Power Panels, Emerging Tech, Fairs & Corporate Buying: Day 2 Of IEBA Conference

via Facebook – Scenes from IEBA 2018

Ali Harnell of AEG Presents kicked off Day Two of the International Entertainment Buyers Association conference in Nashville on Monday by moderating “Agents Power Panel.” Corrie Christopher Martin of Paradigm Talent Agency, Samantha Kirby Yoh of WME, Allison McGregor of CAA and Cheryl Paglierani of UTA joined her on the panel. 

These women in senior leadership positions talked about how they manage talent and found success by being passionate about their responsibilities through their love of music.

The panel started out by agreeing that the best person for the job should fill the position, whether female or male. They also agreed that women should be supportive of other women and seek to mentor the newcomers to the business who could use encouragement and know there is someone there who can answer their questions as they also find success.

While they agreed that it needs to be easy to have both a work and life balance, that is not always the case. Each panelist said they have seen sacrifices made on all sides when it came to trying to maintain that balance.

“Mentorship is so important,” McGregor told the audience. “If people had not been there for me when I was 19 and dropped out of college to get into entertainment, I don’t know what I’d have done. I had amazing men and women who were mentors.”

When it comes to choosing the artists to work with, each agreed that it was important to find someone with whom you could work as a team. “We put together a pitch to show our company’s strength, and we meet with them and show them our vision for the artist,” said Yoh, adding that they show how they have the strength to lead that artist to success.

“Communication with an artist and their team is very important as is being able to work with everyone on that team,” Yoh continued, while Martin pointed out that every person on the team has to have the same vision for the artist.

McGregor has to be engaged with the artist and their team. “Being the voice of that client to promoters and buildings, that motivates me,” she said. Martin said it is important for her to feel that the artist she is working with is making a positive impact on people. 

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Talent buyer Roger LeBlanc talks KAABOO.

In discussing the differences between working with a male of female artist, Paglierani pointed out that she can be more honest with a female artist about some things than a man might be able to be. “I can say things to them that a male agent can’t. I have no fear in being aggressive with an opinion and they will listen to me where they might not do so with a man.”

In looking for a new artist to work with, all panelists agreed that you have to be a step ahead of the game. Once everyone knows about an artist, it’s too late, yet you have to be able to judge the talent and potential of an artist who might not have a record deal or even a manager and agree to work with them. 

“I trust my ears, and I have to feel what they are doing,” said Martin, while McGregor said she has to feel it in her gut. It’s necessary to know how to build the artist to fulfill their potential, and a main ingredient to do that is finding the fans who can help build the career as well as having a team together that understands where you are going and how to get there.

Putting the artist in the right club in the right city at the right time is very important, according to Yoh. She finds the fans who she believes will be the pacesetters for the artist and then places the artist in their area where they can see them and go out and talk about them. At the same time, the artist has to be ready to step up and be the performer who will capture their attention, so the music fans want to go out and talk about them to their friends.

Yoh also pointed out that you are only as good as your connections in every market.  She said you have to have it all together when it comes to all aspects of the date, whether its ticket sales or having a presence in that market before the artist arrives for the show. When it comes to tour promoters, McGregor also said that you want a partner who is committed to the success of the artist. 

No matter what you do for an artist, there are going to be good days and bad days. Most of the panelists agreed that a good day is a combination of spending time with their family and accomplishing something for their artist. 

Bad days are when there are people around you who are sabotaging the artist’s career or a client’s vision goes off the path that has been set for them. At either of those points, the panelists said you just have to get back on the path and keep going until it’s back on track.

Joyce Szudzik of AEG Worldwide presented a session on “How Emerging Technology and the Digital Customer are Inviting Disruption.” She said there is so much happening in the world today that each facet of the business has to find out what works for them. She cautioned to remember that the only constant in the business as far as technology goes is change.

Szudzik suggested that people should decide what innovations are available for their business and embrace them, instead of waiting around for someone else to discover it and then get on the bandwagon. While there are always new things being introduced, Szudzik cautioned to look at each one individually and ask these questions: Do you jump right on it? Does it help you? Does it add value to what you are doing? Is it right for you right now and will it be right a year from now? Do you have a budget for it.

She reminded attendees that they are selling fans an experience, no matter what it is. She said fans want to be a part of the story of the night they attended the event. “They want to insert themselves into everything that is going on at your venue,” she said. “They need to be in the forefront of what is going on. And remember, they want everything now; they don’t want to wait.”

At the same time people want everything now, they also want to find information immediately when they look for it. Szudzik said it’s important to have your own app to go with your website. “You need to tell them everything they need to know when they come on your website,” she cautioned. “Don’t make them go elsewhere for information on an artist or concert time. Have it all there for them to find on your website. Make sure they have a positive experience while they are on your site.”

Another important aspect of today’s technology is you have to get to know your consumer. If you don’t, then your chances of finding exactly the correct technology to pull them in is low. She also suggested that you have your site where people can interact with you. Listen to what they say and learn what they want from that experience. Understand how you will tell your story, plan it out, and then put it on your site for the consumer to learn from and enjoy.

A panel titled “Corporate 360: The Intersection of Art & Commerce” drew a crowd anxious to know about booking for corporations and how to interact with the complexities of booking talent for them. 

One of the first things Michael Boltzman of AEG Presents, Denise Kirk of Brattle Entertainment and Jonathan Martin of ShowTec, Inc. addressed was the private show that turns out not to be. Social media plays a lot into this situation, as people are inclined to put everything they know on social media. Suddenly a lot of people know about a show that was supposed to be private.

Boltzman said that absolutely you should discuss this with your client, explaining to them that if it was booked as a private event you expect that it will stay that way. An instance was sited where a client booked a private event with an artist, who had a public show close by in a few days. Suddenly it was discovered that the person putting on the private party was trying to sell tickets to the private event. It was stopped immediately but the person who had put the tickets up for sale couldn’t understand what they did wrong. 

Boltzman suggested that one of the ways to prevent this is to ask lots of questions of the buyer before the papers are signed to buy the artist. He also suggested that attendees at the private party be prohibited to send out any messages on their phones, using a program called Yonder or a similar one. 

Another discussion concerned getting the buyer to agree to the right talent for their event. Several panelist cited times that a young person influenced the buyer to want a hot new act, but the demographics of the group they would be playing for indicated that it was not the right act for the night. 

Boltzman said you have to get the buyer to think of his or her audience and then ask them the criteria for deciding what kind of entertainment they might want. Kirk said they try to ask those questions at their agency, but even then they have people try to back out of buying the talent at the last minute. 

“I try to tell them everything I think they need to know, including the fact that once they sign the contract they are obligated to it,” she explained. 

Another thing some agents do is actually take the buyer to see the artist before they book them. According to Martin, “Then they can tell me if they think their audience will be satisfied with it. The last thing you want is someone saying to another potential client that that booked a music act and it didn’t work very well. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen because it would be dangerous for music to get a bad rap at conventions.”

Jesse Itzler, bestselling author and entrepreneur, and one of the owners of the Atlanta Hawks, was the keynote speaker on Monday. 

Sharing his mantra, “Did you come this far to only come this far?,” Itzler gave an energetic presentation to attendees, urging them to set their goals, write a mission statement and don’t leave 40 percent of their potential on the table.

He urged people not to get into a situation where they were too comfortable and not willing to take chances. He suggests moving into an area that is a little uncomfortable where you have to stretch to make your new goal.