity – that this is what made me unique – and the sky was the limit.

“[Feature] more queer, trans and non-binary artists prominently in campaigns, playlists, line-ups and award shows”

You’re involved with CAA’s LGBTQ+ Alliance. What do you hope to achieve through the alliance?
Being a leader of the Alliance at the CAA is a complete privilege. As a group, we aim to achieve an inclusive work environment for all LGBTQ+ colleagues and foster a safe space for everyone. We meet regularly and through open dialogue and discussion, our Pride Panel event aims to amplify queer voices and stories and celebrate the unique perspectives and experiences that queer artists/professionals bring to the table. Our panel last year was filmed and shared worldwide with thousands of colleagues.

Name one thing the industry could do to be a more equitable place.
I’ll always be pushing for more queer visibility and representation in all aspects of the industry. Featuring more queer, trans and non-binary artists prominently in campaigns, playlists, line-ups and award shows, as well as ensuring more opportunities for queer artists to showcase their talent and reach wider audiences. We have a lot of progress to make in these spaces.

“Over time I learned the power and strength of my own authenticity – that this is what made me unique – and the sky was the limit”

 Name one queer act you’re itching to see live this year.
One is going to be impossible. One client on this list is Durand Bernarr, an absolute vocal powerhouse, who you can catch at We Out Here. Fellow Aussie, Troye Sivan, at Wembley will be iconic, Charli XCX’s arena show at the O2, queer icon Kylie Minogue at BST, and shout out to Mighty Hoopla – my favourite weekend of the year where I’ll be excited to catch Gok Wan & Jodie Harsh to name a few. 

Shout out any LGBTIQ+ cause(s) you support.
We previously partnered with Stonewall Housing, which provides specialist housing advice, advocacy and support for LGBTQ+ people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. They do amazing work.

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The LGBTIQ+ List 2024 – IQ Magazine’s fourth annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business – has been revealed.

The ever-popular list is the centrepiece of IQ’s fourth Pride edition, sponsored by Ticketmaster, which is now available to read online and in print for subscribers.

To get to know this year’s queer pioneers a little better, we interviewed each of them on the development of the industry, the challenges that are keeping them up at night and more.

Throughout the next month, IQ will publish a new interview each day. Catch up on yesterday’s interview with Chris May, (he/him), general manager at BC Place Stadium.

The series continues with Dustin Turner (he/him), music marketing executive at CAA.

Music marketing agent Dustin Turner represents many of the world’s leading musicians and has been a leader in the LGBTQ+ philanthropic community. With a roster of nearly 50 clients, Turner supports the careers of Becky G, Betty Who, Bianca Del Rio, Dan + Shay, Jelly Roll, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Nickelback, Paulina Rubio, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Tim McGraw, and Zac Brown Band, among many others. Turner also serves as the agency’s point person for all bookings related to annual Pride events across the country. In addition to his work on the live side of the music business, Turner also volunteers with the CAA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the agency. 

Tell us about the professional feat you’re most PROUD of in 2024 so far.
Maren Morris did a series of intimate shows for her fan club in late 2023 at iconic clubs like The Troubadour in LA which all sold out in minutes. Maren partnered with GLAAD [a non-profit LGBTQ advocacy organisation] so a portion of all tickets sold went back to them each night. To be at those shows and see Maren connect with her biggest fans each night was magical. We recently put her RSVP Redux tour on sale, still playing legendary venues throughout the rest of the year. Getting to work with so many clients and launch tours with Dan + Shay, Little Big Town, Sugarland, Jelly Roll, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Tim McGraw, and Gavin DeGraw, among many others this year has been incredible and there is so much more to come!

What’s your most pressing challenge in the industry at the moment?
There is a lot of content out there and every week multiple huge tours are announced and going on sale. All are competing for the same dollars from fans, and you have to find a way to make your clients stand out and help them cut through the clutter. We’re constantly having to think about what makes the tour we are working on different from the others and why should a fan buy a ticket to our artist’s show over all others.  

“Luckily, we have been able to support [drag artist] clients and allow them to bring their talents and performances to cities across the US”

What does your involvement in the LGBTQ+ philanthropic community look like?
In addition to his work on the live side of the music business, I also volunteer with the CAA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the agency. I helped plan CAA’s sixth annual Evening for Equality, which raised funds for The Oasis Center’s “Just Us” program to provide free counseling services to LGBTQ+ youth in Tennessee. I’m also a former board member of the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

You work with many drag artists from the US. Have state bans on drag affected your work at all?
Obviously, this is an issue that continues and for now, we have had to make some of our shows 18+ instead of all ages. Luckily we have been able to support these clients and allow them to bring their talents and performances to cities across the US.

“We have made huge strides but I think it is important for our allies to allow LGBTQ+ people to live their authentic lives, when people do, we are all better”

You are CAA’s point person for bookings related to Pride events. Tell us about some of your favourite bookings for 2024.
I am really excited to have Sophie Ellis Bextor coming over to the US, not only to perform at OUTLOUD Festival in LA but also to do a headline tour. To see her success in the US after her song was featured in Saltburn is so deserved. Also, at OUTLOUD Festival we have Kesha and Adam Lambert performing on the Friday night, which will be awesome. We have Jojo Siwa doing multiple markets with the release of her new music, The Scarlet Opera playing in Phoenix, Icona Pop playing in Nashville, and Todrick Hall in San Diego. There are a lot of exciting bookings in 2024 for pride festivals across the country.

Name one thing the industry could do to be a more equitable place.
I feel like we have made huge strides but I think it is important for our allies to allow LGBTQ+ people to live their authentic lives, when people do, we are all better. 

Shout out to your biggest ally in the live music industry.
So many people have supported me on my professional journey, from my husband and family who deal with the crazy schedule and me having to miss personal things, to mentors and those I admire that I can pick up the phone and call anytime for support or to bounce ideas off of. To name specific people would be unfair to so many but I am very lucky to have such a strong support system around me.

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Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has announced senior agents Emma Banks, Darryl Eaton and Rick Roskin as co-heads of global touring.

The trio, all long-time senior members of the firm’s leadership team, will oversee the department’s continued international growth and build upon the work of predecessor Rob Light, who was recently named CAA MD after 25 years as head of global touring.

“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,” say Roskin, Eaton and Banks. “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.

“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.”

With employees in Los Angeles, Nashville, London, New York, Austin, Miami, and Toronto, CAA’s Global Touring department boasts a roster including 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. In the past year, CAA has booked more than 38,000 shows.

Banks has co-led the agency’s now 60-person London music office since joining CAA in 2006. In addition to her new leadership position, she serves on CAA’s internal agency board and also chairs UK music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins.

“CAA remains the dominant music and comedy touring agency thanks to a profoundly deep culture of collaboration, innovation, and unyielding devotion to clients”

Eaton and Roskin became CAA’s 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 led the agency’s efforts to launch and grow its electronic, Latin, and hip-hop/R&B divisions, while 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, formed in 2020, and was part of the company’s leadership group that completed the 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,” says Light, who recently signed a long-term contract to remain at CAA, alongside all the other MDs. “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.”

“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,” adds CAA co-chair and CEO Bryan Lourd. “The leadership role they each already play at CAA has earned them deep respect and trust among our colleagues across all departments.”

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Leading agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has announced a flurry of promotions across multiple departments.

The company has elevated 16 staff members to agent or executive, including Megan Glendinning, Evan Greenberg, Alex Hubert and Ashley King, who have each been promoted to agent in the music touring department. They will be based in Los Angeles.

Glendinning, Greenberg and Hubert all began their careers as clerks in CAA’s mailroom, while King started out with the firm as a receptionist.

Glendinning later served as an assistant to Jared Martin, Andrew Simon, and Ryan Harlacher before being upped to booking professional in 2022. She was accepted into CAA Elevate – the agency’s training and practical development curriculum – in July 2023, alongside Greenberg and Hubert.

Greenberg was an assistant to Alex Becket, Matthew Kingsley, and Hunter Williams, before being elevated to coordinator in 2022.

Hubert, who previously assisted Lee Goforth, Brett Steinberg, Jared Martin, Brian Greenbaum and Ken Ashley, and King, who had a stint as assistant to Cameron Kaiser and Marlene Tsuchii, were both promoted to booking professionals in 2022.

CAA is headquartered in LA, and has offices in New York, Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, Miami, London, Munich, Geneva, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing

In London, Gabrielle Fetters and Peppa Mignone have also been promoted to agent, and Khalil Roberts to executive, within CAA’s books department, while Sarah Phillips is appointed executive in CAA Search, which specialises in recruiting C-level and senior executives, non-executive directors, and board-level executives around the world.

Based in New York, Justin Gorkowitz has been promoted to agent in the comedy touring department, with Leilani Houston promoted to agent in the commercial endorsements division and New York-based Kyle Margolis upped to agent in television news.

In addition, Los Angeles-based Hannah Kaiser has been promoted to agent in the television scripted department, Max Miller is appointed agent in the motion picture talent department and Cami Potter is named agent in television talent.

Finally, New York-based Jack Upton has been promoted to agent in the Talent department and Los Angeles-based Connie Yan is elevated to agent in the motion picture literary department.

Founded in 1975, CAA is headquartered in LA, and has offices in New York, Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, Miami, London, Munich, Geneva, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing, among other locations. Artémis, an investment vehicle led by billionaire French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, acquired TPG’s majority stake in the agency in September.

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Artémis, an investment firm led by billionaire French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault, has acquired TPG’s majority stake in Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Financial details have not been disclosed but Bloomberg previously reported the deal would value the leading sports and entertainment agency at US$7 billion (€6.2bn). Private equity company TPG upped its 35% stake in CAA to 53% for a reported $225 million in 2014.

CAA’s Bryan Lourd, Kevin Huvane, and Richard Lovett will remain co-chairs in the wake of the agreement, with Lourd expected to be named CEO and Jim Burtson to continue as president.

Pinault is chairman and CEO of Paris-headquartered luxury goods company Kering, owner of brands such as Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. He has been president of Groupe Artémis – the Pinault family’s investment company – since 2003.

“Artémis is a strategic investor of the highest order”

“Artémis is a strategic investor of the highest order, with global reach and resources across countless areas of our clients’ interests, a deeply sophisticated understanding of global brands and how to support their growth, and a passion for creativity and innovation that matches ours and that of our clients,” says a joint statement from Lourd, Lovett, Huvane and Burtson.

Founded in 1975, CAA is headquartered in Los Angeles, and has offices in New York, Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, Miami, London, Munich, Geneva, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing, among other locations.

“François-Henri Pinault and his remarkable team, led by Héloïse Temple-Boyer and Alban Greget, share our vision for a future of limitless new opportunities,” adds the statement. “We are enormously grateful to TPG for their strategic expertise, invaluable support, and friendship over 13 years. We enjoyed tremendous growth and success together and look forward to continuing to collaborate on projects ahead.”

Singapore-based global investment vehicle Temasek remains a minority owner, with CMC Capital remaining a strategic partner.

CAA consolidated its position at the forefront of the international live music agency landscape last year with its acquisition of ICM Partners

CAA consolidated its position at the forefront of the international live music agency landscape last year with its acquisition of ICM Partners (ICM), in a move valued at $750 million by Hollywood Reporter. The agreement was said to be the largest talent agency transaction since WME acquired IMG in 2014.

The company’s music clients include the likes of Harry Styles, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Florence + The Machine, Dermot Kennedy, Sam Smith, Kylie Minogue, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lorde, Green Day, Muse, Sam Fender, Haim, The Black Keys and Paramore, while its acting clients include Tom Cruise and Pinault’s wife Salma Hayek.

The agency sector has been largely consolidated by just four companies – CAA, Wasserman, UTA and WME – although US-based talent agencies APA and Artist Group International merged to form Independent Artist Group earlier this summer, while the UK’s Primary Talent International, which was sold to ICM Partners in 2020, returned to independence in March following a management buyout.

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Looking back on 20 years in the business, CAA stalwart Summer Marshall tells Lisa Henderson about how an insatiable hunger to find new talent and emotional intelligence have helped her sign some of the world’s biggest artists.

“Humanise your approach.” That was the advice Summer Marshall gave in a 2017 IQ New Bosses interview for those wanting to follow the agency route into the business. Six years later and those words are still serving as the modus operandi behind her own increasingly successful career. “I approach my work with kindness, an emotional intelligence, and a number-one priority of achieving the goals for the artists I work with,” she says, sitting across from IQ in an expansive boardroom in CAA’s Hammersmith offices.

Having got her foot in the door at just 16 years old, Marshall has already clocked up 20 years in the business, including 15 at CAA – not that she’s noticed. “Honestly, I just get on with it. I’m focused on doing a really good job. I just want to make sure that I’m doing the best I can for the artists I work with and that they’re achieving what they deserve to achieve.”

The results speak for themselves. In the week that we spoke to Marshall, her act Sam Smith delivered two sold-out shows at the O2 in London, as part of their world tour. Maisie Peters, who Marshall believes will be “the next major festival headliner,” played her biggest headline show to date at Hammersmith Apollo. And US singer-songwriter Ava Max delivered the last of two sold-out Shepherd’s Bush concerts which Marshall, who splits her time between west London and Dorset, attended despite being awake since 5 am.

Her impressive and intentionally eclectic roster also includes Jorja Smith, Tems, Celeste, Koffee, Kojey Radical, Gabriels, Nick Mulvey, Nadine Shah, Temper Trap, and Portugal. The Man. “I proactively try and keep my roster to artists that are all quite different, but the thing they all have in common is they provoke conversation. They’ve all got unique voices, and they all have something significant to share with the world.”

“I’ve got lots of memories of Madonna, Tupac, Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls, The Cranberries, Nirvana”

Child of the world
An ear for talent is something that runs in Marshall’s blood. Dad Korda is renowned in the record industry, having held a managing director title at three major record labels. The A&R extraordinaire, who has signed some of the biggest names in rock and roll over his 30-year career, currently co-leads international operations at Australia-headquartered Mushroom Records. Cousin Lara Marshall is director of marketing at Above Board/The Orchard, younger brother Will Marshall is an agent at Primary Talent (and also became an IQ New Boss), and artists are a dime a dozen in the family.

It comes as no surprise, then, that Marshall’s passion for live music was borne from countless summers at Glastonbury as a child, “probably dancing to wild abandon with no shoes, watching Ash. I’ve got lots of memories of Madonna, Tupac, Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls, The Cranberries, Nirvana. The childcare back then was you were sat in front of a speaker stack for a few hours while your parents worked.”

Dad Korda remembers hosting “domestic A&R meetings” each Sunday with kids Summer, Will, and Molly. “I’d cook them Sunday lunch and play everything my A&R team had played for me, and they were brutally honest. We would talk through the deal structures and how much money was invested and whether they wanted to contribute any of their pocket money into the deal. It was a very open house with lots of questions. The three of them formed my domestic A&R department.”

Those weekend A&R workshops paid in kind to Korda, who years later signed The Darkness upon Summer’s recommendation. “That was the first time I properly listened to her, and the band ended up being massive and selling eight million albums.”

Travelling was another cornerstone of her childhood, which helped form her encyclopaedic knowledge of venues and insider knowledge of markets around the world. “My wonderful parents are complete hippies that decided to go back-packing with me as a very small baby. I’ve lived in Australia for the best part of two years. I’ve lived in America. I’ve travelled all over Asia. I’ve been to Africa. I’ve also lived in every single borough in London. I’ve been to a good number of venues in the UK and all around the world. I’d say my home is London, but I’m a child of the world.”

“The industry did not used to be a very friendly place for women, and there was a view that it wasn’t going to be the best career choice”

Though it may have seemed written in the stars that Marshall pursued a career in the music industry, several members of her family attempted to dissuade her from that path. “The industry did not used to be a very friendly place for women, and there was a view that it wasn’t going to be the best career choice. I felt more pushed towards some of the more traditional female roles like teacher, nurse, or mother.”

Marshall started working “as soon as I was legally able to” – first in retail and then in hospitality. Bar and pub jobs led Summer and a good friend to programming and promoting live music, and she eventually turned her hand to A&R, PR, and marketing. Though she didn’t heed the warnings about the less equitable side of the music industry, she found some truth in their caution. Having launched her career in the industry as a teenager, she had to frequently battle both ageism and sexism.

“Within the first five years of my career, I remember going to see an artist that I had signed – and I had correct accreditation – but a door person refused to let me in because he did not believe that I was the agent,” she tells IQ. “That happened to me more than once where I had to call someone to verify that I was who I said I was. Now, it’s not so unexpected for a woman or a young person to be an agent.”

The suggestion of nepotism was also some- thing Marshall had to wrestle with in the formative years of her career. “I didn’t use my last name for the first two years,” she says. “I was fiercely independent, and I didn’t want an assumption that all of the doors had been opened for me because – whilst I fully acknowledge my privilege and I’m very grateful to my family for the support they’ve given me – there are doors that also close because of who you’re related to. It’s a bit more complicated.”

“Being the child of a record exec is a curse as well as a blessing,” Korda testifies. “But she’s achieved everything she has all on her own – all I did was help buy the champagne. Nothing was given to them. They had to work for everything. Hard work was ingrained in them. We had a real life, and we put their feet firmly on the ground.”

“When Summer joined CAA, she was sometimes ‘Korda Marshall’s daughter.’ I am pretty sure that the tables have turned and Korda is now ‘Summer Marshall’s dad.’”

It was that complication, among other things, that helped inform Marshall’s decision to pursue a career in the live business, where her dad’s reputation didn’t precede her. “When I started at CAA, that was the first time I had a business card with my last name, and that felt okay.”

CAA chief Emma Banks says: “When Summer joined CAA, she was sometimes ‘Korda Marshall’s daughter.’ I am pretty sure that the tables have turned and Korda is now ‘Summer Marshall’s dad.’”

The CAA years
It was 2008 when Marshall committed to a path into the live industry. Friend Alison Donald (now head of global creative at Kobalt) mentioned to CAA co-heads Emma Banks and Mike Greek that Marshall was thinking about a change of direction and a meeting was scheduled.

Banks remembers sitting with Marshall in a CAA meeting room. “It seemed to me that she was a smart, driven, and musically savvy person that would be a great addition to the young and growing team at CAA. We were lucky that Sum- mer also liked what she saw, and so she joined us, and the rest is history.”

Greek echoes that sentiment: “Summer struck me as a person with a strong drive to be successful. She had an incredible knowledge of and passion for music. She talked a lot about the many live events she had been to and showed a real passion for moving into the live arena.”

“I am a deeply spiritual person, and I do believe in the fundamental principle of karma. I actively try and put good out there”

Marshall adds: “I have deep respect for Emma and Mike – they are extraordinary human beings. They’re immensely intelligent business-people and have done an incredible job here. They’ve been wonderful mentors to me.”

As a self-identified humanist, the company’s mantra – ‘Take care of each other and good things will happen’ – was also a signal that CAA was the right place for her. “That spoke to me,” she says. “I am a deeply spiritual person, and I do believe in the fundamental principle of karma. I actively try and put good out there, and I feel that kind of moral centre that is quite rare in business. People at CAA really do follow that principle.”

With five years of hard graft under her belt, Marshall hit the ground running at CAA, booking shows from the off. In the first two years, she aimed to be “a human sponge” and attend every meeting and concert she possibly could. “I remember Mike and Emma taking me aside after the first 18 months and saying ‘You don’t have to go to every show. We’re not going to be upset if you’re not out every single night.’

“I think because of my initial training, as a teenager, when I was doing A&R scouting, there was a real expectation in the previous industry norm that you discovered new music from going to concerts, because it was pre-social media. That was a blessing for me because whilst it was an extraordinarily busy time in my life, I can confidently say I’ve been to almost every venue in the UK.”

“I’d say that the artists that are on my roster who are the most successful, I signed before they even released a song”

Building a roster
Marshall’s first few years at CAA were a whirlwind – so much so, she can’t quite remember how she landed her first acts. “My first three signings happened all together at the same time, which was extraordinary: General Fiasco, Temper Trap, Cloud Control. I was incredibly busy after that.”

Marshall recalls wooing Australian indie rock band Temper Trap through a mix of flattery and preparation. “I kept calling and saying, ‘I love you,’” she jokes. “It’s not just saying, ‘I love your music,’ it’s coming with a vision and [hoping] it aligns with them.”

Like many of the artists Marshall has worked with, Temper Trap went on to great success, primarily with 2014 hit Sweet Disposition.

“I’d say that the artists that are on my roster who are the most successful, I signed before they even released a song,” maintains Marshall. So how does she know when she needs to sign an artist, IQ asks? “The hairs on my arms stand up,” she replies. And that’s how she came to sign one of her longest-standing and most successful clients, Sam Smith, before their 2014 breakout hit Lay Me Down.

“I heard Sam’s voice for the first time, and I can honestly say it stopped me in my tracks,” she says. “I couldn’t think of anything else for the next week apart from this extraordinary voice. Sam just has such a unique show.”

“It’s remembering that every show you do needs to have a purpose. There’s no show you should book that’s just to fill the diary”

Another mainstay on Marshall’s roster is British R&B singer Jorja Smith, who she signed ahead of her 2016 debut single, Blue Lights, which addressed police brutality and racism.

“That signing was a team effort,” Marshall tells IQ. “Jorja has a fantastic manager, a fantastic tour manager, brilliant production manager, and a lovely, brilliant band. There are lots of people here that come together to create a successful touring career.

“Her journey has been an example of really taking a leap of faith and getting into markets outside of the UK early. When Blue Lights hit, we had so much demand in the UK we could have easily just gone and done every event in the UK, but we proactively got to Paris early. It’s remembering that every show you do needs to have a purpose. There’s no show you should book that’s just to fill the diary.”

“We lost money a little bit at the beginning [trying to] do some of these festivals and shows to get her into all these markets, but it’s paid off sevenfold now as we come into this moment because she has brilliant foundations to be able to play in every major market in 2024 with her [yet-to-be-released] phenomenal second album, fallen and flying.”

“Summer is so intuitive when it comes to where an artist should play and is always pushing forward to ensure that they have the best opportunities for growth”

That sixth sense for routing is something Banks can testify to: “Summer is so intuitive when it comes to where an artist should play and is always pushing forward to ensure that they have the best opportunities for growth.”

There’s still room for improvement, though, Marshall admits. “I strive to keep learning. At the end of every tour or collection of shows, I aim for a debrief with the promoter and artist team to talk through what went right and what might have not gone right.

“There are always new venues, new marketing methods, new ticketing processes to explore. It is part of what keeps the job exciting and this industry so special to work in.”

Despite her heavy-hitting roster, Marshall says the hunger to find new talent “drives her every day.”

“I love listening to new music. All parts of an artist’s career are brilliant, but the most exciting thing for me is those first 18 months with an artist when you are really rolling up your sleeves and asking, ‘How do we do this? Where are we going to get fans? When are we getting to Paris? How are we tackling the right time to go to Australia? What is the right London show to be bringing all the press to for reviews?’ Those are really important steps.

“It’s a bit like playing a game of chess. I possibly overanalyse but it’s brought me success, so it’s a good thing, but I will spend a lot of time think- ing about the timing and the process because it’s not just about when the tour is happening. It’s about when you’re announcing it, how you’re announcing it, the on-sale window, and who your presale partners are. The nuance in the marketing is really important. One of the big things I’ve learned from working with Mike and Emma is that attention to detail is everything, from when you’re thinking about the show to when the show’s happened and you’re settling it.”

“I do look at the artists I work with like my other children. I care deeply about doing the right thing for them”

Marshall says the reason why she has less than 20 artists on her roster is precisely so she can give that level of attention and care to her artists – something she swore by during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I actively tried not to sign artists during the pandemic when all of my peers were signing lots, because I knew if life did resume and we got this version of reality back again, everyone would want to tour, and I wanted to ensure that I had the capacity to work with the artists that I’ve already committed to. I do look at the artists I work with like my other children. I care deeply about doing the right thing for them.”

Like every agent working in the business, Marshall has lost an act or two but not through lack of care. “It was when I had to go on maternity leave,” she tells IQ. “You have to wave those acts off into the sunset and accept their leaving is a product of the circumstance – it’s no reflection on your work.”

While Marshall is surprisingly gracious about the departure of these acts, she says it was returning from maternity leave that was her toughest moment. “Catching up after the time away whilst still wanting to be a present wife and mother. The period away made me reassess time management entirely, I am more efficient and productive now than ever before because I am so much more conscious of maximising every working day, every second and every hour to its fullest.

“I want to make both my time working and the time with my family count. Balance is important. Finding a healthy life balance allows me to be the best agent for the artists I work with.”

“I don’t feel that I’ve stopped learning. There’s only reason to leave if you feel you’re not continuing to grow”

The Future
Unsurprisingly, Marshall has received a steady stream of job offers from both the live and record industries, but there’s a reason why she’s stuck with CAA for the better part of two decades.

“I don’t feel limited here or without support,” she says. “I don’t feel that I’ve stopped learning. There’s only reason to leave if you feel you’re not continuing to grow. CAA has been immensely supportive in helping me achieve what I’ve done so far and what I hope to do in the future.”

And detailing her “vast ambitions” for the future, it’s clear Marshall has no intention of resting on her laurels any time soon. “I want to achieve stadium success, and I would love to see some of the artists on my roster, like Maisie Peters and Celeste and Gabriels and Olivia Dean, become the next generation of headliners. There is no ceiling to what I would like to do with my career.”

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Beckie Sugden has joined Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as an agent in the company’s music touring department.

Sugden, who will be based in CAA’s London office, joins from Primary Talent International.

Her client roster includes artists such as Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, Noname, Mick Jenkins, T-Pain, Ghostemane, Mac Ayres, Soulection, and Joe Kay.

“We are thrilled to have Beckie join our team and contribute her talents to the work we do for our artists”

“We are thrilled to have Beckie join our team and contribute her talents to the work we do for our artists,” says Emma Banks, co-head of international touring/co-head of CAA London. “She has a proven track record for success in the representation business and, in just a couple of days, has become an integral part of the CAA team here in London.”

Sugden began her live music career as the founder of her own agency Mixedtape, and went on to serve stints at X-ray Touring and also spent five years at The Agency Group (later UTA) and WME.

When sidelined from her daily work by the pandemic, Sugden decided to do whatever she could to help get the industry back on track and at the end of 2020, she trained with St. John Ambulance as a volunteer vaccinator. This included studying subjects such as immunology, as well as practical training in injections and first aid. She has since volunteered across multiple sites in the UK and has administered hundreds of vaccines.

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