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Maverick’s Alisann Blood joins UTA as music partnerships head

United Talent Agency (UTA) has hired Alisann Blood as co-head of music brand partnerships.

Working alongside other co-head Toni Wallace and reporting to David Zedeck, UTA’s head of worldwide music, Blood will lead UTA’s growing music partnerships division, based out of the agency’s offices in LA, New York, Nashville and London.

The division – launched under Wallace in 2017 – has secured more than 250 partnerships for over 1,000 artists globally, and built an eight-figure brand business for the agency giant, working with acts including Post Malone, Chance the Rapper, the Jonas Brothers, HER, X Ambassadors, Common, Tierra Whack, Young Thug and Jimmie Allen.

Alisann Blood joins UTA from Live Nation-owned management firm Maverick, where she was vice-president of brand partnerships. Prior to joining Maverick Management, she held senior marketing/partnership roles at Crush Music and Capitol Music Group.

“Alisann’s skillset and experience will exponentially impact opportunities for all of our music clients”

“With Alisann’s addition to our world-class team, we are further solidifying our market-leading position in the music brand partnerships space,” Wallace comments. “Alisann’s skillset and experience will exponentially impact opportunities for all of our music clients around the globe.”

Blood is also a board member for Musicians on Call, an organisation that brings music to hospital patients, and an adjunct professor at Syracuse University.

“I have long admired UTA as a best-in-class company for the work they do on behalf of their clients,” she comments. “Toni has built a remarkable business and an incredible team in music brand partnerships, and I couldn’t be more excited to jump in and contribute to the group’s continued growth and success.”

 

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The New Bosses 2019: Sara Schoch, UTA

The New Bosses 2019 – the biggest-ever edition of IQ‘s yearly roundup of future live industry leaders, as voted for by their peers – was published in IQ 85 last month revealing the twelve promising agents, promoters, bookers and execs 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 2019’s New Bosses, to discover their greatest inspirations and proudest achievements, pinpoint the reasons for their success and obtain advice for those hoping to be a future New Boss. Snippets of the interviews can be found in the latest IQ Magazine, with all interviews being reproduced in full online and on IQ Index over the coming weeks.

The next New Boss is Sara Schoch, a music agent at UTA in the United States. California-born, Nashville-based Schoch is a UTA lifer, starting her music industry career in the agency’s post room and eventually becoming an assistant to CEO Jeremy Zimmer.

When UTA acquired the Agency Group, she transitioned into her current role as an agent in the music brand partnerships division, where she works with artists including Hayley Williams, Post Malone, Action Bronson, Big Freedia and Saint Jhn. (Read the previous interview with Primavera’s Pau Cristòful here.)

What are you busy with right now?
In addition to fostering the growth and development of UTA’s Nashville office and championing brand partnerships for our Nashville roster, I am focused on supporting the artist-curated events and festivals that so many of our clients have dedicated themselves to producing.

I spent the first half of 2019 working with Paramore’s Hayley Williams to build and programme her activation, the Sanctuary of Self-Love, at Bonnaroo, which was a great success. I am now helping to execute the partnerships our team has secured around Post Malone’s Posty Fest and HER’s Lights On Festival.

Did you always want to work in the music business?
Music has always been an important part of my life but it was never an industry I thought I would be a part of until I found myself in it. I started in the mailroom at UTA with the ambition of becoming a motion picture literary agent and it wasn’t until UTA acquired the Agency Group, while I was working as UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer’s assistant, that I realised I could work in music.

“Music has always been an important part of my life but it was never an industry I thought I would be a part of until I found myself in it”

I recognised that I had the breadth of experience and a point of view that would make me a valuable asset to that team. That inspiration, coupled with my love for the artists and the entrepreneurial spirit I saw in our new music colleagues, drew me into the space.

What are some of the highlights of your career so far?
Working with Hayley Williams and her team to bring the Sanctuary of Self-Love to life at Bonnaroo was an incredible experience for me. Hayley is an amazing artist and human being who is focused on de-stigmatising and starting an open dialogue about mental health. Being part of the team that helped actualise her vision to create a dedicated safe space for self-care at a leading music festival was a true privilege.

How has your role changed since you started out?
As I’ve transitioned across departments and deepened my understanding of the music landscape, I’ve taken on more challenging creative responsibilities that align with my own personal passion for music. I’m now at a place where I’m doing what I truly love – executing brand partnerships and actualising large-scale music events.

“I’m now at a place where I’m doing what I truly love – executing brand partnerships and actualising large-scale music events”

What do you do for fun?
Aside from going to shows, I am an avid runner, practise yoga and love to read!

Do you have an industry mentor?
I am grateful to work at a company that has provided me with so many mentors from different departments and at various levels in their careers. One of my strongest mentors thus far has been Toni Wallace, who is the head of our music brand partnerships team. Toni guided me into my role in music brand partnerships. She has been the ultimate champion for my career and a true friend, supporting and advising me on issues both big and small, personal and professional, every step of the way.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to get into, or is new to, the business?
Stay curious. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned was from our CEO, Jeremy Zimmer – the importance of approaching each day as an opportunity to learn something new, think about things differently, and to transcend the processes that dominate our day-to-day routine. As artist representatives in an industry that is constantly evolving, it’s more important than ever to remain nimble and open to new ways of harnessing the opportunities that are available to our artists to break through and share their voices with the world.

 

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The New Bosses: Meet the class of 2019

The latest edition of IQ’s New Bosses goes live today, celebrating the brightest talent aged 30 and under in the international live music business.

The New Bosses 2019 – the 12th outing for IQ’s annual list of  future live music industry leaders, as decided by their peers – is the biggest to date, with no fewer than a dozen promoters, bookers, agents and other young execs making the cut:

IQ’s 2019 New Bosses will be automatically shortlisted for the Tomorrow’s New Boss award at the Arthur Awards at ILMC in March 2020, voting for which opens in November. “It was an incredibly rewarding experience to have won the Tomorrow’s New Boss award this year,” says ICM Partners agent Kevin Jergenson, who picked up his award at ILMC 31.

Full interviews with all the New Bosses 2019 will appear online in the coming weeks

“As an award that is voted on solely by my peers within the industry, it means a great deal to know that the passion and time I have put into this job and industry has been noticed and well received. I truly am blessed to be working with so many amazing people and artists within such an incredible industry. Congrats and good luck to all of this year’s New Bosses!”

Short profiles of, and brief interviews with, all 2019 New Bosses are featured in the latest issue of IQ Magazine, which can be read in the digital issue embedded below. These individual profiles use heavily edited versions of the full interviews, which will appear online in the coming weeks.

These promising emerging execs will also play a key role in forthcoming editions of Futures Forum, the discussion and networking event for the next generation of industry leaders that debuted at ILMC 31 in March.

Read on, then, to learn more about this year’s roster of young, talented professionals who are shaping the future of our business…

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