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The New Bosses 2020: Madie Cavilla, Paradigm Talent

The New Bosses 2020 – the latest edition of IQ’s annual celebration of the brightest young talent in the live business today, as voted for by their peers – was published in IQ 93 this month, revealing the 12 promising promoters, bookers, agents, and A&R and production experts that make up this year’s list.

To get to know this year’s cream of the crop a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2020’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success. Catch up on the previous New Bosses interview with Jolien Augustyns, a junior promoter at Live Nation Belgium here.

The next New Boss in the spotlight is Madie Cavilla (28), a senior account manager at Paradigm Talent in the UK. Following work experience at Marshall Arts Talent during her penultimate year at school, Cavilla hastily finished her final year and returned to take on a full-time job, before joining The Agency Group. She then took a break to go backpacking, and on her return to London, Dave Hallybone at Paradigm offered her a six-month contract, which quickly turned into a permanent role.

 

What are you working on right now?
Summer 2020 has predominantly consisted of working with promoters/festivals on the funds for rescheduled and cancelled shows. Throughout, it has been imperative to keep funds in the eco-system and shows in the diary. While this is still an ongoing task, I am also working across some streaming projects and enjoying learning something completely new.

What are some of the highlights of your career to date?
I was given a gold disc after a Macklemore & Ryan Lewis tour a few years back (not something I would ever have expected). Being part of the background operations, recognition comes in different ways. Seeing the London show gave me chills and I felt so emotional knowing all of the hard work the team had put in to get them from their first ever show to that moment.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt working in live music?
What you put in you definitely get back out. Those rewarding “pinch me” moments are really worth it.

Did you always want to work in the agency business?
Not at all! I wanted to be a solicitor as a young teenager, however, after a stint of work experience which involved going to court and listening to a very sensitive case I realised it was not for me. The following year I did work experience at Marshall Arts Talent and everything went from there.

“We’re great at having conversations about equality, but the actions aren’t always consistent with what we’re saying”

What impact has Covid-19 had on your job?
As strange as this may seem, I’ve enjoyed some of the difficult moments over the past few months. It’s made me realise I’m a lot more resilient than I thought and that I’m capable of any task thrown at me.

Do you have a mentor in the industry?
Gillian Park, MGR Touring, is a true angel. She has taught me so much and is never too busy to help when I’m stuck. She’s also taught me how to laugh through the madness: if we weren’t laughing we’d have most definitely been crying!

What does the live music industry do well, and what can we do better?
Equality. We’re great at having conversations about it, but the actions aren’t always consistent with what we’re saying. There’s no singular answer — from the festival bills down to staffing — but by creating an inclusive culture across the board we’ll eventually achieve and consistently improve.

“Be available to learn whatever you’re given the opportunity to, you never know where that will take you”

What advice would you give to someone who’s new to the business?
Be available to learn whatever you’re given the opportunity to, you never know where that will take you and the people you’ll meet along the way.

What are the biggest challenges you’re facing currently?
I’ve been working from home since mid-March, a home that didn’t have a specified office space and other than the odd day here and there (pre-Covid) hadn’t been used as a workspace. I’ve got into the rhythm of working from home and I really quite enjoy it now – saving 15+ hours a week on travel has improved my quality of life 10-fold.

However, staying engaged and motivated every single day has been a challenge, equally as challenging though is learning when to switch off my laptop/stop picking up my work phone and remembering that it’ll all still be there tomorrow! I think it’ll be challenging the other way too. When we go back to the office that’ll be a real adjustment again.

Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Prior to 2020, I felt somewhat certain about the future. That changed this year. I’ve had the opportunity to learn elements of the business that wouldn’t typically land on my desk, so I’m interested to see where that will take me. Ultimately, I know I’ll be happy, successful and have accomplished more than I ever thought possible when I walked into my first job in this industry more than a decade ago.

 

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The New Bosses: Introducing the class of 2020

The New Bosses 2020 – the latest edition of IQ’s annual celebration of the brightest young talent in the business – launches today, celebrating the 12 most promising 30-and-unders in live music, as voted by their colleagues around the world.

This year’s list, the 13th, follows the most engaged voting process to date, with hundreds of people taking the time to nominate their New Boss picks.

Our distinguished dozen this year comprises promoters, bookers, agents, A&Rs and production experts, all involved in the international business and each of whom is making a real difference in their respective sector.

In no particular order, the New Bosses 2020 are:

“The class of 2020 is undoubtedly enduring the strangest, most challenging time of their careers,” writes IQ editor Gordon Masson, “but the hard work that they are putting in to ensure that the business globally is ready to resume at the earliest possible opportunity is generating a lot of enthusiasm among their peers, who have recognised them as future industry leaders.”

As in previous years, full interviews with each of the 2020 New Bosses will appear online in the coming weeks. However, short individual profiles of each New Boss can be read now in issue 93 of IQ Magazine, embedded below:

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