Irish artist managers David De Valera and Marcus O’Sullivan announce the formation of artist management and music consultancy agency Spike. The agency’s tailored model will empower artists to retain closer control and ownership of their music and works in the long term.
Spike media team said:”With a combined 30 years working in the music industry the pair will implement a distinctive new business model for artist management. Spike will be fully integrated with the award winning digital marketing agency Circulate also owned by the pair. De Valera underlines that the new agency is a direct response to the disrupted landscape of the music industry right now. “The game has changed and artists now want (and deserve) much closer control of their music and how it’s released. With Spike we’re giving our artists the tools to maintain that control and to flourish. The time from music creation to music release is minimal, because we provide everything the artist needs in house. We see this as a unique approach to artist development. From digital strategy to web development and content creation, we’re removing the barriers so our artists can move faster”. The move will allow their artists to benefit from a full service digital marketing agency as part of their management setup. Circulate has proved the agency of choice for discerning global brands like Circoloco, Universal Music and Sony in recent years as well artists Steve Angello, The Blessed Madonna and Jonas Blue.
Co-founder Marcus O’Sullivan says “For standard management companies around the world, digital strategy and everything that goes with it is a last minute tick the box exercise. This is a dated approach and shows a lack of understanding of both the artist’s mindset and priorities in 2020. Aside from the conventional management services, this means brand development, digital strategy, social media management and advertising all provided by our fourteen strong team. In the long term Spike hopes to “help our artists understand the music industry and to navigate their careers successfully”. With a decade of management experience across multiple music genres under their belt, directors De Valera and O’Sullivan have underlined their commitment to helping their artists capture the imagination of their audiences around the world. Alongside this the agency will also utilise long term partnerships in gaming, television, film and consumer goods to the benefit of their multi genre roster. The new agency will be based between their original base in Dublin and their recently established office in Amsterdam/London with a full roster announcement to come in January 2020.”
