Yahoo News WME Buys Boutique Music Agency to Build Touring Revenue
WME, which has seen live touring become a key part of its representation business as part of a publicly-traded company, is now acquiring a boutique music agency.
The Endeavor-owned talent giant bought the Nashville-based agency Red 11 Music, which has a focus on concert booking and touring Americana acts, the company said Friday. Red 11’s founder and CEO, Jon Folk, will join WME as a partner and bring along clients like Shooter Jennings, Muscadine Bloodline, Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland & The Stragglers and Giovannie & The Hired Guns.
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All employees from Red 11 — agent Geoff Turner, coordinators Josh Green, Dan Kuklinski and Jeremy Upton and agent assistant Lindsey Wines — are said to be joining WME’s Nashville office. With the Red 11 deal, the Endeavor company will have 65 agents based in Nashville along with 25 partners.
The deal marks the latest acquisition for WME, which has had a presence in Music City since 1973 during its William Morris Agency days. The firm’s Nashville office is led by co-heads Becky Gardenhire, Joey Lee and Jay Williams. (A fourth co-chief, Scott Clayton, left for UTA in 2021.) Lee himself had joined WME via an acquisition, when his 360 Artist Agency was bought by the Ari Emanuel-run firm in 2010. That deal, the last time WME bought a boutique Nashville talent firm, brought client Miranda Lambert and other country stars into the fold.
Touring has been touted as a highlight for WME’s representation unit (which also includes modeling and fashion agency IMG). Endeavor chief Emanuel said on an earnings call on February 28 that WME booked 40,000 music engagements in 2022 during a post-pandemic “recovery of live entertainment such as music and comedy touring.”
If more than 50 percent of WME’s revenue is from non-film or TV clients, as CFO Jason Lublin noted to investors in February, then a chunk of that remainder would likely be from touring and concert bookings. (The boom year in 2022 saw Live Nation, the Ticketmaster owner, post concert revenue of $3.39 billion, against a year-earlier $2.04 billion, in its latest quarter.)
The Red 11 acquisition arrives a day after the Academy of Country Music Awards unveiled nominees. Notably, WME clients Lambert, Luke Combs, Kane Brown and Cole Swindell were among top honorees, all with five noms.
“We have long-admired Jon and the business he has built with Red 11,” stated WME’s Nashville co-heads Gardenhire, Lee and Williams. “Jon and his team have a proven track record of success, and we look forward to working with them to grow the Americana genre even further.”
Folk, Red 11’s founder, added: “We’re thrilled to be joining WME and the incredible resources and expertise they bring to the table.”
WME’s parent, Endeavor — which is attempting one of its bigger swings with a deal in place to buy wrestling company WWE and pair it with sports league UFC — has seen its stock rise about 15 percent since the first day of trading this year.
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