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Ex-Paradigm staffer launches Field Booking agency

Brendan Biesen, ex-assistant to Erik Selz and Tom Windish at Paradigm Talent Agency, has launched Field Booking, the latest independent booking agency to come out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Chicago-based agency will focus primarily on booking and tour management for musical acts, but will also provide promotional and image cultivation services for artists looking to expand their audiences.

Field Booking’s current roster includes Peter Oren, Half Gringa, The Slaps, Fast Preacher and Logan Farmer.

“The idea for Field Booking came from paying attention to the shifts and trends in the industry, and how it’s been adapting and reacting to the pandemic,” says Biesen.

“Field Booking came from paying attention to the shifts and trends in the industry, and how it’s been reacting to the pandemic”

“I felt that, with my time in the industry and the relationships I’ve managed to build in that time, I could forge a new path with Field and help give artists a chance at the success they deserve.

“I want to foster an inclusive environment at Field Booking that puts emphasis on the artists and their growth. I think it’s important to recognize that while I may be the agent, we are all in this together as a team to make this industry better as a whole.”

Biesen spent five years at Paradigm and its former incarnation The Windish Agency where he managed day-to-day booking duties for the rosters of Windish and Selz and helped expand the reach of the A&R department.

Field Booking follows the launch of Arrival ArtistsMint Talent Group and TBA Agency in the US, as well as Marshall Live Agency, Mother ArtistsOne Fiinix LiveRoute One Booking and Runway Artists in the UK and Rebel Beat Agency in Spain, in 2020, amid a wider fragmentation of the global agency sector in response to the coronavirus shutdown.

Want to hear more about the influx of new independent agencies from some of the new kids on the block? Register for ILMC and tune in to Agency Business: Enter the New Players.

 


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Ex-Paradigm agents join forces for TBA Agency

Ex-Paradigm agents Marshall Betts, Avery McTaggart, Amy Davidman, Ryan Craven, and Devin Landau have launched a new music talent agency called TBA.

The new agency has unveiled a clientele which includes The War On Drugs, Courtney Barnett, Chvrches, Tune-Yards, Cut Copy, Beirut, Guided By Voices, Jungle, Cuco, Purity Ring, José González, Tycho, Caribou and Alvvays.

“TBA is only able to exist because of the incredible artists we work with, and it has been with them in mind that we have built every part of this company,” McTaggart told Variety.

“For me that has been and will remain what I am most passionate about: Seeing our artists grow and succeed, knowing we are working tirelessly to support them in new and better ways.

“The agency business is changing and we see TBA as part of the shift towards a better culture within the music business. We are focused solely on the future and how to ensure that integrity, accountability and transparency are standards at our company and others.”

The five agents will be equal partners in the new venture and will lead an 11-person team, operating from offices in Los Angeles and New York.

“The agency business is changing and we see TBA as part of the shift towards a better culture within the music business”

The team is completed by head of artist creative strategy Samantha Tacón, head of marketing Katie Nowak, and agent Josh Mulder, as well as Chris Danis, Lauren McCauley and Lindsey Schiffman.

The five partners previously worked at The Windish Agency before the firm partnered in 2015 with Paradigm Talent Agency where they worked until this past March.

The former Paradigm agents were let go in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, along with around 250 other employees.

Fellow agencies including CAA and WME also reduced their workforces during the Covid crisis.

Agency business during the Covid-era will be a hot topic at this year’s Interactive Festival Forum (iFF), which takes place on 2 and 3 September.

Shifting Landscapes: Covid’s effect on corporate relationships will see agents including Alex Bruford (ATC Live), Arnaud Meersseman (AEG Presents), Matchbox Live CEO Theresho Selesho and Sophie Roberts (UTA) discuss opportunities and challenges presented by the pandemic.

Register for iFF here.

 


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