Features
The Next Generation: Who’s In Charge?
The concept was simple: Marc Geiger, chief of all things music at WME, was going to introduce some of his younger agents as well those from competing agencies, but this thing called snow got in the way.
Photo: Barry Brecheisen
Geiger couldn’t make it to Nashville from Los Angeles, which meant – once again – WME Nashville co-chief Rob Beckham had to step in to help out Pollstar Live (He did us a similar favor last year). So, at 4 a.m., Beckham wrote down some questions.
Maybe that’s the way to do it, because, even with sleep in everybody’s eyes, it turned out to be a most informative and engaging panel. The panelists included those who rep everyone from Eminem and Beyonce to Skrillex to Katy Perry, either as agents or promoters.
Without being agist, the “young guns” for a strong lack of a better term, did define where business is right now. As was said, the era of the “screaming agent” is over – the era as recent as the SFX merger is now just life as we know it. Live Nation is not viewed as an enemy, nor as a friend. It’s the people inside the entities that make the business. That’s not to say it’s the cliché line “It’s all about relationships.” As Al-Joulani noted, it’s about working with the people you like working with. There’s a difference, if nuanced.
Beckham asked, with Facebook being the standard, where the next social media source will be for creating concert sales. To a man, all answered “Snapchat.” It is one of the most popular apps of the younger generation.
The panel was also pro-YouTube and did not seem to agree with the recent effort to claim it as a hindrance for artists. Of all the questions asked, though, one stood out as a takeaway: what artists are unknown now that will be commodities a year from now?
Be on the lookout for Shawn Mendes, who sold out the