Rob Light ’78

Partner and Managing Director/Head of Music

Creative Artists Agency

Rob Light is head of the music department, a partner and managing director of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Under his leadership, CAA’s music department represents many of the world’s most popular and talented musical artists and comedians. Light oversees all of CAA’s music agents, providing strategic counsel on concert tours and event bookings worldwide, as well as advising clients on their overall career development.

Following six years at International Creative Management, Light joined CAA in 1984. He was named head of the music department in 1998 and appointed to CAA’s management board in 2001. Under his visionary leadership, Light has led the department’s expansion into London, which marked the first time a full-service agency established an international presence; Nashville; and New York City, helping CAA become the preeminent talent agency for musicians and comedians in the U.S. and abroad. A market share leader, CAA represents more of the top 100 touring artists than the next four competitors combined, and books more theater and arena comedy acts worldwide than any other agency. CAA’s music clients cross every genre, from pop, rock and country, to urban, Latin and EDM, as well as comedy.

Respected throughout the industry for his innovative deal structures and his ability to foresee and adapt to changes in the business environment, Light has led CAA’s music department to new heights by implementing an integrated services model that leverages CAA’s expansive and deep resources within the department and across the agency. This inter-departmental approach has taken clients into soundtracks, theater, feature films, television, documentaries, sponsorship, endorsement and licensing.

Under his guidance, CAA was the first to hire a full-time marketing team to create and capitalize on strategic opportunities for CAA clients, working with managers, labels and local promoters on ticketing and digital marketing, among other initiatives. CAA also customizes sponsorship opportunities that bridge a brand’s marketing objectives and clients’ needs to create a unique experience for the fan. Further enhancing an artist’s brand and connection with fans, CAA’s in-house team of licensing and endorsement experts develop new creative and commercial opportunities across a broad spectrum of business areas, including apparel, footwear, fragrance, beauty and more.

Light and his team have also been instrumental in building and creating many of the most successful themed music festivals in the last decade, including Vans’ Warped Tour, the Uproar Festival and the Mayhem Tour.

Light was honored as “Agent of the Year” in trade publications Pollstar and Performance Magazine in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2001 and 2003. The CAA music department was awarded “Agency of the Year” by Pollstar for 12 consecutive years, and “Booking Agency of the Year” by Billboard for seven of the past 10 years. In addition, Light was ranked No. 9 in Billboard’s 2015 Power 100 feature. He was the 2004 Children’s Choice Award recipient from the Bogart Pediatric Cancer Research Project, and was honored in 2013 by City of Hope with the Spirit of Life Award.

He serves on the Syracuse University Board of Trustees and is a board member for The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Communities in Schools and The Tiger Woods Foundation.