CAA partner and music division head Rob Light spoke with Variety as part of the cover story on the 25th anniversary of the changeover at the top of the agency. Light was there when those seismic shifts of the mid-‘90s happened; his tenure with CAA goes back 36 years. But his mind is very much in the fraught present right now, with a concert business that’s in crisis, to risk understatement. We spoke with him about the different turns the...
CAA
Rob
Light
Managing Partner / Worldwide Chief / Head, Music Department
CAA responded to COVID-19’s live-music vacuum with book and podcast deals, livestreams and sponsorships, which drew worthwhile revenue but didn’t replace dollars lost from shuttered tours — including those by clients Harry Styles, Bon Jovi and Tim McGraw — nor do they alleviate concerns for many who simply lost their livelihoods. It’s Light’s objective to make sure his clients’ live shows are able to resume safely next summer, but even if it takes longer than that, he still oversees a department of music that remains important to fans despite shows being on indefinite hiatus. He can also help CAA gain more significance in the interim, because the services it provides will be all the more crucial as smaller management firms and related companies are forced to make cutbacks.