If CAA have their way, 2025’s summer of new headliners won’t be a seasonal news story, it will be par for the course.
Chris Ibbs, agent to Charli XCX (above) and more, has told Music Week that the company is “actively pushing to create new headliners all the time”.
“The only way people become headliners is if they get the chance to do that and we are fully pushing our artists to be in that position,” Ibbs told Music Week.
CAA co-head and former Strat winner Emma Banks spoke to Music Week earlier this year for our report on the new wave of headliners at stadiums and festivals alike in 2025, and her team has expanded on the subject in a new interview.
Ibbs has seen Charli XCX bring Glastonbury to a standstill and headline a bill that she curated at new London festival Lido.
“What’s been incredible is that Charli is now a global headliner, which is amazing,” Ibbs said. “But I think there's a whole new wave and, even more important than that, there's a whole wave of female artists, which hasn't happened for a long time. Look at Sabrina Carpenter, Charli, Chappell Roan… it's great to see those artists really getting the credit that they deserve.”
It's an extraordinary time for female artists right now
Summer Marshall, CAA
Summer Marshall, also an agent at CAA, backed up his point, citing CAA acts Tems and Jorja Smith.
“If you think about all the different genres that are out there, Tems and Jorja Smith are both headlining festivals all over the world,” Marshall said. “So it's an extraordinary time for female artists right now.”
CAA won the Live Music Agency honour at the Music Week Awards earlier this year, triumphing in the category for the second year running.
Maria May, head of electronic and senior agent, said the Award is testament to the effort the team put in.
“We've worked really hard,” she said. “There’s lots going on at the moment for us, with our clients who are just killing it, we've got managers that are the best in the world, the team that we work with is amazing. Winning this award two years in a row is testament to the hard work of absolutely everybody that we engage with and work with, and providing great client service is just at the heart of what we do.”
“We're just all so proud that it's been recognised,” May added. “We really are pushing culture.”
May also became the first woman to win the IMS Legends Award at the International Music Summit earlier this year.
Team CAA at the Music Week Awards (Maria May, Summer Marshall and Chris Ibbs first, second and third from left)
“CAA is such a great place to work, not only are the people that work there encouraged to thrive, but we also create careers for our artists to thrive as well,” she said. “It's a unique place.”
Ibbs noted the importance of the wider company to CAA’s success.
“The company is multi-faceted, so it’s about the people in our podcast team, our brands team, the team in LA,” he said. “It’s a really cool team who work together really well, building things around an artist and taking them to where they want to be.”
Marshall said CAA leave no stone unturned.
“We find every opportunity for our artists, we leave nothing out there unexplored and that's why we won this award,” she said.
It is harder and there are a lot more problems, but there's still a scene out there and people want to go out and see live music
Maria May, CAA
May also spoke about the challenges facing CAA and the live sector more widely.
The cost of living is a real challenge for the world right now,” she said. “Maybe we're in a very unique bubble, but we seem to be able to create careers for our artists, where people are earning money with an ecosystem around them, they’re employing crew and people are working really hard to stay afloat and do really well.”
She emphasised that there are positives to be found amidst the tough headlines for the live sector.
“Yes, I think it is harder and there are a lot more problems to deal with, but there's still a scene out there and people want to go out and see live music,” May said. “Certainly in my electronic world people want to go out and dance and have fun. Maybe they don't go out as much, but they're definitely still doing that.”
“The challenges drive us more, honestly,” added Marshall, while Ibbs pointed out that “a big part of our job is problem solving and being those people for our artists, for our managers, for the labels – we bring solutions, and that's what we’re going to continue to do”.
May said that, above all, driving success for their roster is what continues to drive CAA forward.
“We literally work with the most amazing and creative artists in the world,” she said. “That makes us all very proud, but also motivates us to do better every single day.”
Read our interview with Sam Pringle and Twiggy Rowley, winners of Manager Of The Year at the Music Week Awards, here.
PHOTO: Henry Redcliffe
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