International Creative Management (ICM) has acquired the Marsha Vlasic Organization in a move that provides a significant boost to ICM’s Concert division. The deal brings Ben Folds, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Moby, Muse, Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne, Regina Spektor, the Strokes, Van Morrison and others into the ICM fold.
Through the deal, MVO founder Marsha Vlasic will join ICM as senior VP of concerts, overseeing a newly formed contemporary rock division. Vlasic will be based in the agency’s New York Offices beginning Sept. 9 and will report to concerts division head, Steve Levine.
“We’re really into growing our business right now, especially the music business,” ICM president Chris Silbermann tells Billboard.biz. “Marsha is such a great mentor to people, with such a great name, and she’s very culturally consistent with what we want right now. This is not just about bringing a client list. Great agents always have that balance between fiercely independent and entrepreneurial and also working within a culture and a construct. I think maybe she saw in us somewhere she could grow and keep that independent spirit and entrepreneurialism while accessing a lot of the stuff we’ve been doing, like international, branding, and tour sponsorships.”
The acquisition of MVO reunites Vlasic with ICM where she worked before leaving in 1988. At MVO, she pioneered music festival packaging with Ozzfest and H.O.R.D.E. Vlasic also organized Moby’s Area One and Area Two tours, integrating audiences of rock, urban and electronic music in one venue.
Already this year, ICM’s Concerts division has experienced strong ticket sales with tours from Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, and Chris Brown, and notched big numbers from its comedy division with sellout tours by Chris Rock and Katt Williams’ U.S. tour.
ICM is one of the world’s largest talent and literary agencies, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and London. The agency, formed in 1975, represents creative and technical talent in the fields of motion pictures, television, publishing, music, live performance, branded entertainment and new media. In 2006, ICM acquired literary agency Broder Webb Chervin Silbermann. ICM is backed by private and institutional capital from Rizvi Traverse and Merrill Lynch’s Global Asset Based Finance Group respectively.
