CAA's Emma Banks and Mike Greek have reflected on their award-winning partnership and tackled breaking acts, ticket pricing and the grassroots crisis in a new interview with Music Week.
The London-based duo led CAA to the Live Music Agency honour at this year’s Music Week Awards in recognition of a fruitful touring period for clients such as Harry Styles, Kylie, Shania Twain, Maisie Peters and Ezra Collective
“It says to us that we’ve got a great team of people,” said Banks, who collected The Strat at the previous year's awards. “We want to believe we’re good at what we do but getting people to tick a box saying, ‘Yes, these folks are good,’ is a really great feeling. It’s a real honour, so we’ll strive to win it again.”
Banks and Greek opened the London office of the LA-founded CAA almost 18 years ago.
“We’re two very different people but we’ve got the same ethic, which is to be firm but fair," said Greek. "But ultimately, we’re very different and we are able to have really good dialogue and disagreements that end up with us finding the right answer.”
"One of the things that we’re very good at is helping strategise," added Banks. "When we do an announcement, we make sure that we’re maximising the profile that the act is going to get. I also think having a global view is important. Maximising potential in every market is important to us.”
If it’s priced correctly, then the show should sell out and it should allow different groups of people to come
Mike Greek
And Banks, who was named co-head of global touring at the firm earlier this year, played down concerns that the headliner pool is getting smaller.
“I think the headliner pool is actually in a really good space," she said. "What’s exciting is that promoters are beginning to move a little bit faster and be more reactive to what’s going on, taking risks that might not actually be risks but they perceive them as risks, because they’re not going with an act that’s got four stadium tours and 10 arena tours behind them. They’re now looking at artists that have maybe done one or two arena tours and going, ‘They are so strong at the moment that we can do headline business with them.’
"I think over the next few years, we’re going to see festivals picking up on artists that are relatively new, young. Also, with social media, TikTok and streaming numbers, you can explode so quickly. You have to maximise what you’re doing when these things happen to you without messing it up. I think that’s the job of a good agent, to not mess it up, to make sure you’re pitching it right. I’m actually really positive about headliners."
Banks namechecked some of the newer artists making waves at the top level.
"You look at some of the artists that are playing arenas that have never done so before – Charli XCX is doing the biggest business of her career, Sabrina Carpenter is on fire, Noah Kahan... There’s not enough tickets to control the demand," she observed. "I think it’s really exciting.”
With ticket pricing under the microscope once more amid the dynamic pricing row around Oasis' reunion tour, Greek stated his belief that offering a wide range of prices was the key to successful touring.
“It’s all about choice," he said. "I think that’s the crucial thing in the world we live in, so there’s an opportunity for everyone to come to a show, especially the bigger ones. You’ve got to look at market forces. If it’s priced correctly, then the show should sell out and it should allow different groups of people to come.
"The secondary market is clearly an irritant and a problem that is still being grappled with. Making sure that the consumer knows where the tickets actually are and who are the actual official ticketing agencies is still a big concern.”
I am concerned about grassroots music, but I’m more concerned that people don’t want to go out to discover it. Discovery happens more and more now on TikTok or on YouTube
Emma Banks
Meanwhile, Banks proposed a course of action to help address the issues faced by the grassroots music sector, suggesting that part of the problem centred on discovery.
“We have to persuade people they want to go to small venues," she said. "It’s obviously important and we all represent artists who have played in small venues – some recently, some a long time ago.
"We have a lot of grassroots venues in this country, way more than I could ever list, in places that I’ve never heard of, and they rely on local talent. They’re not on the national touring circuit. I think maybe at some point they have to be community hubs as well, places that people go to. There’s no government funding for anything, so do they become a youth club type of experience as well?
"We definitely have to protect small venues, because the reality is they don’t make financial sense for anybody. The artists that play them generally can’t afford to, but that doesn’t mean they don’t play them. I am concerned about grassroots music, but I’m more concerned that people don’t want to go out to discover it. Discovery happens more and more now on TikTok or on YouTube.”
Subscribers can read the full interview with Banks and Greek here.
