Industry Insider: An interview with Wasserman’s Taryn Haight

Mixmag’s Industry Insider series interviews people in varied roles from across the dance music sector who are as inspiring as they are successful. This month, we spoke to Taryn Haight, VP of Business Development for Electronic Music at one of the biggest talent agencies, Wasserman. Here, she helps dance music artists set up brand partnerships, media integrations and original content beyond their usual touring duties. She previously led strategy at music tech startup HIFI Labs, and held senior marketing roles at Ninja Tune, Warner Bros. Records and Ultra Music, driving campaigns for acts including Kaskade, deadmau5, Steve Aoki and Above & Beyond, while also helping launch Warner’s electronic division and expand Ninja Tune’s US presence. Taryn began her career as Music Supervisor for YouTube’s DanceOn network, and as a columnist for The Huffington Post.

How did you first get involved in dance music?

At 10 years old, I was getting cassette tapes and listening to Ace of Base on repeat - that was my first foray into dance music. The next pivotal moment for me was studying abroad in Paris in 2007. For dance music superfans like myself, 2007 was the best time to be in Paris. There were all the best clubs: Social Club, Rex, Paris Paris. Ed Banger were the centre point of everything, and you could see DJ Mehdi, SebastiAn, Birdie Nam Nam, and all of these incredible French electro artists. When I came back to college for my senior year (I was also the music editor for the school paper), I continued along the trend of dance music, which evolved into my first music job in New York where I would go out to clubs all the time. But that year abroad really just made me a bit of a club rat, and from there, I just couldn't get away from it.

How do you explain what you do and what Wasserman does to people who aren't in the industry?

I help artists develop projects and build their careers in non-touring areas. Wasserman is a live booking agency first and foremost, so our agents really help book the festivals and tours and all of the live shows. Any time an artist wants to explore anything outside of that, I'm tapped in. I can help build the right teams of experts within Wasserman, or with external partners depending on the project to help them see more of their ambitions and art (outside of the live world) come to fruition.

How would you describe the company?

Next week will mark two years here, and it has felt like peeling layers of an onion. The company is so big and so expansive that, when I think the options of what we can do have been met, I just learn that there's more and more that we can do internally. A big part of my role and our wider Artist Services department is connecting the dots and opportunities more within the company. 

What path led you to Wasserman and specifically this role?

The majority of my career has been spent on the label side, working in project management, marketing, and strategy, mostly within dance music labels. I think at a certain point, I just hit a ceiling in that path of my career and got burnt out on marketing records, but I still wanted to work with artists and I loved the strategy and marketing work that I was doing. A lot of the team of electronic agents at Wasserman are the same ones who I worked with back when they were at NY-based booking agency AM Only. I was on the label side, working with the same artists who they were booking, so we always crossed paths and became friends over the years. 

Wasserman was opening up a new lane (which is still relatively new), and it felt like the right next step. I think of it as Project Management 2.0, where you're not necessarily just marketing and thinking strategically about an album or single release, but you're thinking more about the artist in a 360-degree capacity. It was a great way for me to take some of the skills that I had learned on the label side, working specifically around releases and translating it to the artist’s career as a whole. Branching music marketing into scoring and composition work, gaming work, brand partnerships, and book publishing really felt like the limits were expanded. I love that we don't really keep a cap on it. There are certain buckets that feel more obvious and regular, but we've had artists who are also photographers and want to publish photobooks, or artists who want to develop their own clothing lines or build their own apps, or artists who want to launch their own festivals and run clubs. We help them do that. It's a much more expansive way of working with artists.

You play cello and piano. Does your understanding of music theory come in handy when working with artists?

Growing up as a musician and understanding the language of making music has been really valuable in building relationships with the artists that I work with. There is that fundamental understanding of the pressures and perfectionism that come along with making and performing music; fears and anxieties involved with playing in front of a crowd. Being able to bond with artists on that level has been really valuable to helping them walk through their own fears and insecurities to explore new avenues of their art.

How do you balance the creative ambitions with commercial realities for artists?

The best ideas don't always have to be the most expensive ones. I've seen artists execute really creative, outside-of-the-box projects without having huge budgets behind them. I also think good management and a strong team are pivotal to helping artists build those ideas and seeing what's possible, and where partners can help supplement funding or expand the creative in a unique way. Often, artists will come to us with a really massive, expensive idea and there are ways we can pull out the aspects that are most important to them and get their vision across to make it equally as impactful and creative in a different way. It's really hard for artists and individuals to do that on their own. Having a really smart creative sounding board to find the best, most creative ideas that can work financially and logistically is imperative.

If someone's just starting out, maybe they're an artist or an aspiring agent, what's the one thing they should focus on first?

‘It doesn't come easy’ is probably the most important thing to remember. Success doesn't happen overnight, even though sometimes it looks like it does, from the outside. Putting in the work, making the music, collaborating with the right people, figuring out your brand and style, and staying true to that over and over again. Not trying to do everything for everyone and just finding your lane and your core 100 or 1,000 true fans, and scaling from there is most important.

What's the most common mistake you see new artists or managers make, and how can that be avoided?

This is a really fun one, because I still see it from time to time and I really love to call it out when I do - I think there has always been the misconception that you have to be difficult to be good at your job. I look at some of the best managers and the best teams I have worked with, and the most successful long-term artists are the ones with teams who are collaborative and thankful and communicative and work together, which I guess could be said for all industries. There's this misconception that, if you're if you're hard ass, for lack of a better word, that you are better at your job. I just don't think that's true. When I was first starting out, I had a boss tell me that I needed to be tougher and a bigger bitch, otherwise I should look for a different job. I'm really glad I didn't listen to her. I think a lot about my longer-term relationships and the reason why people and partners have come back to me for work and collaboration over the years. I think it has to do with working collaboratively and with kindness, and by treating people with respect and as part of a team. I see this flaw with a lot of younger managers and agents, and I just don’t think it has to be the case.

What pivotal moments in your career defined your path in the music industry? 

Some of my favourite teachers growing up were my music teachers. When I went to college, I studied journalism, but that quickly evolved into music journalism. I just couldn't get away from music. Everything I did, all the extracurriculars in school just always came back to music and helping to build events in college or going to parties and seeing music on the weekends. People that I became friends with by going out to shows were naturally people who worked in music. It was just one of those things I couldn't get away from. Even if I tried to branch out into other hobbies and explore other career paths, I just always came back to music at the end of the day.

Do you think there are certain traits that make a great business person within the dance music industry?

Dance music specifically is really non-stop, so having a combination of balance and stamina is really important. I compare other genres to electronic music a lot, and when people ask: “When are your artists on cycle?”, for us, they're never off. Artists are constantly touring, and constantly putting out music - it's just so much more consistent.

Having some level of balance and selectiveness with the things you do and don't do is really important. There are times when it gets really busy, so resting when things are slower is necessary to survive it. Organisation and prioritisation are super important, because things come at you non-stop in this genre, so being able to have really good systems and processes for how you keep track of everything is key. Then, of course, there is the relationship-building and social aspect of dance music. Our genre revolves around parties and getting people together for a dance. Some of the people I work with now are the same people I went to parties with 20 years ago. Making and maintaining those relationships outside of just the day-to-day work is especially important in dance music.

What advice would you give to young people hoping to work in the electric music scene at an agency like yours?

During my first couple years of working in dance music, I was living in New York and going out every night. Meeting people, saying yes to everything, saying yes to that coffee or that phone call - and asking other people for those things too - or pulling people aside when you meet them at shows, getting their numbers, and continuing that relationship is so important.

I think it's really funny how people move around in the dance music ecosystem. I'm working with all of the same people that I met 15 to 20 years ago, and everyone has just hopped around to different roles at labels, agencies, brands, DSPs, whatever it might be. So, building those relationships early on was probably the most valuable thing that I did for myself, because then you all grow up together.

Artists aside, who were some of your inspirations from an industry figure perspective when you first got involved in the electronic music world? 

Our company music president Lee Anderson has been a long-term friend of mine. Before he even started booking Skrillex, Zedd, and all the headliners, and when we were in our early days, we met at a show and have been friends ever since. I was always really inspired by his drive to do more, his passion for the artists he works with, and his curiosity about the industry. Now working for him 20 years later and seeing how he really oversees his team is inspiring - especially seeing how much he understands people as humans and their work life balance. He really is personally invested in the people he works with. That's been a really big inspiration to me.

There were also some very early managers who I worked with. Paul Sears, who is Benny Benassi's manager, was one of my absolute favourites to work with early on. We dealt with stressful situations and music not coming out on time or going up wrong on DSPs, and he was never visibly stressed. That was always really inspiring to me, and felt like we were working as a team and having fun. Then I also have to shout out Judy Weinstein. One of the first projects I worked on at Ultra was David Morales, and seeing a woman in a management role was really important to me because, at that time, there just weren't a lot of women in the industry and especially working as big artist managers. Seeing someone like her do the job and pave the way, it planted the seed (even if I didn't know it then), that I could do big things too.

How do you stay connected to the culture and the community?

I go out to a lot of shows, but when you work in the industry, it's very easy just to hang out backstage or on the side of the stage the whole time. I take some moments between sets or between meetings to get out in the crowd and immerse myself in it. I like to see who's there, and what the demographic are at different sets. Are they house fans? Are they bass music fans? Are they all together at one set? I like to see what they're wearing, how they’re interacting with one another, and what they're doing between sets, too.

We’re really lucky to have a lot of assistants and junior team members at the office who send around new music that they’ve found online or heard about, and I listen to all of those. 99% of the time, they're people I've never heard of. I like to look at who's opening shows, who's playing the first slots of the day at festivals. I Shazam a lot while I'm out, and if a song is from someone I don't know, I go online the next day and dig them up and find out what else they've released, who they are, where they're from. Just staying curious mostly.

How has the dance music landscape shifted in the last few years creatively and commercially from your perspective?

We're in a really unique world post-COVID, where I think things change a lot faster now. Of course, politically and globally, I really don't know if there's an easy way to foresee what's going to happen next - across everything, not just dance music. So, I'm staying acutely attuned to what's going on in the world to see trends and keep an eye on what might be changing, and things just change really quickly now. I do think that we've seen genres mix a lot more, especially globally with the expansion of DSPs and streaming services in newer territories. It's made it easier to access places like South America and Latin America, and experience the dance music coming out of global scenes. Africa too, of course, has seen a huge upward trend over the last couple of years with Afro house and amapiano. Being able to clearly see different pockets of dance music globally, and how that has crossed over into more traditional US and European dance music scenes, has been really interesting.

I also think, specifically relevant to my lane, that touring and making music aren't the only two lanes that you can build into as an artist. Dance music specifically has become more ingrained in our culture and not as much of a fringe scene siloed to the dance tent at a festival anymore. We're seeing more dance acts on the main stage, more dance acts in major brand campaigns, having big syncs in film and TV, artists in the dance world having their own merch lines, their own original content, original IP, etc. Dance music has just become more mainstream, not just in touring and the traditional release modules, but in all aspects of culture, too. It’s great for me, because I have no shortage of projects to work on now.

What trends are you seeing in artist development that you think might surprise people?

In terms of dance music audiences, there's always been a misconception externally that dance fans are all just taking drugs and staying up late. I think there was always this negative lens that the general public was looking at dance music through. I think fans in general are getting healthier - we've seen alcohol sales go down with younger generations, and we have so many artists who have spoken about their health and wellness routines. Fans are taking care of themselves more, which is really interesting, and probably a link that is helping dance music become more mainstream and acceptable in larger campaigns.

I also think fans are a lot smarter and care a lot more about the values of artists. They care if artists are living sustainably or if they're inclusive of their audiences. Their political views right now are really important, and can be divisive. I think fans in general are paying more attention to artists holistically, and in terms of artist development, artists are thinking a lot more about what they're saying and how they're showcasing themselves to the world.

I also think a really interesting trend globally too is seeing dance music get bigger and more micro at the same time. I think this goes along with the globalisation of dance music in South America, Africa, and Asia. We're seeing big festivals pop up in new territories - more Ultras, more Tomorrowlands - more artists in the dance genre playing and headlining main stages. But then we're also seeing these really cool, niche and hyper-micro trends of dance music in specific pockets in places like Brazil, or in clubs in Japan. I think it's really cool to see dance music spread so widely, and get so macro and micro at the same time.

What's something about working with artists that people outside the industry often misunderstand?

The number one thing is that artists are human and not machines. Especially with social media, I understand the pressures that artists feel to be everywhere all the time. Seeing artists through the lens of social media is something that we never saw when I was starting in dance music. We didn't have TikTok, and I don't even think we had Instagram or Twitter then, so this is all new in the grand scheme of things. I think this demand for artists to constantly be ‘on’, constantly streaming, constantly talking to their fans is exhausting and unhealthy. I think having that understanding that artists need to have breaks and take care of themselves is really important to their survival and their art. I see artists put pressure on themselves to constantly churn out new content, and I see the demand from their fans for new tours, new music. Now, there is constant noise for artists, whereas it used to be more simple - releasing records and playing shows. I love when artists can be really open with their fans about these pressures, or when they need to take breaks, and I've seen it met with a lot of understanding from their communities. I love this shift, and I think it just opens up the dialogue a little bit more between artists and their fans about what they need and how it should be acceptable to take a break. 

How do you stay focused, grounded, and mentally sharp?

It’s a constant practice in dance music, especially since our sets aren't at 7:PM like they are in other genres. They're at 2:AM or 3:AM, and there are always afterparties, so it took me a really long time to figure out a balance that works for me. I do need to check myself on it, week to week sometimes. I take breaks. I really try to shut off in the evenings and on weekends. Sleep is really important to me. Physical activity is really important to me. I think it's important with dance music specifically, since this segment of the industry doesn't ever stop - but I have to remind myself that I'm a human and that I have to. When I'm plugged in, I work really hard and then when I'm off, I try to be off - I have hobbies, I see friends. I used to think that if you work 24 hours a day, you're going to get everything done and you're going to be better at your job or be able to do more. I burnt out at certain points, and really learned the hard way that it's just not possible. In fact, the alternative has been true for me - when I'm at my best, it's because I've given myself a chance to chill. I think it's really important to unplug, zoom out, and put it all in perspective. We work in dance music, so it should be fun and creative, and I think it's really easy to get super zoomed in and hyper-focused on the details, when actuality, the more I can take breaks and zoom out, the more I can understand the context of my work and how it sits within the world, and the better I am at my job.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities in dance music over the next three to five years?

Direct-to-fan models and self-ownership are continuing to be a trend. I think artists want to retain their rights and IP. The capabilities of what we can do with DIY and direct-to-fan models now are so much more extensive than what could be done 10 - 15 years ago. Continuing to retain rights, continuing to build direct-to-fan projects - we've seen a lot of that already, and I think we’re just going to see more. I also love the emphasis on community that we've seen over the last five years or so - a lot of what was born out of the pandemic, when everyone was home and looking for communities to connect with. I think we've always had the artist fan club, but seeing that expand into groups centred around interests, headed up by artists, has been great - run clubs and workout groups, soccer and basketball clubs, film clubs, etc.

I also think tech enhanced experiences will continue as AI and immersive technology evolves. Just seeing more integrations of tech into shows and how it can be used, seeing venues like the Las Vegas Sphere or Cosm pop up, and just newer ways of viewing and experiencing concerts. I think we're going to see a lot more, and have no idea what that's going to look like yet, but it's really exciting to think about what could evolve in tech-based live shows in the future.