Case Study: Lewis Capaldi with Ryan Penty (Wasserman Music)

In this case study, Capaldi’s booking agent Ryan Penty will talk about the trajectory of Lewis Capaldi’s career, giving the by:Larm audience an inside look at how Capaldi rose from humble beginnings to the big stage, and the opportunities and challenges to consider when working with an artist on a long-term basis. We will also discuss the artist team’s degree of responsibility in making sure an artist’s well-being is taken care of and respected.

2023 sees Lewis Capaldi release his second album Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, the highly-awaited and ambitious follow-up to his debut. However, this year has also seen Capaldi take the centre-stage on a topic that is different from music, but highly connected to it: mental health. Capaldi recently announced on his Instagram that he would cancel a series of summer shows to “take a moment to rest and recover” and “just be Lewis from Glasgow for a bit”. After the news broke, the BBC asked “does this willingness to take time out to look after themselves show the music industry is changing?”.

Ryan Penty will be interviewed by Laura Snapes, acting music editor of the Guardian and a former editor at Pitchfork and NME. Snapes recently criticized Capaldi's team for not taking his well-being enough into account, in her review of his second album for Pitchfork.