After last year’s sold-out inaugural event, Runway - the independent live music booking agency founded by Matt Hanner - is returning to London’s Rich Mix with its Agents x Managers Conference on 4 Dec
We booked some speakers for what was meant to be a team day and got carried away, really. It turned into a mini conference...
Born out of what was initially an internal training session, Hanner started the event to help people understand the modern ecosystem that drives live music. “I wanted to do something that gave people the broader strokes, to help them see how the landscape is as an independent company. As an agency we have to have conversations that span a fairly broad arena. We might be working with smaller teams, and so we have to have a good idea of what’s going on out in the wider world”.
A big part of the motivation for the conference is a desire to “foster better agent and manager relationships”, says Hanner. “I think managers want more from us - as independent agents, working with independent teams, I thought it was really valuable to try and give people a broader understanding of what was going on”.
“Two years ago we staged the first event as a training day for our team”, continues Hanner. “We booked some speakers for what was meant to be a team day and got carried away, really. It turned into a mini conference”.
That first iteration of the event - in an arch off Kingsland Road - was tiny, just 30 people, “We invited some of the managers we work with, especially some of the younger managers, and they came down. We had a publisher come in, we had a lawyer come in. A lot of it was quite foundational, but people really liked the idea of it”.
“What we inadvertently created was this forum where you could bring independent managers and agents together, to get into the middle bit of the venn diagram of the issues that are relevant to both sides - both in terms of live and careers, but also in terms of people and professionals”.
At the very start, I was in a bad band. I became a promoter so I could book gigs for my own band to play. I’d book a better headliner so that people might come. I started interning at CODA, did two years of a music business degree but dropped out...
That foundation laid the groundwork for last year’s bigger event. “It flourished from there”, says Hanner. “That was 30 people - last year it was 150 people. It sold out and it was a really good day. This year we’re still very keen to address things that are very relevant to both agents and managers, but I think even more so this year we’re leaning a bit further into the independent world, small companies, people that are working independently”.
For Hanner, the idea of working independently - and developing a culture that helps both agents, artists and managers thrive independently - is an important part of what he does. Starting his career at London live agency CODA - which was later acquired by Paradigm, and then rolled into Wasserman - Hanner has seen a lot of change throughout his career.
“At the very start, I was in a bad band. I became a promoter so I could book gigs for my own band to play. I’d book a better headliner so that people might come. I started interning at CODA, did two years of a music business degree but dropped out to go and work full time at CODA. Spotify was literally just coming in at that point - Netflix was still doing DVDs!”
As a company, I need to be investing in people younger than me and listening to them. It’s not just having bodies around the table - I want to be really listening to what they have to say...
Being present at that key inflection point in the industry gave Hanner an understanding of the importance of building a culture and community around live, both inside his own business, and outside. “Once I actually understood what the job of an agent was, it was the strategy and the kind of pulling things together that really appealed to me”.
“I think the way that the industry has continued to evolve since Spotify launched, and the fact that it now feels like a very fluid landscape where it’s not even driven by content a lot of the time but by platforms, and tech, and user habits, and pandemics and all these outside things - I imagine that will probably continue for the rest of my career”.
That constant evolution - and the new inflection points of ‘Streaming 2.0’ and the evolution of artificial intelligence - are core to how Runway has built its business. “The main knock-on effect is that it shows me just how transient a lot of things are. As a company, I need to be investing in people younger than me and listening to them. It’s not just having bodies around the table - I want to be really listening to what they have to say”.
The vast majority of people we work with enjoy the human experiential element of performing...
With those overall changes in the industry, the role of both the artist and manager has evolved too. “I think you definitely get artists that now wear a greater number of hats”, says Hanner. “I was talking to someone earlier about an act they work with where both the members are also producers and various other things. The live show is an outworking of that creative process, and expression of that”.
“There are so many different ways of approaching live now, and it’s not necessarily about touring in the same way. It’s maybe a new way - or an extended way - of expressing what the art form is about to the existing audience”.
“The vast majority of people we work with enjoy the human experiential element of performing - and that includes, especially on the smaller scale, going to the merch stall afterwards and meeting real people who are going to tell you how much they love your songs. I think that’s still a very special moment for people. I want to create a framework and a structure that allows people to be successful and do that”.
I think it will be interesting to see who’s still clinging on into their 60s and 70s in 30 years time... being the person that people pick up the phone to...
That framework extends to the internal culture of Runway, and how that informs the agency’s relationships with clients.
“The music industry has become a more process driven corporate environment”, says Hannner, “and that means you’ve got people who have got way more transferable skills now. But at the same time, the world that we live in as an independent agency, it’s about culturing and nurturing relationships”.
“But in both music and the wider creative industries there are people whose identity is very tied up with their role a lot of the time - especially for the older guard who have found their space, and they’ve maybe now got teams or companies under them. Being ‘that guy’ who makes something happen is part of who they are”.
“For us, making something happen is having a good relationship with a few people, and being able to give someone a call and have someone do a favour because you’re nice and you’re easy to work with. I think it will be interesting to see who’s still clinging on into their 60s and 70s in 30 years time. In 30 years time I want to be running a thriving business.”
we want that to be the sort of conference that allows people to rest a bit easier so that they can think ‘I’m not going to check my emails over the weekend - and that’s perfectly fine'...
The traditional culture of live agencies was “generally driven by the agent that makes the most money”, continues Hanner. “I think for a lot of people the clinging on is the clinging on to power, and being the person that people pick up the phone to. It’s not necessarily about being a booking agent, it’s about what they’ve become, and their standing in the industry”.
“A lot of that is tied in with earnings. We’ve said from the word go that that is not the basis for the very limited hierarchy that we have within Runway. For me, if people are making more money than me, that’s good. I want to create a framework and a structure that allows people to be successful and do that. I’m a perfectly decent agent, but time might prove that I’m a better manager of people, of companies, a builder of culture - things like that - than I am a booking agent. And I’m employing people who I think are going to be really talented booking agents”.
“I think that’s definitely the sort of thing that we like to talk about on the conference side of things. We’re all in this boat together. Whether you’re a sole trader manager - you still have to do your accounts. 100% of your day isn’t going out fighting for your artists - we’ve all got to survive. So I think the conference can be an acknowledgement of that, sharing stories of who’s done it well. Sharing experiences like that, I think, are really really valuable”.
“Hopefully that’s the sort of forum we can create within the company - to be open to talking about those sorts of things. And in the conference, we want that to be the sort of conference conversation people have, hearing those stories and having the chance to chat about it, and build bridges afterwards that allows people to rest a bit easier when the weekend comes, so that they can think ‘I’m not going to check my emails over the weekend - and that’s perfectly fine’”.
The 2024 edition of the Agents x Managers Conference is at Rich Mix on 4 Dec and will drill down into key topics faced by agents and managers as they navigate the live industry, with a one-day programme of panels alongside time allocated to networking and meetings.
Confirmed speakers on the wider programme include representatives from LIVE, SoundCloud/Musiio, ATC, Big Life Management, Tonic Music, the Association Of Independent Festivals, the Musicians’ Union, The Library, and many more.
Tickets are available here, set at an affordable price point to encourage emerging professionals, with a further discount available for independent management companies and agencies.