Manage This: Artist House’s Friedman & LaPlace On Managing Lindsey Stirling, Princess Nokia, Izzy Escobar

Artist House hopes to reimagine what a record label and management company can provide to its artists. Located in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, the space provides numerous recording spaces for its talent, and the company has four branches: management, publishing, recording and studio space. For artists walking through their doors, Artist House provides everything they could need.

For Adina Friedman and Ian LaPlace, two managers at Artist House, the company provides them with all they need to best serve their clients. With a roster that includes famed stringed musician Lindsey Stirling, rapper/singer/songwriter Princess Nokia, pop musician Izzy Escobar and more, Artist House is able to help its artists through every step of their careers.

“Today, managers are supposed to wear so many hats and be experts in everything,” Friedman says. “The idea of having a dedicated, collaborative team to help manage artists is incredibly compelling. It really feels like a strong, collaborative energy. It’s a space where artists, producers, songwriters all get access to each other under one roof. It creates this constant flow of creativity and opportunity. We’re all driven by the same mission to elevate the artist’s vision.”

LaPlace adds, “The other piece is that managers need to be across so many parts of an artist’s business today. Us having the record label, publishing company and studios as sort of sister companies for the management collective really gives us all the tools we need to support artists.”

For artists who are just starting out, the sister companies located within Artist House allows them to utilize the space for their own creative output. The company additionally offers health insurance for all of its artists.

Friedman has been working with Lindsay Stirling for 15 years. This year has seen big wins, kicking off with Sterling’s own Sixthman cruise that raised more than $100,000 for her charity, The Upside Fund. She toured with an orchestra at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado (8,851 tickets sold, grossing $743,358) and two shows at Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City (15,753 tickets sold, grossing $917,750), according to Pollstar Boxoffice.

“We’re trying to build the management side around a very holistic approach where we can really focus on developing long-term careers for artists rather than just short, trendy wins,” Friedman says. “Our team works hand-in-hand with the label, publishing and creative departments, so we can ensure every artist’s vision is aligned across those things. The idea is that the sum of all managers is greater than just one, where we can build a model where managers are really kind of incentivized to help within the team. We all win. This is a place where we can share ideas, brainstorm new perspectives and learn from each other. Constantly talking every day and being around people that have different, unique perspectives helps us be better managers.”

Pollstar: How do you collaborate with each of Artist House’s departments for your clients?
Ian LaPlace: It all depends on the client’s needs. That’s the beauty of having four branches of Artist House with the studio, publishing, records and management. We can lean in however an artist needs, and if they’re not really ready to do a deal yet, we have the services and ability and the know-how in-house to help them release records and support them on the sync side. That’s really what it is, no artist needs the same thing. So, we have a menu of things we can bring to the table to support our clients.

Adina Friedman: Having experts in publishing, even if they’re not working on the publishing for artists we manage, they definitely have a unique perspective in that world and can help with setting up sessions or creative ideas. Maybe artists they’re working with can become connections.

What makes you stand out as a company?
Friedman: We’re not just a management company. It’s really more of an ecosystem. All of our artists that we manage have access to our recording studios, creative space, publishing, label services. We’re not trying to fit artists into a mold, we’re trying to help them build their own. We’re not focused on one genre, as you can see from looking across the artists we’re currently managing. We try to look and see where we can really add value to different artists. I think the other unique thing is that we have more employees than we do artists. Which really speaks to the level of service we’re able to deliver.

LaPlace: There’s probably not a better artist-client ratio you can find in the business right now.

Friedman: That goes to the nature of why we’re referring to ourselves as a collective. We’re really trying to create an environment for other managers to come together.

What are some highlights you have coming up with your artists?
Friedman: I’ve been with Lindsey Stirling for close to 15 years. It’s been a really exciting year for her. Audiences are more engaged than ever, and live shows become a key space to connect directly with fans. Our goal this year was really to expand on the live experience – not just more shows, but new ways of presenting her music. She kicked off with her own charity-driven Sixthman Cruise, which was not just a success but she raised over $100,000 for her charity. She gave her fans a really robust experience, where they got to know her outside of just performance.

LaPlace: On the emerging artists side, we had Rio Romeo go out on an almost completely sold-out club-level tour across the entire U.S. It was her first U.S. tour, and was 95% sold-out. We have another emerging artist, Bolden., who’s on their first U.S. tour right now and wrapped up their UK run. In the U.S., we have two sold-out nights in New York, two in Toronto, and two in L.A.

Friedman: The other emerging artist is Izzy Escobar. She just played her first couple of headline shows, and she just went over to London and sold-out the Courtyard Theater for the first time. I think next year, we’re going to build her up hard-ticket wise and get her on the road, whether it be support opportunities or otherwise.

Have there been any challenges you’ve faced in the touring market recently?
Friedman: I’ve definitely noticed the rising cost of putting artists on the road, even with Lindsey. You want to be able to push the bar with production, and it can be a challenge to stay within budget. Especially on the developing artist’s side. Izzy is playing her first headline shows and putting her band together. The start-up cost of touring has exponentially increased.