Impact NextGen: Kiely Mosiman

With all of the success Chappell Roan has experienced, it’s no surprise that the queer icon is one of the first artists Kiely Mosiman mentions when asked about highlights of her career in the past year.

“Everything Chappell Roan does is a cultural moment at this point!” says the agent and vice president at Wasserman Music, who has been booking dates for Roan along with Wasserman’s Jackie Nalpant since 2023.

“Truly nothing makes me happier than seeing the impact she has had on young people in the LGBTQIA+ community and playing a small part in bringing her music to her fans. Her set at Lollapalooza specifically was truly incredible to watch from the crowd.”

Other highlights include Evan Honer’s first headline tour selling out as a completely independent artist, with Mosiman saying, “I still get goosebumps for things like that.” Mosiman adds that Cigarettes After Sex’s first arena tour that just began “will be a definite highlight!”

Mosiman points to Nalpant as a mentor — as well as a partner and her best friend. “I was her assistant about three months into working at Paradigm and we’re still a team on lots of things,” Mosiman says. “You’d be reading a novel right now if I mentioned everything she’s taught me. A few that come to mind: We are handling people’s livelihoods, and that isn’t something to be taken lightly, so attention and detail should be the same whether it’s a band’s first show or their third arena tour. That also goes for how you treat people; there is a way to do this job with integrity and class and get the best deals for your artists without treating people poorly. To pick up the phone! And last, that we work for the artists, so there is no such thing as a job description — it changes every day.”

When previously speaking to Pollstar for Roan’s June cover story, Mosiman spoke about how they go through the buyer lists by hand to make sure scalpers aren’t the ones getting the tickets.

On that note, she says, “I am hopeful that the changes in ticketing will give artists more control over the pricing, and keep tickets out of scalpers’ hands. I’m a big fan of NIVA’s “Fix the Tix” initiative that we’re in dire need of legislation on. Fans have very little knowledge about how little control artists have over resellers or scalpers, so the more artists that are willing to educate their fanbases, the better.”

Growing up with a dad who owned independent venues, Mosiman got to learn “tons of show-day jobs from working box office to settling to selling ice.” She adds, “My first job was selling merch when I was around 12 and it’s still my favorite job when my artists let me fill in for the regular seller.”