Artist managers: All change at IAMA’s 2024 conference

To Bruges, where news landed at the International Artist Managers’ Association (IAMA) annual conference that the organisation’s new chairman from spring 2025, in succession to Cornelia Schmid of German management office Konzertdirektion Schmid, will be London-based artist manager Ben Rayfield. Once a professional singer, Rayfield started in the business 21 years ago at the Hazard Chase office, before setting up his own artist management, specialising in singers. This company merged with Allied Artists in 2011 to form band Rayfield took on the dual roles of managing director and manager to a wide spectrum of musicians on the company roster.

Says Rayfield, ‘It’s a real honour to be asked to become the next chairman of IAMA, an organisation with which I’ve been heavily involved. I look forward to contributing further to the association’s vital work. Cornelia Schmid has been a fantastic chairman, especially given the unprecedented upheaval of the pandemic. Through her calm leadership (in conjunction with the work of chief executive Atholl Swainston-Harrison) the association provided invaluable support to the membership through those turbulent times.’

 Many effects of the crisis are still being felt, Rayfield observes, alongside the always-to-be-expected new challenges faced by the cultural sphere. ‘However, I remain optimistic about the future. By encouraging good practice, a collaborative approach and an international outlook, IAMA will continue to have an important role to play.’

As for a pick from the Bruges conference sessions, the eye is caught by the kick-start given to the new IAMA committee on sustainability. Committee chairman is IAMA board member Tabitha McGrath of the internationally based Polyarts office. McGrath moderated a conference session on this subject area — which, as a by-product, provided that kick-start. ‘People who attended the session were invited to volunteer to sit on the new committee,’ McGrath explains. ‘There was an excellent response, which narrowed down to a committee of eight or nine people. This will include members from countries such as Denmark, Finland and Germany. We’ll meet quarterly (on Zoom, of course, for reasons of sustainability!) to share information, advice and experience which can then be passed on to IAMA members. A key area is travel — a fact of life for musicians, but crucial also for artist managers.’

What’s clear, says McGrath, is that idealism has to be tempered by realism when it comes to unavoidable travel by air. ‘It’s important to stress to people that you don’t have to be perfect. Taking small steps often is fine. One piece of encouragement at the conference was meeting an individual who’d travelled to Bruges from Sweden using a mixture of boat and lots of trains.’

Another IAMA conference attendee letting the train take the strain – via a Leeds-Bruges return ticket – was Laura Canning, general director and CEO of Opera North. ‘It was the logical thing to do,’ she says, ‘especially as Bruges has no airport.’

Canning stopped overnight in London en route to Bruges. ‘This enabled me go to a performance at the Royal Opera House, which felt like a good use of my time. The leg from Leeds to London was two hours fifteen minutes; then it was an easy Eurostar journey to Brussels, where I changed onto a train for Bruges – a journey time of four hours.’

Canning nonetheless says she wouldn’t describe herself as a train-at-all-costs activist. ‘That wouldn’t be true. It’s more about my having a clear bias towards taking the train if it’s practical. If going by train on a long journey abroad means you’re away from the office for a significant period, then that may not be a good idea. But often I don’t take the train within the UK because it’s so expensive. Really shocking. Four members of Opera North needed to go to Bristol for a conference… it was going to cost a total of £800 return. Instead, a car was hired for the four of us travelling together.’

As Canning points out, the plus-sides of train travel include the ability to tackle ‘office’ work across reasonable stretches of time. ‘Plane journeys break down into lots of little bits. On board, maybe turbulence stops you using your table, then lunch arrives…’

And a thought from Canning about the choice of locations for future IAMA conferences in Europe. ‘Perhaps they should be centres enjoying easy train connections… and not having an airport! It might mean choosing, say, Dortmund rather than Berlin.’

Beyond the issue of travel, Tabitha McGrath foresees her new IAMA committee embracing many ‘green agenda’ issues. For one thing, artist managers will be encouraged to promote sustainable business practices in negotiations with promoters. McGrath hopes to see greater consideration given to the programming of residencies, ‘with musicians more often performing a number of concerts in one location. There could be green riders in contracts that push for sustainable and local food options for travelling artists… and no car pick-up provided between rehearsals. Then there’s the matter of people being encouraged to go ever more paper-free.

‘This new IAMA committee will provide support for artist managers and the wider industry on these and many other matters. Hopefully that will better further our industry’s sustainability aims.’

***

What’s in a (change of) name? In this case, the change recently reported in CM whereby the outpost in Berlin of New York-based artist management Opus 3 will henceforth be an outpost of London-based Askonas Holt, Opus 3’s sister business under the overall ownership of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Donagh Collins, chief executive both of Askonas Holt and Opus 3, tells me that while the latter did an excellent job of servicing European engagements, it lacked punch in its marketing of artists on this side of the Atlantic. The Askonas Holt brand is regarded as stronger in that respect, says Collins, with more ‘recognition factor.’

The first move has been to appoint a new managing director for Askonas Holt Berlin in Alexander Hollensteiner, formerly at the helm of the Kammerakademie Potsdam orchestra. ‘Alex is extremely familiar with the German cultural scene,’ Collins observes, ‘and he’s well versed in artist management, having previously been with the Konzertdirektion Schmid office in Hanover. We’ve been accessing the top level of the German market but we should be stronger in the second and third strata, to the benefit of artists at different stages of their careers.’

Collins pays tribute to the six existing staff members – ‘great people’ – who will continue to work at the Berlin office. However, says Collins, ‘new leadership and new staff will give a different perception of the office’s position in the marketplace, not least in the area of vocalists. Combined with fresh investment, that leadership will enable us to bring on the new generations of talent which are so important to the company’s future.’