–

The Influencers

Among the many CAA artists touring this year, Allison McGregor is maybe most excited about Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, Dean Lewis, Carrie Underwood and, although technically next year, Ozzy Osbourne. 

“Ozzy is my one client I personally represent, so everything he does is very close to my heart,” McGregor says of the prince of darkness, who recently postponed dates for health reasons. “I’m excited to see him back on the road and better than ever in 2020. When you turn 70 and you’re still a huge rock star, you’ve got to take care of yourself and make sure everything is the way it needs to be … I’m excited he’ll be here in 2020 and that he made sure he took the time he needed before going back on the road.”

That helps explain why in February Pollstar crowned McGregor at its very first PR/Marketing Executive of the Year and why CAA tapped her 20 years ago to head the first marketing department at a music agency.

“We didn’t know what this was going to be, but no one at any point said, ‘You need to do it this way, or don’t do it that way,’” says McGregor, who was handpicked by CAA head of music Rob Light after she spent 13 years working with Southern California promoters Brian Murphy, Andy Hewitt and Bill Silva. Her first summer at CAA was a gauntlet, with tours by Depeche Mode, KISS, Bon Jovi, Jewel and Santana.

“We now have marketing people in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles,” she says. “A number of them were my assistants and homegrown and made into marketing executives, which is one of my favorite things about this place.”

As the agency business has morphed, so too has McGregor’s role at CAA. But with all the changes in technology, sometimes she’s faced with new questions about the same problems. 

“There’s the continual desire to figure out what ticket prices need to be so we’ve sold the most tickets and are putting the clients into the right venues in the right situations and making the maximum money they can, while promoters are not getting hurt doing these deals,” she says.

Hot Takes

Most memorable concert: 

The moment realized this is what I want to do The Cure at Dodger Stadium. I had never worked a stadium show before in my life. I ran around and did everything that Brian (Murphy) needed and it was just one of those moments when the lights went out, I remember exactly where I was standing, next to the soundboard waiting for Brian to come sign some checks or something. Just being a little part of it and in getting people there, I said this is what I want to do. Now I’m fortunate enough to work with The Cure, which is a very full-circle moment for me. 

Pet peeve:  

When people send an email saying, “Did you get my email?”

Previous

Next