David Bradley

IMPACT INTERNATIONAL: UK/EURO HONORS

David Bradley

Partner, WME

Thinking Outside The Box

David Bradley’s 2022 included a personal milestone: a six-night residency of LCD Soundsystem at London’s Brixton Academy. “You don’t often get to work with your heroes but putting together a sold-out residency for LCD Soundsystem at Brixton Academy this summer has to be a career highlight for me. Every show was a complete knock out,” the WME partner says.

Another highlight included Dua Lipa’s “monster run of sold-out arenas, stadiums and festival headlines all over the world, truly cementing herself as a global superstar.” He adds, “I can’t take any credit for her success, but having worked with Dua Lipa from the beginning of her journey has been an incredible ride.”

Gang Of Youths, who’ve been a household name in their native Australia forever, are also one of Bradley’s clients. “Getting them off the ground in the rest of the world has been a labor of love,” he says. And talking about Griff, who scored a 2021 BRIT Award, and supported Ed Sheeran on his recent European stadiums run, he adds, “The stage is set for her to be a global superstar.”

While Bradley is optimistic about the future, he notes, “Next year is going to be rough for a lot of people. The key issue we’re all contending with is inflating costs. Our industry is almost always focused on growth. The reality is, a lot of artists will now need to be conservative, or possibly a little more creative, with their tour planning. If there was a time to take big risks, 2023 probably isn’t it.”

The pandemic forced agents to think outside the box to an even greater degree than usual. According to Bradley, artists are expecting their agents to deliver in a range of verticals. “On any given day I could be discussing a literature deal, brand partnership, acting job or film score. The job is now far more collaborative and way more fun than just routing tours,” he says.