2025 Impact Intl. UK/Euro Honoree: Rod MacSween

ROD MACSWEEN
Founder & Director
ITB

BRITISH ROCK ROYALTY: A CAREER FORGED FROM LOYALTY, BELIEF & TRUST

How do you pick the most impactful success from a career that has lasted half a century? When asked, Rod MacSween politely declines, displaying a trait that has nourished the enduring relationships with his artists: loyalty.

“I have been in the music business for five decades and it would be unfair to the artists and bands I have represented to rank them in terms of business success,” he says, “I feel a deep loyalty to them all and have been honoured to have worked as their agent.”

The first band MacSween ever booked was The Who, at the peak of their raw energy, at Exeter University in 1970, where he had been elected social secretary in charge of booking entertainment a year earlier. A lifelong passion for live music was ignited.

“A large element of my role was to select and book bands and solo artists for the Saturday night student gigs,” he recalls. “This was at an exciting time when there were many up-and-coming young bands on the scene, happy to come to the West Country and entertain the student population. Those early interactions with the music scene, the bookings, the encounters with emerging talent, the thrill of enticing celebrated groups like The Who, Pink Floyd, T.Rex, and Robert Plant’s Band of Joy (pre-Led Zeppelin) to come all the way from London to Exeter, were exceptionally memorable experiences. Those early successes in booking exciting live music enthused me and gave me the impetus to turn my part-time student commitment into a full-time job.”

From those days, The Who and Robert Plant are now on MacSween’s roster. As are most bands he represented as an agent in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A huge gap in this lineup has been left by the passing of Ozzy Osbourne on July 22, also one of MacSween’s very first clients. The Prince of Darkness gave his final performance on July 5, at Birmingham’s Villa Park. MacSween was on site, of course.

“The glorious success of the Villa Park show, which featured my dear friend Ozzy Osbourne performing what would be his last ever gig, will always stay with me,” he says. “Witnessing him, giving his all, despite his illness, in front of a passionately devoted crowd, accompanied by Black Sabbath and other great bands, including many that I represent, was the most enormous privilege and immensely uplifting experience.”

He explains that navigating this epic production meant “managing and assisting the coordination with Sharon Osbourne, Andy Copping at Live Nation, Tom Morello, Jake Berry, and the various artists I represent who took part. It was an enormous challenge. Ensuring a smooth passage from conception to conclusion of such a massive event was a formidable task. The key to its success lay in the painstaking execution and the trust the various artists showed in us all. We had profound belief in them and they had enormous faith in our abilities to accomplish such an event.”

The continuation of MacSween’s roster reads like a Rock Hall of Fame art exhibit (view his roster at www.itb.co.uk). His plan for the future is simply described: “Watching my artists continue in the upward-path trajectory and do all I can to enhance that.” He says that he feels “proud and privileged to represent some of the greatest musicians and artists in the world. I’m very lucky that after all these years, my work remains my passion – it continues to energize me and it is my driving force. I love the music and I love working with the artists I represent. They have become like family.”

MacSween attends as many shows as he can, wherever they are in the world. So he’s well aware of the logistical challenges posed by the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Having to cancel a show due to political situations may be MacSween’s least favorite part of the job. The last thing he wants is to place an artist in a potentially dangerous situation, despite any good intentions on the part of the artists themselves. “Artists are very much motivated by humanitarian reasons and would deeply love to perform, to spread the message of peace, love and solidarity through the medium of their music,” he says.

However, he strongly believes the live industry is thriving despite a myriad of economic and political challenges.

“Although we are living in a digital age, there is nothing like a live performance, and people want real experiences more than ever,” MacSween says. “Festivals throughout Europe and so many countries in the world are huge opportunities for artists as these events are exploding with such diverse talent.”

MacSween founded ITB in 1976, and the degree to which the company, its artists, and its team have thrived over the years is his greatest pride. From the very beginning, MacSween’s work has been based “on a blend of belief and trust. I have immense belief in my artists. My wish is that they then recognize this and that they trust me implicitly to represent them to the best of my ability. I support my artists wholeheartedly. I want them to know that they will always have my support and, in turn, I hope that I can have their confidence in my abilities to do the best for them.”