Nadia Prescher
Amelia SteinMadison House co-founder and president Nadia Prescher is joining SaveLive, the company created by former WME co-head of music Marc Geiger after he left WME parent company Endeavor last year.
Geiger hasn't said much publicly about SaveLive since first debuting the idea to buy distressed indie venues, backed by a $75 million fund, in a New York Times article last October. Prescher will run SaveLive's music division, Billboard has learned, with more details to be released in the coming weeks and months.
Prescher will join SaveLive on July 1 and shift to a board member partner position at Madison House.
"I’m joining Marc to build out his vision of the SaveLive network to support independent music venues," Prescher tells Billboard. "Over the last 25 years as an agent, I’ve worked closely with the independent community, and more so since the pandemic with the National Independent Talent Organization. Marc and I agree indie venues should have a safe guarded opportunity to grow their businesses."
Prescher, who is a co-founder and vp of the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), added, "We believe indies should have the options of a national network, without having to give up or alter their unique local brand or independent spirit. Our backgrounds will make sure the plan is very agent-friendly and artist-friendly, working across all genres."
On a personal note, Prescher said that "like many people, I have admired and respected Marc for a long time. An opportunity to work with someone who has made such a significant impact on our industry would already be an attractive opportunity. But the ability to pair that with working with my long-term industry promoter friends, and a bunch of different independent venues, in the business I love, was too good to pass up. I’m incredibly excited and inspired. I will be in touch about the SaveLive launch.”
At the BTS concert in Tokyo on Friday (April 17), j-hope opened up to ARMY with heartbreaking news. His grandmother, who played a major role in raising him and had always been proud of his journey with the group, has passed away.
Speaking to the packed crowd at the Tokyo Dome, the K-pop star chose to be open with fans about what he was going through. “Honestly, this might be a bit of a heavy thing to share, but I really wanted to express how I’m feeling today,” he said, translated from Korean into English. “Right after we arrived in Japan, I got the news that my maternal grandmother, the one who raised me from when I was little, had passed away.”
“I felt completely stunned and did not really know how to process it at first, but being around the members, sitting down together for meals, and focusing on rehearsals helped me more than I thought it would,” j-hope went on. “My grandmother was always incredibly proud, not just of me but of all the members. She truly believed in what we do. So I feel like if she was watching from above today, she would have loved every second of it.”
He closed by thanking the audience for making his first performance after the loss feel meaningful and full of support.
BTS are currently touring in support of their new album ARIRANG, which has just earned a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Following three opening shows in Goyang, South Korea, the group is set to perform twice at the Tokyo Dome before heading abroad for the North American leg. Before the tour wraps in March next year, they will also visit Latin America, Europe, Australia, and several other regions across Asia.
On the same day as the first Tokyo concert, j-hope’s solo interview with Rolling Stone was released. During the conversation, he spoke about stepping into a leadership presence within the group. “I think that’s my role on the team,” he shared. “It just comes naturally. It feels strange to even call it a role, but I just try to handle things as they come and support the other members in any way I can.”
Additional reporting from Billboard Korea.
