Music Agents Marissa Smith, Matthew Morgan, Buster Philipps Exit WME, Bound for UTA (EXCLUSIVE)

Shirley Halperin and Chris Willman
·2 min read

WME music agents Marissa Smith, Matthew Morgan and Buster Philipps have left the agency and are bound for UTA, sources tell Variety. The news follows the exit of Scott Clayton, who was one of three co-heads of music at WME. It was announced last week that Clayton would co-head the global music division at UTA, alongside Sam Kirby Yoh and David Zedeck.

At WME, Morgan worked with clients Lizzo, Cam and Zac Brown Band, among others. Phillips was an agent in the rock department. Both came over to WME from CAA, along with Clayton, in 2017.

More from Variety

Smith’s territory included east coast colleges and universities, and she also headed WME’s “Virtual Appearance” group, and served as firm’s social action music agent.

All three are based out of Nashville. Reps for WME and UTA were not immediately available for comment.

UTA has made a number of new hires over the past year, including agents Jeffrey Hasson, Brett Saliba, Matt Korn, and Emily Wright, who are based in Nashville; agents Matt Meyer and Robbie Brown, based in Los Angeles; Director of Creative Strategy Rebecca Prochnik and agents Carlos Abreu and Matt Lee, based in London. It also acquired the U.K.-based Echo Location Talent Agency, founded and led by Obi Asika, who now serves as Co-Head of UTA’s U.K. office alongside Neil Warnock.

UTA represents a wide range of artists across all genres of music, including Post Malone, Deadmau5, Bad Bunny, YG, theJonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Marshmello, Bebe Rexha, St. Vincent, Young Thug, Common, Tyga, Offset, Lil Wayne, Burna Boy, Halsey, Machine Gun Kelly, Rosalía, Swedish House Mafia, James Blake, Florence and the Machine, Toby Keith, Jamey Johnson, Midland, Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell, Tori Kelly, Tierra Whack, Bring Me The Horizon, Christine and The Queens, Deep Purple, Arlo Parks, Foals, Sigrid, Katherine Jenkins, Romeo Santos, Alesso, Jamiroquai, 21 Savage and Dolly Parton, among others.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.