Inside the Concert Boom: How CAA’s Top Agents Shape Touring With Rob Light & Rick Roskin | Billboard On The Record

Live music is booming, and CAA’s top touring execs explain exactly how today’s biggest shows come to life. Managing director Rob Light and co-head of global touring Rick Roskin join host Kristin Robinson to unpack the rise of live music’s modern era. They dive into the post-pandemic concert boom, how agents build tours from the ground up and what it takes for an artist to grow from a club act to a headliner. Light and Roskin discuss the balance between fair ticket pricing and fan demand and how agents fight to keep more money with the artists. They share how gut instinct still plays a role in spotting future stars, how massive shows like Harry Styles’ 15-night Madison Square Garden run come together and the evolving impact of festivals and social media on touring. Plus, they reveal the wildest artist requests, unforgettable live moments and their take on concert etiquette in the age of the live music boom.

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Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions. 

Kristin Robinson:

The business of live music has never looked quite like this. Stadium tours like Taylor Swift’s Eras tour are breaking records, ticket prices are breaking wallets, platforms like Ticketmaster are under greater scrutiny, and new venues like the Sphere are redefining what a concert can be. Artists are playing fewer cities, but staying longer. Fans are turning travel plans into world tours of their own. And behind it all — the economics, logistics, and expectations of touring are shifting in real time. So how did we get here, and what’s next for the live music business? Welcome back to On the Record, a music business podcast from Billboard and SickBird Productions. As always, I’m your host Kristin Robinson, and today we are joined by two of the most legendary agents in music, Rob Light and Rick Roskin of CAA. Rob Light is the partner and managing director of CAA, and he’s spent his career building up the touring businesses of some of the biggest artists in history of music. From Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, AC/DC, One Direction, Katy Perry, Twenty One Pilots, Ariana Grande, and many more. He was also CAA’s longtime global head of touring, a role which has since been passed to our other guest this week, Rick Roskin. Rick now shares the global head of touring title with two others, Emma Banks and Darryl Eaton, and brings his own wealth of experience to the top job, working with a roster of clients like Eric Clapton, Santana, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Slipknot, The Black Keys, Fiona Apple, Iron Maiden and more.

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