NEWS
Olivia Rodrigo
Louis Browne*There seems to be something in the air at the top of 2022, with several high-profile stars hopping on and off the management merry-go-round and switching up their teams in the first few weeks of the new year.
The big two, of course, are Olivia Rodrigo parting ways with Camp Far West’s Kristen Smith and signing on with Lighthouse Management + Media’s Aleen Keshishian and Zack Morgenroth; and Dua Lipa splitting with TaP Music co-founder and co-CEO Ben Mawson, and holding open auditions for a new team, according to sources. Both came as somewhat of a shock, given their respective partnerships had been in place as each of the stars ascended into stardom in recent years, and because both are either just starting or about to start significant tours.
The two are hardly alone; there seems to be a bit of a management revamp at the top of the year that has several artists shuffling the decks. Mitski shifted from Salty to Good Harbor, after a sexual harassment complaint against Salty’s Chris Crowley led to the firm’s dissolution; Remi Wolf has moved from Take & Thrown to be managed by Sophie Lev, her former product manager at Island. Lil Pump has parted ways with Tha Lights Global; Saweetie, after a trial run with Full Stop, split amicably with the firm and ultimately returned to being managed by her uncle, Louis Burrell. Meanwhile, rumors of a few other heavy hitters shaking up their teams are continuing to swirl.
There’s not much word as to what happened in Dua land just yet, though now that Olivia has landed with Lighthouse there’s a little more to see. In what was a highly-competitive negotiation, Lighthouse beat out at least one other high-level firm, and its roster of clients — Selena Gomez, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Rudd — has strong Hollywood connections, though Rodrigo has made it clear her focus is on music as she eyes her tour kickoff in April.
Each situation comes with its own reasons, of course, though one person pointed to the slow but steady re-emergence from the pandemic as one reason why artists may be reassessing their teams in the new year. One manager also put it down to the calendar. “Maybe people have time to reflect over things at the holidays,” the source says. “A second to breathe, because all of these artists are so busy all the time and that’s the only time the whole industry truly shuts down.” — Dan Rys
When AEG officials renewed a naming rights deal for L.A.’s Staples Center in 2009 with office supply chain Staples, a press release announcing the renewal explained that the deal included a first of its kind “lifetime naming rights extension for a major market arena.”
No details were released at the time on how the forever clause would work, but the news was met with applause by many in the corporate world, wanting more long-term value and commitment for the hundreds of millions of dollars invested in naming rights that protected companies from being outbid.
How a forever naming rights deal worked remained a mystery, although most analysts assumed the agreement came with some kind of mechanism to end the deal if a breach occurred.
They turned out to be half right. AEG had sold the naming rights to Staples in perpetuity for a lump sum payment in 2009, Lee Zeidman, president of Staples Center, Microsoft Theater and L.A. Live, recently told Billboard. But, he said, the Crypto.com name change for what was the largest naming rights deal in history — $700 million over 20 years — was only possible because AEG’s Global Partnerships division “bought the name back from the private equity company that now controlled Staples.”
While neither the price of the 2009 deal nor the 2019 buyback were released, Zeidman noted that discussions with Crypto.com didn’t start until fall 2021 and said AEG bought the naming rights back without a specific buyer in mind.
AEG owner Phil Anchutz “had a criteria of what we wanted and we were in the process of looking for a new partner when the pandemic hit,” Zeidman said. While AEG didn’t expect it would take more than two years to find a partner, the historic price tag did also come with the added bonus of beating SoFi Stadium in nearby Inglewood, which inked a $625 million naming rights deal in 2019.
“A $700 million deal, for a 23-year-old arena is unheard of,” Zeidman said. “There’s no better testament to what he have built in Los Angeles than that.” — Dave Brooks
Edited by Dan Rys
NEWS
Oliver Tree’s team has provided a new update following the singer’s death in a helicopter crash on June 14, confirming that a new artist grant will soon be established in his memory to help creatives secure funding, a plan he had detailed in his will before his passing.
Accompanying a collection of photos highlighting Tree’s performances, travels and creative work through the years, a post shared Sunday (June 21) on his Instagram account revealed that the musician’s remains have been brought back to California, the state he called home and where he will be laid to rest. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named ‘Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses’ coming soon,” the caption reads. “This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing.”
“We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish,” the statement continued, adding that “the constant love, support and positivity” shown by fans throughout the past week has helped his “family, friends and collaborators make it through these extremely difficult times.”
Tree was among six people who lost their lives in a helicopter collision in Rio de Janeiro. The musician was in Brazil for his The World’s First Tour run and had performed what would ultimately be his final concert on June 6 in São Paulo. The other victims of the crash were identified as passengers Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim and Lucas Brito Chaves, along with pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.
Just months before his death, Tree discussed his plans to direct his fortune and future earnings from his music toward a grant program for artists during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “I take no credit for anything I’ve ever done,” he said during the April interview. “Furthermore, I don’t believe that any of the wealth or things that get made from it is mine. So when I die … my will is set up so that when I pass, my family, nobody is going to get a penny.”
“If I have a wife or kids or anything, they’re not getting a penny,” he added at the time, explaining that the initiative would focus on helping artists create work rather than funding education. “I’ll get my kids through college, that’s the agreement, but there’s not gonna be a silver spoon. All the money is going to go back to artists.”
