Universal Music Group's Kez Withers joins Attachment as Head of Live 12 Apr 2024
Europe’s fastest growing entertainment & culture agency* Attachment has recruited Universal Music Group’s Global Artist & Brand Partnerships Lead Kez Withers as Head of Live, as the agency amps up growth in talent bookings for live music, entertainment and events for brands across the B2C and B2B sectors.
The creation of this new role comes following a period of rapid growth in the ‘live’ arena for the London-based culture and entertainment agency across Europe and in the Middle East. The team recently orchestrated Rag’n’Bone Man’s half-time performance at the Guinness Six Nations England v Ireland Rugby match for England Rugby, Sugababes for NYX Cosmetics at The Box, and speaking engagements for Snap and Google, with more live talent engagements and performances coming soon, including at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
A culture-first talent partnerships manager with a proven track record of delivering events and campaigns for world class brands including Coca-Cola, Moet Hennesy and Swarovski, Withers will manage the day to day running of the department, leading on all live projects for Attachment. Her remit covers end to end delivery and deployment for performances and speakers across live experiences for brands, festivals and private clients, with responsibility for everything from client to artist management, travel, production and logistics for music festivals, events and more.
Throughout her seasoned career, Withers’ previous roles include Private & Corporate Booking Agent at Wasserman, representing a talent roster including FKA Twigs, Grace Jones, Liam Gallagher, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Mark Ronson, Ella Eyre, Rag’n’Bone Man, Honey Dijon, Jamie XX, Disclosure and Rudimental. Before that, she was Senior Talent Partnerships Manager at freuds’ in-house talent division Signature, developing strategically informed, creatively executed advocacy campaigns for clients including Danone, KFC, Warburtons, McCain, Diageo, Tom Ford, NHS, The Home Office, evian, and Activia.
Most recently, in her role as Global Artist & Brand Partnerships Lead at Universal Music Group, Withers worked on Coca-Cola’s global Coke Studio program - bringing together 20 breakthrough artists of the moment from around the world, including Yungblud, Sam Smith, NewJeans, JID, Jon Batiste, Camilo and more, to roll out 10 songs in each market. Another notable highlight of Withers’ career was securing FKA Twigs to perform at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris for a rare but moving memorial exhibition in honour of Virgil Abloh.
Emma Shuldham, Managing Director, Attachment, said: “Live has been a foundational part of what Attachment has grown into as a culture agency and we’re now in a fantastic growth phase; we’re established in the sector but we needed someone to come in to help build and take it to the next level. Whether it’s programming for beaches at the Cannes Lions Festival, booking conferences in Germany or securing Becky Hill to play to 20,000 people in Dubai, the breadth of what we do requires a specialist who really knows the landscape. We’re a small agency but with a very deliberate hiring strategy to find the right internal and external culture. We only hire rock stars and Kez is one of those rock stars who will help us get to the next level.”
Kez Withers, Head of Live, Attachment, said: “I have always known that I wanted to work with talent and brands. Working as a campaign manager for Attachment at the early stages of my career provided a springboard into that world before developing my career further in the live events space. And now, it’s like I’ve almost come full circle doing something that I am most passionate about - bringing all of those things together. We’re calling it the comeback tour!”
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THE HEADLINES
Hipgnosis board recommends new $1.6bn bid from Blackstone (see Business)
Should the state step in to save our live music scene? (see Features)
Gary Roden exits Co-op Live following troubled venue launch (see News)
Spotify talks growth, bundle royalties and short-video plans (see Digital)
BPI CEO calls on music industry and government to unite around 5 key priorities to support human artistry and sustainably promote British music (see News)
Hipgnosis Song Management fires back at Songs Fund board (see Business)
Blackstone bid for Hipgnosis receives backing from board (see Business)
Taylor Swift’s new album breaks Spotify records (see News)
Independence - what’s up with that BPI press release about 2023 music consumption? (see Comment)
Creator Remuneration Working Group meet for the first time (see News)
Concord's takeover of Hipgnosis (see Analysis)
Concord set to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund (see Business)
Is the music industry gaslighting artists? (see Comment)
BPI’s new Yearbook highlights an independent sector growing for a sixth consecutive year (see Reports)
Can’t cross the moat? Walk around it. (see Comment)