How to Make It in the New Music Business

Ari Herstand is the author of How to Make It in the New Music Business. Today on the show he talks with Marshall Betz, an agent who recently launched a new agency called TBA. They talk about driving concerts and what he looks for when he wants to sign artists. And they discuss ticketed live streams.

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Today on the show is Marshall Betts. He is an agent formerly of Paradigm, but after Paradigm dissolved its entire music division and laid off hundreds of employees Marshall Betts along with a few of his co-workers at Paradigm launched a new agency... TBA Agency. Get it?

They got a lot of press when they came out of the gates, but they launched on September 1st of 2020. They took their roster with them, and it currently includes Courtney Barnett, CHVRCHES, Madame Gandhi (who was previously on the show), The War On Drugs, Hot Chip, and many more.

Marshall and I talk about everything in the live concert market, from when he thinks it's going to come back in the traditional sense to everything that's happening right now and what agents' jobs are. He talks about ticketed livestreams and drive-in concerts. He also talks about what he looks for when he's signing artists, and I was encouraged to hear what he said when he signs new artists.

Oprah’s Drummer Madame Gandhi on Feminism, Activism, Music Video Budgets as an Indie Artist: https://aristake.com/madame-gandhi/

Quick links:

5:10 - Is New York still a music industry hub?

7:44 - Shifting out of Paradigm and starting TBA

18:38 - How many people work at TBA? Is it expanding? How are you funding TBA?

22:58 - How are ticketing livestreams working for TBA's artists?

24:50 - What are some of the deals for the ticketed livestreams? Is there a favorite platform?

27:20 - What are the production costs for the livestreams? How big are the crews?

29:32 - How do you keep the livestreams interesting and fun? What are the interesting tactics artists are doing to justify the ticket price?

32:33 - What is the range for ticket prices? What are the attendance numbers? Can you anticipate the livestream attendees based on the tickets they sell when performing live?

37:25 - How is the livestreaming space evolving? Is it going to go away?

39:25 - Has TBA done any drive-in concerts?

42:48 - What's TBA's day to day look like now?

45:45 - Recommendations on what artists can do while they wait for live music to return

49:15 - What does Marshall look for when signing a new artist?

55:38 - What it means to Marshall to make it in the new music business

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