The 2020-21 period is best forgotten for most, but one of the more positive legacies of the pandemic years for the touring community was the emergence of a wave of new independent booking agencies.

Whether by choice or necessity, the UK gained the likes of Mother Artists, One Fiinix Live, Route One Booking, Marshall Live Agency, Runway Artists and Playbook Artists; the US welcomed Arrival Artists, Mint Talent Group, TBA Agency and Paladin Artists; and the Spanish agency landscape expanded with Rebel Beat Agency.

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Covid-enforced live music shutdown, almost all are still in operation – at odds with the broader market’s shift towards consolidation – providing an opportune juncture for IQ to take stock with a selection of the indie nation’s key players.

Among the most high-profile new entrants on the scene was One Fiinix Live. Founded by Ed Sheeran agent Jon Ollier in 2020 after nearly six years with CAA, the firm’s acts also include 2Cellos, Calum Scott, Picture This, Black Stone Cherry and Tash Sultana.

Ollier declares himself more than satisfied with its work to date.

“We’re achieving everything that we set out to achieve,” he reports. “I didn’t have a particularly grandiose vision when I started out because I didn’t know whether we were going to be in it for the long haul or whether I was just going to do something for a short period of time to see us through the pandemic before going back into another company.”

“Hopefully the few of us that have set up have been able to show big artists that the service is just as good as other agencies”

One Fiinix expanded its horizons last year with the hirings of US-based agents John Pantle and Bex Wedlake.

“Culturally it is how I envisaged it,” says Ollier. “We have a group of people that pull each other through and fight for each other.”

Natasha Gregory departed Paradigm (now Wasserman Music) in late 2020 to launch Mother Artists with her brother Mark Bent. The award-winning company’s roster includes acts such as IDLES, Amy Macdonald, The Teskey Brothers, CMAT, Ry X, Blair Davie and Foster the People.

“Maybe there are more options outside of the big corporates now, and hopefully the few of us that have set up have been able to show big artists that the service is just as good as other agencies,” muses Gregory. “You need to deliver a good service for your artist and that can be very difficult when you have 80 acts on the roster. I find it easier when it’s a smaller team, but there’s space for everyone.”

Nevertheless, Gregory plays down the impact of the proliferation of indies on the wider agency business.

“I’m not sure it’s changed the industry; I’m not sure the industry will ever change,” she tells IQ. “I don’t begrudge or look negatively at how any agency runs, no matter what size. The way I look at it is that there is a place for every person that suits themselves, their character, their needs, their meaning of success and their ambition. And then there are artists that fit into a service that they like in terms of how they want to be looked after and what’s important to them.”

“What the pandemic kicked into gear was the proliferation of indies at the bottom end”

Elsewhere, Runway Artists was set up in the spring of 2020 by former ATC Live agent Matt Hanner, who brought in ex-Primary Talent International veteran Steve Backman the following year.

“One of our big aims was to avoid becoming a small boutique that was largely irrelevant – especially being over in Portsmouth – and that was part of the reason we promptly set up a London office,” remembers Hanner. “We were both coming from established, bigger agencies and were used to operating at that level. The big were getting bigger; the consolidation at the top end of the market was happening, and what the pandemic kicked into gear was the proliferation of indies at the bottom end.”

Other early Runway hires included emerging executives Amy Greig and Dotun Bolaji (now at Primary). Its current artist roster includes …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, A Certain Ratio, Gabriella Cilmi, Future Teens, The Boo Radleys, The Mission, The Wytches and Red Snapper.

“We’ve grown the company, we’ve grown our personnel and we’ve identified younger professional talent who were either a little rough around the edges or had no real experience of the industry,” adds Hanner. “As a result, I think we have kept a seat at the table. We’re up against the ATCs or CAAs of the world when we go in for pitches and I’m not saying we’re winning a lot of them, but that’s the pool we want to be fishing in.

“We’ve also done it within the context of not having any big artists,” he continues. “We’re working a lot with grassroots and developing artists and we have a selection of heritage artists, but nothing huge and so we’re having to cut our cloth accordingly. But we’ve kept going, we’ve kept growing and I think Runway is now a company that people have really heard of which – given the explosion of agencies, especially on the independent side over the last few years – is something to be celebrated.”

“I don’t think you need an international partner to do a good job on an act”

On the subject of overseas partners, Hanner acknowledges the benefits but disputes the assertion they are now essential in the modern agency game.

“I don’t think you need an international partner to do a good job on an act,” he argues. “We represent artists where – even in Europe – we might share them with a Scandinavian agent, for example. We work alongside them and can do a good job for the artist together.

“I think the problem is that it’s a stick to beat people with when you haven’t got an international partner and other people come looking for your artist – the talk of synergies and shared calendars and that sort of thing. And invariably, this is coming from a company that also has a literary department and a screenwriter department and various other things they can dangle in front of you.

“I don’t think it’s the be-all and end-all, but if you can pitch internationally then I think it can serve you well in terms of the competition for signing and keeping artists. I appreciate, from a manager’s point of view, why a global pitch would be a sealer.”

Marshall, the British music company best known for its guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets, launched Marshall Live Agency in 2020, helmed by agent Stuart Vallans. Vallans, who represents names like The Meffs, Heavy Lungs, Split Dogs, Pleasureinc, Cucamaras and Carsick, founded boutique agency TRUST. Artists last year and extols the virtues of going it alone.

“It’s been the best decision I’ve ever made: to be able to come and go as I please and run things how I see fit is something that fills me with happiness,” he says.

“Revenues are on the up, ticket sales are increasing across the board and bigger opportunities are opening for bands”

In Vallans’ experience, it is no more difficult to operate as an independent agency in 2025 than when he first started out.

“For us nothing has changed, it’s just been a steady increase in everything we’re doing,” he says. “Revenues are on the up, ticket sales are increasing across the board and bigger opportunities are opening for bands that we’ve been working closely with for several years. A1 forms and withhold tax are still a pain, but it’s part of what we have to do!”

Moreover, Vallans, who is in the process of adding new agents to the TRUST roster, detects a sea change in attitudes among the artist community.

“I think a lot of artists are getting a quite cynical view of big corporates, not only in the agency world but when it comes to all aspects of the industry,” he opines. “We work with so many tight knit teams – often without managers – building artists’ careers based on things we can control rather than hit and hope playlisting, press pitching and posting on socials x amount of times per day. No thanks!

“A lot of bands we work with have been churned out by the corporate system as they weren’t hitting their quota of shows/financial figures. These bands are still in demand and can have careers in music, we’re giving them a home to develop and be the bands that they want to be.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some consolidation at some stage between a few of the agencies, especially some of the one-man bands out there”

Notable happenings in the past couple of years have seen Primary Talent International return to independence following a management buyout, while UK-based indie Earth Agency celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. The sector also suffered a blow with the recent collapse of FMLY.

Looking ahead, Hanner expects further consolidation within the marketplace.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some consolidation at some stage between a few of the agencies, especially some of the one-man bands out there, because there are challenges to running a small business. But I don’t see a bunch of indie agencies giving up in the next few years,” he asserts. “I think people have found there’s an ethos that you might lose at a corporate company, and people have grown accustomed to that and enjoy working in that way.”

Closing on a confident note, Vallans sees the future for indie agencies as “incredibly positive”.

“Indie agencies can continue to flourish, 100%,” he concludes. “We collaborate on so many shows and events with other agencies and it’s great to see.”

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Ex-Marshall Live Agency head Stuart Vallans has announced the launch of boutique agency TRUST. Artists.

With a roster including The Meffs, Gallus, Cucamaras, Hotel Lux, Snake Eyes, Carsick and Aiko, among others, the new agency is focused on developing artists’ careers across the UK and Europe.

Vallans, who boasts more than 20 years’ experience of booking bands, has parted ways with Marshall – the British music company best known for its guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets – and gone solo, taking the live agency arm of the business with him.

Having helmed Marshall Live over the last four years, Vallans believes the time is right to go solo as he bids to take it to new heights.

“The new agency is being built using the model of many of my friends’ European boutique agencies”

“My vision for TRUST. spans back nearly two decades, having worked with many incredible artists and many, many talented industry professionals, I’ve always wanted to do things my own way,” says TRUST. Artists owner Stuart Vallans. “The new agency is being built using the model of many of my friends’ European boutique agencies; working with a smaller roster of bands, but having tighter relationships with them.

“I personally believe there is always a better way of doing things, a much more agile way of booking shows, something I will be working on at TRUST. to further all my artists’ careers.”

Commenting on the move, Trust clients, punk duo The Meffs say: “From day one of being our agent, Stu got behind The Meffs and everything we stand for. We’re a team. Nothing has ever been too much trouble and no opportunity has ever been too big to fight for. Stu’s famous phrase is ‘let me dig in’ and we never have doubt that he’s going to dig! Trust is the core value that bands need from an agency, and it’s guaranteed with this diamond.”

Marshall Live Agency was one of a number of new booking agencies to pop up during the pandemic, alongside the likes of Mother Artists, One Fiinix Live, Route One Booking and Runway Artists in the UK, as well as Arrival Artists, Mint Talent Group and TBA Agency in the US and Rebel Beat Agency in Spain, in 2020, amid a wider fragmentation of the global agency sector in response to the Covid shutdown.

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