When Marshall Betts and Avery McTaggart first began sketching ideas for what would become TBA Agency, live music had all but vanished. The touring world was at a standstill, and hundreds of agents—including the pair and their future partners—had just been laid off from the now-shuttered Paradigm Talent Agency in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. What began as a few late-night phone calls between friends became a bold bet on the future of live music at a time when there was no live music at all.

Both Betts and McTaggart had followed parallel paths through the agency world. After early stints at The Windish Agency, they joined Paradigm when Windish was acquired, helping to expand the company into one of the dominant forces in touring. “Paradigm was acquiring half a dozen agen

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