‘Agents Of Today Need A Complex Set Of Skills’: Q’s With Jules de Lattre, Agent, UTA

For Pollstar’s inaugural UK Focus, we reached out to a selection of agents working out of London, to talk about everything from booking trends, and ticket prices to regional differences across the country, and business philosophies. We also asked them about current artists to watch. Here’s what Jules de Lattre, Agent at UTA UK, had to say.

Pollstar: What’s the most important quality to display as a music agent in 2024, and why?
Agents of today need more than one essential quality. They need a complex set of skills to best navigate the current music environment: adaptability, creative problem-solving, organization, managerial, analytical. Agents need to be reactive to fast-changing market conditions. They need to combine a busy day to day schedule with the constant need for creative and ‘higher-thinking’. Current agents also need to have a clear understanding of how younger generations are consuming music and discovering new artists.

Access to complex audience metrics is key so agents can understand where and how fans are connecting with their artists. Current agents need tools to identify and highlight upcoming talent that are experiencing exceptional streaming and socials growth. Deep understanding and experience in other areas such as Music Brand Partnerships, Film & TV, books, podcasts, gaming is key.

Are you observing any booking trends in the UK?
The live sector quickly recovered after COVID. Although many challenges remain, especially in the festival sector, headline touring is booming. The volume of artists touring is increasing and agents are having to book tours earlier and earlier to secure optimal avails.

There are many musical genres on the up at the moment, both at niche and mainstream level: continued rise of Latin music and Afrobeats, rise of dnb/jungle, 90s and 00s revival, country and 70s rock, rise of Arabic music, acoustic music and neo jazz also feel on the rise.

In terms of general music trends I would highlight the following: the rise of genre fluidity and the end of ‘genre sorting’; the continued rise of physical music formats as audiences strive for authenticity. growth of personalized music consumption on streaming services; and the rise in demand for novel, engaging and immersive experiences and live performance innovations.

Is there need and room to raise ticket prices?
Most current touring artists, established or developing, have little choice but to raise their ticket prices to withstand the exorbitant rise in touring and travel costs. The key is for artists to clearly understand their fanbase and avoid going over-board on those price increases. We are not seeing a lot of price resistance on the hot tours, especially at arena and stadium level, and the under-performing shows are rarely significantly revived by slashing ticket prices.

Aside from raising ticket prices, one way of ensuring a higher profit margin while touring in an inflationary economy would be to reduce production. How open are artists to that conversation in your experience?
This differs from artist to artist. The key is for both artists and their core teams to clearly understand the financial implication of every production decision. Those that have the most knowledge, visibility and ability to plan in a transparent and effective way tend to be the ones striking the right balance between production and costs.

Does the UK have territorial differences if you look at the country on a market by market basis? Are there difference to the way you operate when crossing the Scottish, Irish or Welsh borders?
There are notable differences between constituents of the UK but this is compounded by the fact that these differences differ from artist to artist.

One notable difference is that London, and the south of England, remains the biggest and commercially dominant market. Ticket scaling will be higher in London than in the rest of the UK.

Each region has strong folk music traditions that have influenced their current music scenes. Many areas of the UK have local bands or artists who have achieved cult followings within their region. These domestic heroes often reflect local tastes and identities and are usually visibly bigger in their country than in the rest of the UK.

What’s your business strategy and philosophy for newcomers, in particular, in today’s world where it’s never been more expensive to tour?
The key for newcomers with some international demand is to focus on a small number of key markets and expand from there. Once you are selling out in key cities you can expand out with more knowledge and less risk.

Which artist(s) should everyone have on their radars right now?
Tyla, Kenya Grace, L’Impératrice, Clara La San, Horsegirl, Lucky Love.

Any upcoming shows, tours, business developments you’d like to highlight?
We’re excited about Karol G coming over to Europe this summer for her first EU arena and stadium tour. She became the first artist to sell out four shows at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid where she will perform in July. Burna Boy was recently featured in Time100’s most influential people of 2024 and will be headlining most major European festivals this summer including Glastonbury, We Love Green, Stavern, Kalorama, Superbloom and Lollapalooza Berlin.

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