NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) — Madison Entertainment continued its to expand its team with the addition of two new veteran talent buyers – Jonathan Wayland and Phil Benito.
Wayland, who joins Madison House as a senior talent buyer, has been an event producer in the live sector for almost two decades, most recently with Red Frog Events. Wayland has also served as Talent Buyer and Artist Relations Coordinator the Firefly Music Festival since its inception in 2012 through 2018 and worked in the same capacity for the BottleRock Festival in Napa, CA in 2015.
Wayland had previously spent almost fifteen years as a Talent Buyer and Event Producer for Integrity Events, an entertainment broker and producer that provides service for corporate events, casinos, venues, private events, fairs, and festivals. Wayland began working at Integrity Events in 2001 while completing his Music Business degree at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. He has twice been nominated for the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) “Festival Buyer of the Year.”
While at Madison Entertainment, Wayland will be based in the company’s Nashville office and will coordinate with Madison’s major festival clients such as KAABOO Texas. In addition, Wayland will be buying for several additional clients soon to be announced.
Benito will be based out of Tampa, where he will maintain an office for Madison. A veteran of the Florida market, Benito has booked a range of events including the Gasparilla Music Festival, the Tampa Bay Margarita Fest, OnBikes, and the Summer of Rum party.
For Madison, Benito will oversee hundreds of acts annually ranging from small clubs to large festival.
“Bringing Jonathan and Phil in deepens our roster considerably,” Madison Entertainment CEO Roger LeBlanc said. “They each have long-standing relationships in the industry community—both locally and nationally—and increase our national reach as well as deepen our roots in the Southeast and mid-South. Madison has also begun white-labeling its services, buying talent for clients on their behalf but…discreetly.
“There are clients who need to provide a sense of local control and expertise to their board or management or stakeholders and not reveal our involvement publicly,” LeBlanc added.
