Jason Kupperman Launches Goldengate Talent Agency

“When it came time to think about the next step, starting my own company felt like the natural move,” says Kupperman, most recently with Paradigm. “I was able to take the culture that was ingrained in me, and put the best parts of it into my own company with my own flavor.”

That culture comes from a long stint with Paradigm, specifically at the Monterey Peninsula Artists office where he was groomed as an agent from the age of 19. Kupperman was assistant to agent Aaron Pinkus before becoming an agent himself, with the acquisition of Paradigm taking him to the agency’s New York office most recently.

The launch of Goldengate is similar to how he does his business, with a personal touch. He sent T-shirts along with his company’s mission statement to around 250 colleagues, friends and peers, including a heartfelt note about being inspired by his father, his supportive wife and kind of a chip on his shoulder in regards to a few agents who early in his career told him he didn’t have what it takes to make it.

“Certainly having my own agency in 2021, there’ s a stubbornness to prove this agency can exist among other major agencies and independent agencies,” Kupperman adds. “Goldengate is something I’m so incredibly proud of, proud of what it stands for, and so in some ways gave me the opportunity to reevaluate the type of agent I  wanted to be and who to represent and what I stand for.”

With the pandemic putting Paradigm in an even worse spot after already reportedly being for sale and in acquisition talks with UTA, CAA and Wasserman agency before the pandemic hit, Kupperman, like many, found himself in a holding pattern when furloughed in spring 2020. 

But “after the ink was dry, there was no ill will,” Kupperman says. “My time at Paradigm was wonderful. I met and learned from the finest and smartest people, and I always felt really lucky to be there. The quality of my work spoke to that.” 

He mentions Chip Hooper as “a force” at Monterey, one of the many who showed him how business should be done.

“I was taught a very specific way of agenting,” he says, noting others including Fred Bohlander, Dan Weiner and Jonathan Levine. “I was taught and given examples of hard work, fighting on behalf of your clients, passion. It was all of us Monterey. The way we represented artists, we were this family and all so close to each other, treating our bands that way, too.” 

Kupperman says while he hopes to build out Goldengate to include additional agents with a similar style and vision, right now his priority remains on his own clients and getting through the pandemic. 

“The primary focus right now is on my bands and getting them out of this pandemic, back to some sense of normal and hopefully coming out of it trying to manufacture some momentum,” he says. 

 With much uncertainty still in many major U.S. markets, the immediate future is wait-and-see for many clients, but smart planning can help.

“Right now it’s so important for us as agents to make smart strategic decisions for each artist to make sure we’re moving in the right direction, making decisions that are good for each individual band,” he says, noting that even when bands can go out and tour, dates are hard to come by and there is a question of oversaturation. 

While full-scale tours are still seeming most likely in 2022, Kupperman says he’s booking indoor shows for 2021 at full capacity in markets and dates that appear likely to happen, but there’s some flexibility in the deals if not able to operate fully by then. 

On the festival side, he says there’s been reason for optimism in the ones that have gone on sale or are set to take place later in the year. 

“The appetite is so strong that it’s bizarre to say, and I say this with all the sensitivity in the world because it was such an incredibly challenging and taxing 12 months, but festivals that are able to play may do even better than before,” he says. 

As for 2020, Kupperman says his clients were able to make charitable efforts, including Magic Giant performing for wildfire relief, Ripe raising funds for Pine Street Inn homeless shelter, and virtual tours including Sunsquabi’s early-pandemic weekly events from Colorado.

“If you look at my roster, it’s very evident the theme is about building careers,” he says. “None of them are about a moment. Whether it’s two years or 10 years into a career, my goal at the end of the day is for my clients to build their fan bases to be able to play music on their own terms, and stop playing music on their own terms.”