Trapital - longevity over everything

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longevity over everything

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Hey! Today’s memo is on one of today’s biggest artists out, Post Malone. I’ve yet to do a true breakdown on him in Trapital, so this was a great opportunity to chat with his agent, Cheryl Paglierani. She’s a partner at UTA who also represents Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Offset, YG, and many others.

We talked about her rise with Post, how he’s positioned in the streaming era, and insights on the live performance landscape as a whole. Let’s dive in!

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the strategy behind Post Malone’s success

Post Malone is one of the most successful artists who rose from the streaming era. In 2015, he burst onto the scene with his viral hit “White Iverson” that was uploaded to SoundCloud. That song paved the way for a record deal with Republic Records, four studio albums, world tours, and headliner status at music festivals.

Cheryl became Post’s agent after meeting him at SXSW 2015. The duo, along with Post’s manager Dre London, have engineered one of the fastest and most successful come-ups for an artist during the streaming era. They have deliberately planned out his rise from the jump.

Cheryl prioritized live exposure early on by getting him in front of as many people as quickly as possible. Exposure was the key to building a fanbase with longevity. “To see him was to fall in love with him.”

They wanted exposure from all kinds of music fans too — a direct reflection of Post’s genre-blending talent that stretches from country to hip-hop to rock and everything in between.

Cheryl consciously chose artists from different genres for Post to support on tour before going on his own. He went on stages with EDM artist SBTRKT, Fetty Wap, and pop sensation Justin Bieber. If you ask five people what genre of music Post Malone makes, you may get five different answers. He’s a mood, not a genre.

This live strategy catapulted Post into becoming a must-see attraction — whether it’s on his upcoming 33-city Twelve Carat Tour or his own music festival, Posty Fest.

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

how artists can avoid the nightclub trap

“White Iverson” success brought in several invitations for Post to perform at nightclubs for an upfront check, but Cheryl had other thoughts.

Rather than perform in front of people who were there to party (and not there to listen to Post Malone), they focused on him performing at smaller venues capped at 500 or 1,000 people.

‘Going backwards’ means struggling to sell concert tickets—even if an artist has a lot of streams. Cheryl believes that’s a byproduct of not touring small venues early on. Many artists have made the mistake of overlooking the small-venue performances because they have a big hit, but they may miss out on creating a true fanbase.

social media followers do not translate to ticket sales

Just as streams don’t necessarily translate to show sales, the same goes for high amounts of social media followers. Cheryl says social media is a factor, but not THE factor for selling out shows. She has yet to see proof of a direct correlation between followers and ticket sales.

Of course, TikTok changed the music landscape starting in 2020. We’re just now seeing the return of live shows since the platform’s breakout success. But if some artists struggle to sell tickets despite having massive Instagram followings, then that won’t change for them on TikTok.

longevity over everything

Cheryl says she’s always looking for headliner-potential in any artist she signs. Strategies may differ artist to artist, but the goal is always the same: build longevity.

That comes from the small venue performances. It also comes from giving artists resources to amplify their live performances — adding performance coaches or production people to the team. Cheryl wants her artists to eventually sell their own shows, not just open for others or rely on festivals.

Listen to our full conversation on the latest episode of the Trapital Podcast.

Listen to the Trapital Podcast here:

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money moves

• Russ explains how he spent $1M to promote song with Ed Sheeran ($700k on marketing alone!)
• Spotify launches its own concert ticket selling platform​
• Music events startup Pollen headed for bankruptcy just three months after raising $150M Series C (!!)​
• Capitol Music Group signed virtual rapper, FN Meka​

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coming soon from Trapital

Podcast: The business of buying and selling beats with BeatStars CEO Abe Batshon.

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