Actualités

The music industry will come together on October 15 at Los Angeles’ Pacific Design Center to celebrate the City of Hope Spirit of Life Gala. This year’s honoree, Tom Corson, co-chairman and COO of Warner Records, will be feted for his work with the leading comprehensive cancer center. Michael Bublé is slated to perform.

“This year’s campaign is about more than fundraising — it’s about restoring the fullness of life,” Corson said at a May 20 gathering announcing the event date. “At Warner, we often say it’s not just about the song — it’s about the artist. In the same way, City of Hope is about people, their dreams and their futures. It’s an honor to support that work.”

Corson’s recognition as the Spirit of Life honoree reflects both his professional achievements and his enduring commitment to philanthropy. He has served on City of Hope’s board...

UTA has expanded its Music division with the addition of Mary Allen, Aaron Arkin and Vatana Shaw as Agents.

Allen joins as as a Music Agent based in Nashville, with Arkin as a Music Crossover Agent based in Los Angeles, and Shaw as a Music Brand Partnerships Agent also based in L.A.

Allen boasts an expertise in electronic music and previously worked as a founding agent at Mint Talent Group. Before Mint, she spent six years as a booking agent at Madison House in Boulder, Co. Her roster includes French electronic music sensation CloZee, The Polish Ambassador, The Funk Hunters, Apashe, Tripp St., Memba, Rome in Silver, NotLö, Veil, sumthin sumthin and Player Dave, among others.

Arkin started his career as an assistant in the digital and talent departments at UTA. He spent the last five years working in development and production at Complex Networks, the youth culture media...

UTA has brought on music agents Emily Larose, Marissa Smith, Elisa Vazzana to join their Nashville offices as well as Amy Lynch to join the Comedy Touring division as an agent. Brandi Brammer will serve as senior Hr business partner, and Emily Wright serves as a music brand partnerships agent. These new hires further highlight UTA’s continued focus on establishing an equitable and dynamic workforce. The hirings follows on the heels of the recent news of Nashville-based Scott Clayton joining UTA Nashville as Co-Head of Global Music, Matthew Morgan as Co-Head of UTA Nashville and Buster Phillips as a Rock Agent.

“We are honored to welcome this powerhouse group of industry professionals into our Music City headquarters,” said David Zedeck, Partner and Go-Head of Global Music. “The collective breadth and scope of our new colleagues will be a tremendous addition as we continue to expand our footprint in Nashville and beyond.

South Asian writer/actor Kausar Mohammed has signed with Paradigm for representation. She can currently be seen as “techspert” Soraya on CW’s 4400. She also voices series lead, Yaz, on Dreamwork’s Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

Mohammed wrote and stars in the holiday romcom The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night, directed by Fawzia Mirza, which world premiered at TIFF 2021. She also worked alongside Taraji P. Henson on Paramount’s What Men Want, with Issa Rae on the Universal film Little, and has additional credits on shows such as HBO’s Silicon Valley, CW’s Black Lightning and Carol’s Second Act on CBS.

Mohammed is a featured talent in this year’s ViacomCBS Diversity 2021 Showcase and plays series lead in Paul Feig’s dramedy, East of La Brea. She portrays Rakhi in Coffee Shop Names, alongside Danny Pudi and Karan Soni, that was recently released on HBO Max. She also is the co-founder of Shift,...

UTA has bought UK music agency Echo Location Talent Agency (Echo), expanding its recording artist roster on Brit shores.

The company’s client list features several artists at the forefront of the UK’s grime and hip-hop explosion, with big names from various genres including: Alesso, Bugzy Malone, Chase & Status, Davido, Diplo, Galantis, Gorgon City, Giggs, Hannah Wants, Major Lazer, Marshmello, Pendulum, Pa Salieu, Sampa The Great, Teni, Clara Amfo, Mistajam, Charlie Sloth, Ocean Wisdom, Djez, and Wizkid.

Echo was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Obi Asika, who will serve as co-head of UTA’s UK office alongside Neil Warnock. Senior Echo agent Belinda Law is also joining UTA along with Myles Jessop, Tom Jones, Jack Clark, Hannah Shogbola, Kazia Davy and Ishsha Bourguet.

Asika will report to Co-Heads of Worldwide Music Samantha Kirby Yoh and David Zedeck.

“Obi and his team have built an impressive business and have done...

UTA said Tuesday that it has hired music agents Jeffrey Hasson and Matt Meyer, who both had been at Paradigm. Hasson will join the leadership of the agency’s Nashville office, while Meyer will be based in Los Angeles.

The latest moves in UTA Music’s ranks come less than two weeks after former WME Head of East Coast Music Samantha Kirby Yoh joined as co-head. She joined David Zedeck in leading the division’s worldwide operations.

Meyer’s roster includes Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Lil Dicky, Don Toliver, Tinashe, Yungblud, Cash Cash, Eden and The Knocks. Hasson has worked with Young The Giant, Tori Kelly, Surfaces, Jamey Johnson, Dashboard Confessional, Dayglow, Blues Traveler, Coin and Ruston Kelly among others. It’s unclear how many will make the move to UTA.

“Jeffrey and Matt have impeccable track records of identifying and developing emerging artists and creating unique opportunities for their clients,...

Former WME Head of East Coast Music Samantha Kirby Yoh has joined UTA Music as co-head. She’ll work together with David Zedeck in leading the firm’s worldwide music operations.

“Sam and David see eye-to-eye on how to build a great music business and will be strong partners in leading UTA Music,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer. “We have long admired Sam’s success working with unique and powerful artists, and we’re thrilled she has chosen to join us. “Under their leadership, UTA Music will continue to bring innovative ideas, unparalleled service and collaboration into the lives of artists.”

Natalia Nastaskin will continue on in her role as General Manager of the UTA Global Music Group.

At WME, Kirby Yoh was responsible for overseeing the New York music department and a roster of clients, including Bjork, Rosalia, LCD Soundsystem, Florence & the Machine, Fka twigs, Grimes, Alicia Keys, James Blake,...

The agency world has been completely disrupted by Covid-19, but today’s announcement that powerhouse agent Samantha Kirby Yoh is leaving WME to join David Zedeck as the co-head of UTA Music is the biggest game-changer to date in the representation space.

The U.K. native joined the pre-Endeavor merger William Morris Agency in 2004 after five years as an agent at Evolution Talent. In 2012 she was appointed to partner and most recently headed WME’s East Coast Music division with a powerhouse roster that included Bjork, Rosalia, LCD Soundsystem, Florence & the Machine, Fka twigs, Grimes, Alicia Keys, James Blake, Mia, Moses Sumney, Channel Tres, Banks, St Vincent, Massive Attack and The Chemical Brothers.

“Sam and David see eye-to-eye on ...

The agency world has been completely disrupted by Covid-19, but today’s announcement that powerhouse agent Samantha Kirby Yoh is leaving WME to join David Zedeck as the co-head of UTA Music is the biggest game-changer to date in the representation space.

The U.K. native joined the pre-Endeavor merger William Morris Agency in 2004 after five years as an agent at Evolution Talent. In 2012 she was appointed to partner and most recently headed WME’s East Coast Music division with a powerhouse roster that included Bjork, Rosalia, LCD Soundsystem, Florence & the Machine, Fka twigs, Grimes, Alicia Keys, James Blake, Mia, Moses Sumney, Channel Tres, Banks, St Vincent, Massive Attack and The Chemical Brothers.

“Sam and David see eye-to-eye on ...

New Jersey saw its first MTV Video Music Awards this year, and the state repped hard with the cast of “The Sopranos” taking the stage and The Jonas Brothers performing off-site at legendary Asbury Park venue The Stone Pony. Fans celebrated the legacy of Missy Elliott as she was awarded with this year’s Video Vanguard Award, late-addition Miley Cyrus performed her single “Slide Away” and Lizzo brought down the house with renditions of “Truth Hurts” and “Good as Hell” in front of a giant inflatable derriere. But there’s much more that happened behind-the-scenes and far out of cameras’ reach at Newark’s Prudential Center on Aug. 26.

Light-up bracelets and locked up phones: Attendees were met with plastic light-up bracelets when they got to their seats. During performances such as Cabello and Mendes’ “Señorita,” the bracelets illuminated to bathe the stadium in color. Those in the pit for the...

The VenuesNow Conference, scheduled for June 19 and 20 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, will feature a keynote from Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel to close out the gathering. In its second year, the VenuesNow conference is a production of the Oak View Group (Ovg), the multifaceted entertainment company headed by CEO Tim Leiweke and backed by Azoff Msg Entertainment (Amsge).

Ovg’s Media & Conferences division also includes Pollstar and the PollstarLive! Conference & Awards, each aimed at live music industry professionals and spanning facilities, agencies, promoters and many more facets of the business.

Others scheduled to appear at VenuesNow include Live Nation head of booking Rich Best; La Coliseum, USC’s General Manager Joe Furin; UTA Head of Music David Zedeck; Wme’s Greg Oswald and Cid CEO Dan Berkowitz, among many others.

The 2017 edition of the VenuesNow Conference included panel topics like “The New Paradigm in Event Safety” and...

UTA has acquired Circle Talent Agency, an industry-leading electronic dance music agency. The deal, the terms of which were not announced, will boost UTA Music’s reach into the emerging space with artists like Marshmello, Kaskade, Excision, Illenium and others.

UTA Music now has 90 agents in six offices. Circle’s Edm roster joins up with UTA’s which already features acts like Guns N’ Roses, Muse, Post Malone, Lenny Kravitz, G-Eazy, Mariah Carey, DJ Khaled, Paramore, Die Antwoord, 21 Savage, Trace Adkins, Ms. Lauryn Hill, X Ambassadors, Toby Keith, Bush and Bring Me The Horizon.

Circle co-founders Steve Gordon and Kevin Gimble will become co-heads of electronic music, working with UTAs global head of music David Zedeck.

“The acquisition of Circle Talent Agency is a tremendous addition for UTA as we continue to build momentum in our music business,” said UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer in announcing the deal today. “Electronic...

United Talent Agency (UTA) today announced a big move into the electronic and dance-music space by acquiring top indie agency Circle Talent. Circle’s roster includes Marshmello (pictured), Kaskade, Excision, Illenium and many others; co-founders Steve Gordon and Kevin Gimble will serve as UTA’s co-heads of electronic music, working closely with global head of music, David Zedeck.

The move bolsters UTA’s already rapidly growing music division, UTA Music, which includes 90 agents in six offices, according to the announcement. Current UTA acts include Guns N’ Roses, Muse, Post Malone, Lenny Kravitz, G-Eazy, Mariah Carey, DJ Khaled, Paramore, 21 Savage, Trace Adkins and Lauryn Hill, among others.

A rep for Circle confirmed that only the company’s electronic-music agents will be making the move, and several other staffers were laid off.

“The acquisition of Circle Talent Agency is a tremendous addition for UTA as we continue to build momentum in our music business,...

Teens respond to music as an authentic, hip and compelling medium, two panels focusing on marketing through music told attendees of the What Teens Want conference Tuesday at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. The panels -- comprising managers, agents, attorneys and record company executives -- held a lively discussion on the second and final day of the event co-sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter and sister publications Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek and Billboard. "The music business isn't going down -- the record business is going down. There's a big difference," said booking agent David Zedeck, a participant in the Doing Business With the Music Business session. He stressed that although the record business is hurting due to poor sales and piracy, the concert business and other attendant areas are healthy. Fred Goldring, a prominent entertainment attorney and co-founder of entertainment marketing consultancy Membrain, said marketing is more important than ever in today's music business landscape.