The AvA Connection

The Weekly Buzz:

• Music touring may be resetting to pre-Pandemic levels - Read more

  • The Black Keys & JLo both cancelled their oversized tours in the past few week. The Black Keys also parted ways with their manager shortly after. Each situation is nuanced, but a few things are true that explain slow sales for some tours;

    • Ticket prices are expensive, and in general, people are spending less than the roaring 20’s (post-Pandemic).

    • The cost to produce a tour & put on a festival have increased substantially.

    • There are many acts on tour. Artists have been eager to get back on tour to recoup lost time & funds from the Pandemic.

  • Touring still remains is a healthy spot. According to Live Nation, over 100m tickets have been sold in 2024, with only 4% of shows have been cancelled this year, a figure constant with 2023.

• Canada has imposed a 5% tax on major streaming services for all revenue generate in Canada. Read more

  • The tax will go to “various groups supporting the creation of Canadian content.”

• Live Nation is in hot water over old emails and new bookings

• Several streamers are raising their prices. Read more

  • You’ll be paying more if you subscribe to Max, Spotify, or Twitch

The Call Log: Will Dzombak - Co-Founder of Taylor Gang Entertainment

Will Dzombak is one of the entertainment industry’s most prominent names in music management, best known for his role in growing the career of Grammy-nominated rapper Wiz Khalifa and his founding of Taylor Gang Entertainment. We sat down with him this week to chat about his career path, how music management has changed, and some advice for his early-career self.

AvA: How did you get involved in the business side of music? 

Dzombak: I was in a band in high school and I wanted to be Dave Matthews or the next O.A.R. We toured around for a while making $400 and I thought we were cool. Unfortunately Ryan, my best friends and the lead singer of the band, got cancer and passed away. I lost my love for playing live music, but was still really intrigued by the music business. 

When I went to Penn State, I started booking shows wanting to be a promoter. One of the shows I booked was Wiz [Khalifa] on a charity show. He ended up coming up to Penn State with his homies and staying for five days at my apartment. That was the start of our friendship. 

I became his assistant, then road Manager, tour manager, Co-manager, and then we founded Taylor Gang together. Now I manage him with my partner Constance Schwartz. 

AvA: Do you think the role of a music manager has evolved over the course of your career? 

Dzombak: The role of a manager and what a management company does has certainly evolved. There's so many more artists and the barrier to entry is lower than ever, so you have to do more and more to break through. 

Part of being a manager is being able to adapt to change. When I started out, “mixtapes” were a burned CD that you put in a sleeve to give out to people. When we put our first couple albums out, we were selling CDs and doing bonus songs as promotion to get in the aisles at Target or Best Buy. Now none of that matters - it's all streaming. So being able to adapt and change is key. 

AvA: What ways have creative partnerships (both on the brand and Artist side) played in Wiz' success? 

Dzombak: Brand partnerships are a great way to keep your name elevated and to find new people who you can turn into fans. One of my favorite partnerships we’ve done was with Michael’s around Christmas time with Busy Philipps: Wiz Wrapping Paper from Michaels. It opened up a whole world that normally wouldn't get exposed to Wiz. One part of my strategy has always been for Wiz Khalifa to be a household name. Make the music huge, but the name even bigger.

The other deal was with Oreo. They had Wiz curate an original song and shoot the commercial with his son. It was so beneficial for Wiz and further stamped him as a “here forever celebrity” not just associated with his music, but with him as a person. 

AvA: Taylor Gang has an investment vehicle, management company, production company and record label. Do you think companies have to be multifaceted to succeed in today's competitive landscape? 

Dzombak: We see it as a space to grow in and we constantly have our hands in a lot of areas, and are always learning. If you're just an investment company, you can look at numbers, but you’re not living the culture and seeing what these products are doing out in the wild. We get to travel so much and we're out there interacting with people, so we have a good gauge on not only the numbers, but how humans are actually interacting with whatever we're investing in.

Our team likes learning and growing, and to us, nothing is ever enough. We constantly push each other, and that's what's led to us being so multifaceted. 

AvA: Any upcoming projects you're excited about? 

Dzombak: Wiz has Kush & Orange Juice II coming which we are really excited about. People have been waiting a long time for that. I also manage Chelsea and Cole DeBoer who have a show on HGTV called Down Home Fab and we just wrapped season 2 and we are getting ready for season 3. TM88 has a ton of songs coming out with artists like Future, DJ Khaled, Wiz and more stuff with Lil Uzi Vert. We have a country artist, Redferrin, on tour with Billy Currington and Kip Moore, and he has a new EP coming out in the fall. 

On the investment tip, I’m really excited about what Liquid Death is doing. We've been partners with them since the beginning. Also the PFL (Professional Fighters League) is on an upswing and is a big, big project we are involved in. 

AvA: What is one piece of advice you'd give to yourself early in your career? 

Dzombak: It's twofold. 

1) Treat people how you want to be treated because you never know where someone's going to end up. There have been plenty of people that I mother-fucked when I was younger who are now in positions of power.. and I'm still digging myself out of a hole. Just being conscious that especially in this industry, people move around and change jobs a lot. 

2) A new one for me now and one we all grew up with: “if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.” Especially with what goes on in the world right now, if you're just going to snap at someone, just wait till you're in a better place to have a constructive conversation with someone. 

The Job Board

💼 = Job | 🎒 = Internship

Los Angeles

💼 Commercial Partnerships Coordinator - Universal Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Coordinator, A&R Admin - Universal Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Manager, Audience Development - Universal Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Ticketing Coordinator - Live Nation (VIP Nation) - Apply Here

💼 Brand Manager - Live Event Merch - Amazon Music - Apply Here

💼 Analyst, Digital Marketing - Warner Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Manager, International Traffic - Warner Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Music Marketer - Monstercat - Apply Here

💼 Social Media Manager - Anonymous - Apply Here

💼 Music Royalties Accounting - Create Music Group - Apply Here

💼 A&R Scout - Guin Records - Apply Here for Latin Music or Middle Eastern Music

💼 Digital Reporter - iHeartMedia - Apply Here

💼 Assistant Tour Manager - XL Event Lab - Apply Here

🎒 Digital Content Intern - Create Music Group - Apply Here

🎒 Fall Entertainment Internship - Fox Entertainment - Apply Here

New York

💼 Assistant, Music Touring - UTA - Apply Here

💼 Music Programming Coordinator - SiriusXM - Apply Here

💼 Staff Backend Engineer - Vault.fm - Apply Here

💼 Account Executive - iHeartMedia - Apply Here

💼 Account Coordinator - iHeartMedia - Apply Here

💼 Fan Engagement Coordinator (East Coast) - Warner Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Specialist Track & Playlist Marketing - Sony Music Entertainment - Apply Here

💼 Staff Accountant - Live Nation Concerts - Apply Here

💼 Coordinator, Touring (International) - AEG - Apply Here

💼 Manager Assistant, IMG Models - Endeavor - Apply Here

💼 Marketing & Event Rep - Warner Music U - Apply Here

🎒 Social Media and Content Creation Intern - NoGood - Apply Here

Remote

💼 Seasonal Fan Experience Coordinator - Vibee (Insomniac) - Apply Here

💼 Account Coordinator - iHeartMedia - Apply Here

💼 Sound Designer - What Is This Studio - Apply Here

💼 Social Media Fan Advocate - Fanatics - Apply Here

Want this newsletter in your inbox every week?

This newsletter is written by Warner Bailey.

Get in touch! Email us at [email protected].

Want to partner with us and reach 18k+ music and entertainment professionals? Email [email protected].