Steve Martin

Steve Martin started in the music business at the age of 17, booking bands into eastern Long Island venues such as Hot Dog Beach, The Barge, Artful Dodger, and the legendary OBI. His professional career in New York City began in 1979 as a concert promoter, producing shows in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C., for famed artists such as Muddy Waters, Tom Waits, Dire Straits, Weather Report, and Miles Davis. In 1982, he became an agent at Magna Artists, but shortly thereafter left Magna to launch his own company, Music Business Agency (MBA). Among Martin’s clients at MBA were Billy Bragg, Jimmy Cliff, Fela, Yellowman, Robert Hunter, Jorma Kaukonen, and Hot Tuna. In 1989, he sold MBA to the William Morris Agency (WMA) and became one of WMA’s principal booking agents, signing major acts such as The Band, Ziggy Marley, Crash Test Dummies, and Barenaked Ladies. In 1994, Martin joined The Agency Group as one of the first agents in the company’s newly opened New York City office and was instrumental in turning the company into one of the top independent music talent agencies in the world; Martin was named Agent of the Year by Pollstar magazine in 2008. He was later named president of The Agency Group. In 2013, Martin left the company and moved to World Wide Concerts, where he currently serves as executive vice president.