Five former Paradigm agents have joined forces to launch new US-based talent agency TBA.
Founders Marshall Betts, Avery McTaggart, Amy Davidman, Ryan Craven, and Devin Landau will be joined at the company by head of artist creative strategy, Samantha Tacón, head of marketing, Katie Nowak and agents Josh Mulder, Chris Danis, Lauren McCauley and Lindsey Schiffman. The move follows layoffs made by Paradigm in March in the wake of the live music shutdown.
With offices in New York and Los Angeles, TBA will represent acts such as The War On Drugs (pictured), Courtney Barnett, Chvrches, Jungle, Hot Chip and Remi Wolf. The agency is bidding to provide artists with "an alternative to both big, corporate agencies and small, boutique shops".
“The music business, and specifically the agency business has changed overnight and we are poised to meet the needs and demands of the new landscape," said LA-based McTaggart, who began his career as an agent in 2008 and has a roster includeing Jungle, Mura Masa, Yaeji, Hot Chip, Bob Moses, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Hope Tala and Tune Yards. "We are adaptable, we are efficient, we match the creativity of our clientele—in ways truly unlike any existing agency. Our mission is to maintain collaborative, ongoing relationships with our artists and their teams that breed new thinking and long-term success.
"With decades of experience, we are able to navigate the uncharted territory ahead by thinking nimbly, acting bravely, and utilising our core relationships within the music industry. We don’t want to be a corporate, faceless entity, and know that’s not a requirement to operate at the highest level.”
Now is the perfect time to create a new agency for the new music business
Marshall Betts, Paradigm
Betts, who reps the likes of Courtney Barnett, Alvvays, Jay Som, Julia Jacklin and Guided By Voices, added: “Now is the perfect time to create a new agency for the new music business. We want to help the arts community come back as a whole, and we see this as an exciting investment everyone on our team is able to make. Creating new deals, and working on the evolving role of an agent with promoters and managers is something that will change over the next few years and we’re in a perfect position to be a leader in that field. We’re honest, hard working, and passionate people who see an opportunity to create something different with our clients that will reflect our core values.”
Davidman began her career in music at the Bowery Ballroom more than 20 years ago and represents artists including Pink Martini, Hiatus Kaiyote, José González’s, Cut Copy, Cuco, Helado Negro and Ana Tijoux.
Craven currently works with Chvrches, The War on Drugs, Tycho, Purity Ring, among others, while Landau's roster includes Cuco, Pabllo Vittar, Boy Pablo, The Midnight, Nicola Cruz and Ed Maverick.
Earlier this summer, leading talent agency CAA confirmed the departure of around 90 agents and executives from across the business. The firm said the layoffs were made with "greater visibility into the Covid-19 challenges of fiscal year 2021", while approximately 275 assistants and other workers will be furloughed.
