The New Bosses 2023: Holly Rowland, Wasserman Music
The 16th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses was published in IQ 121 this month, revealing 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.
To get to know this year’s cohort a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2023’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.
Catch up on the previous interview with Gilbert Paz, vice president of live entertainment business operations at Loud And Live (US). The series continues with Holly Rowland, an agent at Wasserman Music (UK).
Holly Rowland began her career as an apprentice at Coda in 2014 before moving into an agent assistant role. She worked across DJ clients advancing shows, before moving to work with agent Sol Parker, and was promoted to booker for Alex Hardee in 2018. Holly was then promoted to an agent in June 2022. She works with artists such as Louis Tomlinson, Rag’n’Bone Man, INJI, Pink Sweat$ and Annika Bennett.
You’ve worked with both DJ clients and touring artists. What’s the main difference from an agent point of view about those two worlds?
The DJ world can be non-stop with clients jetting all over the world, every weekend with no real off cycle! The live plans of touring artists are still mostly strategised around traditional album campaigns and often require months (and a lot of times, years!) of pre-planning.
You’ve worked through the ranks at the company to become an agent in your own right. What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
I started at Coda Agency as an apprentice in 2014 so it has been quite the journey to being promoted to agent, that’s a big highlight in itself! With this job the small wins are just as exciting as the big ones, selling out the first headline show with someone like INJI is as much of a highlight as an O2 Arena in London with Louis later this year.
Last year you booked all of Louis Tomlinson’s international dates. Can you talk about that experience, and who you count on to bounce ideas off?
It truly is a team effort between his manager Matt Vines, Alex Hardee, myself and our global promoter partners. It’s a huge conversation to make sure we’re picking the right markets, the right rooms and making sure Louis is giving the best experience he can for his diehard fans.
Who on your roster should we all be looking out for in the year ahead?
Pink Sweat$, Lilian Helper, Annika Bennett & Pacific Avenue.
“Building your network of managers, lawyers, publishers and publicists is just as important as listening to all the new music”
Where is your favourite venue?
Anything north of the river… I live in Hertfordshire!
As a new boss, what would you like to change to make the live entertainment industry a better place?
Making entry-level jobs accessible to all by offering real starting salaries so that people from all backgrounds can begin their journey in the music industry. So often you have to work for free to ‘get in’ or below minimum wage meaning paying rent in London is not viable.
What events, tours or festivals are you most looking forward to in the year ahead?
Louis Tomlinson has another action-packed year ahead, so keep your eyes peeled there. Rag ‘N’ Bone Man is back with new music and my developing acts will be embarking on their first tours in different global territories which is an exciting feeling.
What advice would you give to anyone who is trying to find a job in live music?
Do your research. Be specific when you contact people, why are you getting in touch with them, is it because of a particular band they work on that you admire, or something else within their career that you relate to?
As an agent, are there any particular events, forums or platforms that you visit to try to discover the next big act?
There are so many places to discover new music, I do love Spotify, I’ve found a few of my artists through the platform. Music is a relationship business though, so building your network of managers, lawyers, publishers and publicists is just as important as listening to all the new music you can find.
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.
Hail storm at Louis Tomlinson gig injures 100
Nearly 100 concertgoers were injured by a powerful hail storm that crashed down during Louis Tomlinson’s outdoor show in Colorado on Wednesday night (21 June).
Fans of the English singer-songwriter were forced to run for cover as “golf-ball-sized” hail rained down on the iconic Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre.
Seven people were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries and another 80 to 90 attendees were treated on the scene, West Metro Fire Rescue said.
my dad took this right after i was safe backstage. it was straight out of a horror movie. pic.twitter.com/cCzY2jiDIE
— madi♡²⁸ todayyy (@anditslou) June 22, 2023
The injured suffered broken bones and lacerations, according to the rescue service said.
“Devastated about the show tonight, hope everyone’s ok, I’ll be back!” said Tomlinson in a tweet. “Even though we didn’t play the show I felt all of your passion! Sending you all love!”
Tonight was the scariest night of my life. It started pelting people with hail at Red Rocks and my sister and I luckily found shelter under a sign. I am bleeding and have huge bumps on my head from the hail. Hoping everyone made it out safely. pic.twitter.com/jong1SBuYd
— nicole (@nikkitbfh) June 22, 2023
The Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre had initially said that Tomlinson’s show would be affected by a weather delay as it urged concertgoers to “please seek shelter in your vehicle.”
It later said the show had officially been postponed. “Please be safe exiting the amphitheatre — we’ll have more information for ticket holders soon,” the venue said in a tweet.
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.
Wasserman’s Holly Rowland on the rise of Louis Tomlinson
Wasserman Music agent Holly Rowland has spoken to IQ about Louis Tomlinson’s 2023 European arena tour.
The former One Direction star is to embark on a 39-date outing across 28 countries next year, having recently completed a pandemic-delayed tour that spanned 57 dates in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia.
“Louis wanted to go everywhere,” says Rowland, who represents Tomlinson with Wassmerman’s Alex Hardee.
“One Direction never really toured Europe extensively – they did the major cities and the stadiums – but they never went to Eastern Europe for example. During their solo careers, Harry Styles has never done it and Niall Horan has never done it.”
Rowland believes that unlike Styles and Horan, who have also carved out solo careers since the best-selling boyband disbanded in 2016, Tomlinson’s worth is often underestimated.
“When I say I’ve booked a 39-date arena tour for Louis, people can’t believe it,” Rowland tells IQ. “They don’t believe his sales or the fact he has his own festival.”
“Even markets which are typically late sellers are nearly sold out even though the concerts are still a year away”
If Tomlinson was overlooked before, it all looks set to change now. Last Friday (18 November), the star beat Bruce Springsteen to score his first solo UK No. 1 album with ‘Faith In The Future’ via BMG. At the same time, ticket sales for his forthcoming tour are “really strong” despite going on sale a year in advance.
“It will sell out,” says Rowland. “London’s The O2 [cap. 21,000], for example, is on 90% and even markets which are typically late sellers, like Greece, are nearly sold out even though the concerts are still a year away.”
Rowland says it’s thanks to a symbiotic album-tour campaign that Tomlinson’s sales are strong on both the recorded and the live side.
“You wouldn’t typically go on sale with a tour so early but we needed to go out before the album so we could get the pre-orders,” she explains. “Synchronicity with recorded and live has sometimes been missed before but now, more than ever, it’s so important. An artist does well because their whole team is across everything and is communicating with each other.”
Rowland and Tomlinson’s team are particularly proud of the ticket prices for the tour, which start at £27.50 regionally.
“He’s a man of the people,” she says. “For example, he won’t do any golden circles or platinum or flexible ticketing or increased isle seating or paid meet-and-greets. That’s his philosophy.
“He won’t do any golden circles or platinum or flexible ticketing or increased isle seating or paid meet-and-greets”
“The issue nowadays is costs are going up so you have to cover your base but also keep it fair for the customer. The promoters crunched the numbers on their side and there was a lot of back and forth on the ticket price but obviously, the tour is spread across multiple dates so that helps. Plus it’s something Louis really wants to do.”
Promoters working on Tomlinson’s forthcoming tour include Live Nation (Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria), 8 Days a Week (Baltics), Pop Farm (Greece), Follow The Step (Poland), Charmenko (Romania), Fource Entertainment (Czech Republic) and SJM (UK).
The Faith In The Future 2023 outing is the follow-up to Tomlinson’s first world tour, which concluded in September, having been pushed back due to the pandemic.
Highlights from the tour include South America – “one of Louis’s biggest markets” – which saw the star sell 30,000 tickets in Brazil, 30,000 in Buenos Aires and 21,000 in Mexico.
Rowland also notes an open-air show in Milan, Italy, at the beginning of September, which saw 34,000 tickets fly off the shelf in 48 hours.
2022 also saw the evolution of Tomlinson’s own festival, Away From Home, which launched last year in Crystal Palace Park, London, and was free to attend.
“Louis’s fanbase is so loyal and they hang on every word he says”
This year the event moved to Malaga in Spain and featured The Vaccines, Sun Room, Stone and Hinds, all of whom performed alongside Tomlinson. This time around the event was ticked and Rowland says it sold 15,500 tickets in two days.
“I programmed it [alongside Louis] so it was quite fun to be on the other side of things, being the promoter and offering out supports to agents,” says Rowland.
Launching a festival was the natural progression for Tomlinson, who is known to hand-pick his own tour supports – many of whom go on to see great success, according to Rowland and Hardee.
“His fanbase is so loyal and they hang on every word he says,” says Rowland. “He’ll go onstage after the support acts and say ‘How amazing were they, go out and follow them,’ and that’s what his fans do because they really believe in him and trust him.”
Rowland notes that Tomlinson’s fanbase is surprisingly young – between 14–18 years old – which translates into strong merchandise sales, thanks to the parent pound.
“He can’t hide from his past in One Direction but we need to respect his path and see him for the artist he wants to be”
“What’s crazy is that his fanbase is so young, they weren’t even around when One Direction were having their heyday. They must’ve found the band through siblings or something…” she notes.
When asked if it has been difficult to extricate Tomlinson from his previous work in One Direction, Rowland says: “He can’t hide from his past – One Direction were one of the biggest boybands of all time – but we need to respect his path and see him for the artist he wants to be and not who he was.
And as for comparisons to his former bandmates’ solo careers, she adds: “Harry is pop, Niall is more singer-songwriter and Louis is indie. That’s the music he loves and you can see that through the acts he requests to support him. It’s time now to shine the light on who he is.”
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.