Casey Wasserman, head of the newly launched Wasserman Music. Photo Credit: Rainer Hosch
About one month after agreeing to purchase Paradigm Talent Agency’s troubled music touring operations, Wasserman has officially closed the transaction and rebranded the division as “Wasserman Music.”
Following much speculation and multiple reports of a possible sale, Paradigm revealed in mid-March that it had reached an “agreement in principle” to cash out of its troubled music touring division.
The 29-year-old agency noted at the time that Wasserman – which was founded by Casey Wasserman, grandson of pioneering Hollywood talent agent Lew Wasserman – would acquire its “North American live music representation business and form a new operating unit.”
Moreover, Beverly Hills-headquartered Paradigm also made clear that Wasserman intended to disclose additional details about this new operating unit after the deal wrapped sometime in 2021’s second quarter.
Now, with the buyout having concluded – the financial terms of the acquisition weren’t publicly disclosed, it bears mentioning – Wasserman announced the debut of “Wasserman Music” today, in a formal release that was shared with Digital Music News.
Equipped with a “strong balance sheet” and north of 130 employees, Wasserman Music will operate “as a unit of the larger Wasserman organization” under the direction of “Casey Wasserman, his existing executive management team, and a seasoned group of executive agents.”
Furthermore, the newly minted artist agency “plans to expand assertively as the live entertainment business rebounds in 2021 and 2022,” coordinating all the while with the overarching Wasserman entity on a “Music meets Method model whereby artists’ touring, content, partnerships, and enterprise will be supported by analytic and insight platforms.”
Among the latter platforms are “proprietary data, performance sentiment, brand and business health and impact,” and more. Plus, the 23-year-old Wasserman will seek “to amplify its existing marketing offerings to brands looking to connect with consumers via music and sports programs,” creating something of a “turbocharged consultancy” in the process.
Finally, the nearly 900-word-long release emphasizes that the Wasserman Music roster – including Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Run the Jewels – will have access to “a large array of client services such as individual brand strategy, talent and artist marketing, short and long-form content development, licensing, literary, social media strategy/management, public relations, and philanthropic planning.”
Addressing Wasserman Music’s arrival in a statement, Casey Wasserman said in part: “This is a dynamic opportunity to create new collaborations between the family of brands and talent that Wasserman currently represents in a meaningful and impactful way, and I am excited to get started.”
Wasserman’s acquisition of the Paradigm music touring division is one of several high-profile developments that’s arrived in the representation space amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as a group of former Paradigm music agents in September of 2020 established an agency called TBA.
And last month, UTA acquired London’s Echo Location Talent Agency, which counts DaBaby, NBA YoungBoy, Marshmello, and Waka Flocka Flame as clients.