Abrams Artists Agency
Maxwell Mitcheson, Amanda Marzolf, Jade Sherman, Melissa DeMarco, Keith Bielory, Marienor Madrilejo.
- With YouTube creators scaling their digital careers, the need for talent agents to assist in their various online ventures has increased.
- Talent agents help their clients monetize their online brands, build lasting partnerships with companies through influencer marketing campaigns, and develop consumer products.
- Business Insider took a look at the top agents working with YouTube influencers in 2019.
- Sign up for Business Insider's influencer newsletter, Influencer Dashboard, to get more stories like this in your inbox every Thursday.
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Since the rise of YouTube influencers, Hollywood's top talent agencies, from WME to UTA, have developed digital-focused departments, and now work with popular YouTube stars.
From developing multi-platform businesses with new lines like podcasting, to securing brand partnerships with the likes of Louis Vuitton (for YouTube star Emma Chamberlain), to helping put out New York Times bestselling books (like YouTuber Shane Dawson's), agents have become a big part of many creators' teams.
Carolyn Moneta, a digital-media agent at WME - who manages top YouTube creators like Lilly Singh (14.9 million YouTube subscribers) and The Dolan Twins (10.6 million) - told Business Insider that she focuses on connecting clients with top brands and to help clients build out direct-to-consumer products.
Some YouTube creators have both a talent manager and an agent to help build their digital brand. In those cases, a manager will often help with day-to-day work of crafting the creator's brand, while an agent will work bringing in deals and on broader business strategy. The best talent agents are there to help clients (with their managers) construct a lasting brand.
Similar to managers, agents earn revenue by receiving a cut of the influencer's earnings, which typically ranges from 10% to 20%, depending on how much the agent does for the client, according to industry insiders.
But who are the top agents in this rising space?
See which talent agents made Business Insider's inaugural list of power players:
The top 18 talent agents for YouTube creators and influencers
And for more on the business of being an influencer, and a breakdown of how YouTube creators make their money, check out these Business Insider Prime stories below:
- A Harvard student with 265,000 YouTube subscribers breaks down how much money she earns as a college influencer: Sienna Santer is a second-year Harvard student and a YouTube influencer with 265,000 subscribers.
- A YouTube star and active-duty US Navy sailor shares how much money a video with 1 million views makes him: Austen Alexander is an active-duty sailor for the US Navy and a popular YouTube influencer with 135,000 subscribers.
- YouTube creator Natalie Barbu breaks down how much money she earns from a video with 100,000 views: Natalie Barbu, a social-media influencer and YouTube creator with 227,000 subscribers, shared how much money she earns from a video with 100,000 views.