The record
Capshaw started managing Dave Matthews Band out of Charlottesville, Virginia in the early 1990s and built the machinery around them into Red Light Management, the largest independent management company in the world: hundreds of managers, a roster that has spanned Chris Stapleton, Phish and Luke Bryan, plus deep holdings in festivals, venues and ticketing.
Red Light is less a manager than an ecosystem. The artist gets a manager, but behind that manager sits a company that also owns pieces of the festival the artist plays and the ticketing the fan buys.
Artists: Dave Matthews Band (since the early 1990s); a roster that has spanned Chris Stapleton, Phish and Luke Bryan.
Access reality
Capshaw himself is unreachable. Red Light's scale means junior and mid-level managers inside the building do sign developing acts; the experience depends entirely on which of those hundreds of doors you land behind.
What to learn from Capshaw
Capshaw built scale without a major label's balance sheet. The lesson for a working manager is that the business around the artist, the venue, the festival and the ticket, can be owned instead of rented.
Questions people ask
What is Red Light Management?
The largest independent music management company in the world, founded by Coran Capshaw around Dave Matthews Band, with hundreds of managers and holdings in festivals, venues and ticketing.
Can a developing artist get a manager at Red Light?
Sometimes. Capshaw does not sign developing acts himself, but managers inside Red Light do. The result depends on the individual manager, not the company name.