2023 Impact 50: Carole Kinzel

MUSIC AGENT
CAA

Carole Kinzel has been called a mentor to many and CAA’s “queen and OG” by Jenna Adler, fellow music agent and co-head of the agency’s global Hip-Hop/R&B touring group, for Kinzel’s role in paving the way for other women in the music industry.
After beginning her career as an associate at Electric Factory Concerts in Philadelphia, then working as a music agent for ICM and moving to Triad Artists, Kinzel joined CAA in 1991 as the first woman in the music department.

During the past three decades at the agency, Kinzel has built up a roster that includes some of the biggest artists in the world including Dua Lipa, Radiohead, Lana Del Rey, The Cure, Tori Amos, Dermot Kennedy, Gracie Abrams, New Order, Tears for Fears, Mimi Webb and Mary Lambert.

Kinzel’s clients on the road in 2022 ranged from Tori Amos’ North American run of theaters and amphitheaters to Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia Tour” that played arenas worldwide. Kinzel points to Lipa’s Sept. 21 show at Foro Sol in Mexico City, as her favorite performance of the year. The concert sold 64,886 tickets with a gross of $4 million, marking “the biggest headline show Dua had ever done. She killed it!” Dua Lipa ranked No. 20 on Pollstar’s Year End Top Tours Worldwide chart with a gross of nearly $83.6 million.

At press time The Cure had just launched its “Shows Of A Lost World” North American tour, which made headlines for the band’s commitment to thwarting scalpers and getting Ticketmaster to refund fees for fans. And after wrapping a North American headline tour, Gracie Abrams is joining Taylor Swift on select dates on her “Eras” tour.

“My next projects are mainly focused on touring, our core business. Many of my artists are touring more than ever and some tour infrequently but in either case there is an enormous amount of advance planning, and sometimes years of strategizing,” Kinzel says. “I am also always watching out for new artists we would want to represent. I love music so much — after all, that is why we do this!”