Richie Hawtin has left WME after nearly 15 years to sign with TS Agency, the Berlin-based booking agency co-founded by Dixon, for worldwide representation. Liaison Artists keeps his North American bookings and 3D Agency continues to handle Italy, but the rest of his calendar now runs through an artist-owned agency built in 2016 around independence from the larger, increasingly consolidated booking conglomerates.
"Our scene was built by independent artists supporting one another, and I still believe that's where its future lies," Hawtin said, framing the move as a bet on artist-run structures over agency consolidation. Dixon added that TS was built to be "a structure owned by artists, where the people making the decisions understand what it means to build a career over decades." TS already represents Âme, Sama' Abdulhadi, HUNEE, Cinthie, Paula Tape, Yung Singh and Jimi Jules.
For techno buyers and producers, a name this size leaving one of the industry's largest agencies for an artist-owned outfit is worth watching: it's the same independent-structure argument playing out in booking that ghost producers already navigate around catalog ownership. Browse exclusive Techno tracks for sale while Hawtin settles into his new camp.