The year is 2021. Music producers must now operate as expert social media managers, masters of networking, graphic designers, and professional gamers, along with being wizards at their craft. With this plethora of responsibilities, the question remains how do they go about making their already breakneck-paced lives more manageable? The answer is signing to a talent agency. One such company, Prysm Talent Agency, has made a monumental climb since its unveiling in 2019, already securing a more-than-healthy stable of diverse artists that represent a wide range of styles, genres, and aesthetics. Featuring the likes of B.o.B., Bare Noize, Rico Act, and more, they’re aiming to take the industry by storm and separate themselves as one of the premier entities in the entire game. Recently we had the opportunity to chat with some of the creative minds behind the agency including the CEO Colton Anderson, COO Paul Yu Asensi, CFO Justin Lizama, and A&R Director Lance Dean about their journey so far, what goes into running a successful agency, and how to keep clients happy. Check out the full interview for yourself below!
We’re crazy excited to be working with Prysm Talent Agency moving forward into 2021. They have a really solid and driven team and it’s refreshing for us to be in amongst a great roster of fresh up-and-coming talent. We are very much looking forward to getting back to business as usual when all is safe! – Bare Noize
For our readers at home that might not be too familiar with the primary functions of a talent agency, what would you say are the most important aspects of the work they provide for the artists they represent?
Colton: The most important part of what a booking agency does has to do with organization and outreach. The artist can rest assured that the agent/agency will keep track of promoter/talent buyer contacts as well as outreach to obtain show bookings/advance them thoroughly and efficiently. With this, the artist can focus more on producing music and anything else associated with developing their brand and project.
Prysm was founded last year and has accelerated quite quickly in growth, what’ve been the biggest forces behind making that come about?
Lance: Developing a solid and well-organized infrastructure was a key factor in our growth. We all have clearly cut and delegated roles within the company, and our database has been kept organized. We also keep in stellar communication with one another which has made it a breeze to accomplish basically any given task.
Remaining persistent and having discipline is a must. You can tell yourself you want to accomplish a certain task all you want, but executing it is where the real test comes in. You have to push yourself and not accept any result other than success
In your opinion, what are some of the keys to a successful mindset?
Justin: Remaining persistent and having discipline is a must. You can tell yourself you want to accomplish a certain task all you want, but executing it is where the real test comes in. You have to push yourself and not accept any result other than success. This includes learning from mistakes and failures along the way.
You’ve described your agency as a more “boutique setting” compared to other avenues. Can you expand upon that idea a bit for us?
Colton: The agency is smaller in terms of both staff and roster size which means things have less chance of getting lost in transmission. We hear these horror stories about agencies taking months to settle open balances with their artists and with our size being smaller, we can respond to things in a much more timely manner. We assure all of our artists that there will be no “waiting months to get paid” or “getting completely ignored by your agent.”
Dabbling both in mainstream hip-hop and electronic acts, how do you determine which acts to go after to sign?
Lance: We’re actually trying to diversify even further! At the beginning, we signed mostly heavier dubstep acts but right now we’re focused on finding acts who are passionate and serious about their projects that have momentum. We want to see development on all fronts because while we help on the booking front, growth on all the other fronts will make everything come together more cohesively.
If we’re developing and they are too, the sky’s the limit.
With such a diverse and exceedingly talented roster already including the likes of B.o.B., Bare Noize, DirtySnatcha, and Rico Act, what would you say are the biggest ways to attract artists to your particular service?
Colton and Lance: For the bigger artists, we first ask what their biggest issues have been with booking agencies in the past because those are the main areas we want to make easier for the artist. We do as much as we can to tailor our services to the needs of our acts and sometimes that requires figuring out where the last company messed up. In other cases, showing development over time has enticed smaller artists to inquire about joining up with us and that’s been great too! If we’re developing and they are too, the sky’s the limit.
On the flip side of that, what are the main keys to keeping your roster happy and successful?
Justin and Paul: We keep up to date with anything from invoicing to website updates, and everything in between. Keeping the operations side of the company running smoothly is the biggest thing that keeps the roster satisfied and on the right track.
What are some of the more creative ways you’ve found to successfully represent and find opportunities for artists during these less-than-desirable circumstances for the industry?
Colton: First off, we want to land as many opportunities for our artists and that’s led to holds for the future. We’re accepting offers for some of our roster well into Q2 of 2021, and some have been holds with tentative dates. We know this will lead to a booking as it’s confirmed, but this allows for us to make sure we’re being as safe as possible with timing.
Do you have any strategies or keys you all can clue us into to really ensure you hit the ground running once life post-COVID happens?
Paul: We’ve done our best to hire agents/sort out any of our operational structure well enough that what we’re left with is a well-oiled machine to handle post-COVID business. We really want to make sure the pieces are where they need to be before things open back up fully so we aren’t scrambling to get it together afterwards.
We are planning to become a one-stop-shop for artist development all around, no matter the task.
Ideally, where do you see Prysm in 5, or even 10 years?
All: We want for Prysm Talent Agency to be fully able to house artist management, booking representation, music releases and more by 5 years in, if not well before. We are planning to become a one-stop-shop for artist development all around, no matter the task. We’ve got a lot of things in development already for this in fact. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us and thank you to everyone taking the time to read this. Stay safe!
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