Booking/Artist Development: Names To Watch (Pollstar Live! Panel Recap)

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Moderator
Starr Butler-Jemison | Oak View Group

Speakers
Brittanie Delava | AEG Presents
Jen Hass | I.M.P.
Alex Maxwell | Live Nation
Jacqueline Reynolds-Drumm | CAA

Communication proves to be the key talking point in Pollstar Live!’s Booking/Artist Development: Names To Watch panel featuring Brittanie Delava at AEG Presents, Jen Hass at I.M.P., Alex Maxwell at Live Nation and Jacqueline Reynolds-Drumm at CAA, moderated by Oak View Group’s Starr Butler-Jemison.

With an influx of tours (and promises that 2025 is the year everyone on the panel is afraid of), the need to communicate and work with one another is more necessary than ever. Ticket prices, marketing, and what each tour market wants.

With the rise in social media platforms allowing artists to find instant, overnight success, Hass highlighted the fact that it is still necessary artists and their teams do not skip any steps while growing a fanbase. During the panel, she said that it’s possible a hit song could bring fans out for a show during the initial hype, but they’ll need to find a connection with their audience in order to get them to keep coming back. Reynolds-Drumm, meanwhile, emphasized the need for contingency plans on tours and scheduling in case other opportunities, such as the support slot of a lifetime or an arena headline, comes in.

For figuring out what teams to work with while developing talent, Reynolds-Drumm also said she’ll seek out those who appear to be the most passionate about her artists. Delava shared that sometimes her team will go into venues, and they won’t know who the artist performing even is. During the panel, she said that it goes a long way to show artists and thier teams that someone who works at the venue has taken the time to know who they are, and finds something more personal.

“Whether the artist has children and there’s toys, or something that’s personal and shows they’ve paid attention, it goes a long way,” she said during the panel, commenting that artists’ teams will let the promoters know after a show if someone made that extra effort.

The panel ended with Reynolds-Drumm stating it’s important to be creative with something that can cut through the noise and get through to both the team, and the fans.