The creator economy has never been short of entrepreneurs. New talent management agencies continue to launch every month, bringing fresh ideas, specialist expertise and a more personal approach to representation. But as The Talent Times’ recent Monthly Feature explored, many founders now believe the industry has reached a tipping point. More agencies are chasing the same brand budgets, payment terms remain painfully slow and many boutique businesses are finding survival harder than growth.
So, if the industry agrees something needs to change, what should that change actually look like?
Should the market naturally consolidate through mergers and acquisitions, creating fewer but stronger businesses? Or does the industry need a governing body or trade association that supports agencies while allowing them to remain independent?
Both solutions have passionate supporters. Here’s the case for each.
Mergers & Acquisitions: The Industry’s Natural Next Step
Every maturing industry eventually consolidates.
Advertising agencies, PR firms, music management companies and even influencer marketing agencies have all seen periods where independent businesses joined forces to survive, scale and compete more effectively. Talent management may simply be reaching that same point.
The biggest challenge facing many boutique agencies isn’t talent or ambition. It’s infrastructure. Founders are expected to negotiate deals, manage creators, chase invoices, handle contracts, grow the business and keep cash flowing – all whilst waiting up to 90 days to be paid. We know that’s a difficult model to sustain indefinitely.
Bringing agencies together could solve many of those problems overnight.
Larger groups can spread operational costs, invest in legal support, finance teams, technology and business development, whilst allowing individual managers to focus on what they do best – managing talent. Instead of ten agencies each fighting for the same opportunities, merged businesses could present stronger creator rosters, negotiate from a position of greater strength and build more resilient organisations.
Importantly, mergers don’t have to mean losing identity. Boutique brands could continue operating under their own names while benefiting from shared back-office functions and commercial support. The music industry has successfully adopted similar models for years.
The creator economy has matured considerably over the past five-to-ten years. Perhaps talent management now needs to mature with it.
Trade Body: The Industry Doesn’t Need Fewer Agencies. It Needs Better Support
Consolidation may create stronger businesses, but it also risks removing exactly what has made talent management so successful.
Boutique agencies thrive because they’re personal. Smaller rosters often mean deeper relationships, more tailored career planning and greater flexibility. Many creators deliberately choose independent agencies because they don’t want to become one of hundreds on a large corporate roster.
The problem isn’t that too many agencies exist. It’s that too many are trying to navigate an increasingly complex industry without the support larger organisations can afford.
Rather than encouraging mergers, many believe the industry should establish a recognised trade body or governing organisation dedicated to talent management. Such a body wouldn’t regulate who can open an agency. Instead, it could provide legal guidance, standard contracts, mentoring, education, networking opportunities, best-practice frameworks and stronger advocacy around issues affecting everyone – particularly late payments, inconsistent commercial standards and creator welfare. Crucially, it could also raise professionalism across the sector without reducing competition.
Independent founders would still own their businesses. Agencies would retain their identities. But they would no longer have to solve every challenge alone. Most importantly, collaboration wouldn’t come at the expense of entrepreneurship.
The creator economy has always rewarded innovation. A trade body could preserve that spirit while giving agencies the tools to build sustainable businesses instead of simply surviving month to month.
The Verdict
The jury is still out.
Whether the future lies in mergers, acquisitions and larger agency groups, or in a stronger trade body supporting independent businesses, one thing is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore – the current model is placing growing pressure on agencies across the industry.
The debate is no longer about whether the talent management landscape is changing. It’s about deciding how the industry evolves before more agencies discover that surviving has become harder than succeeding.
