Agent Name: James Simmons
New Company: Creative Artists Agency (CAA)
Department: Global Touring Division
Previous Company: WME (William Morris Endeavor)
Territory: UK and Europe
- Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has appointed James Simmons as an agent in its Global Touring division, based in the London office.
- Simmons joins from WME London, where he worked with artists including Mumford & Sons, Little Simz, James Blake, Nilüfer Yanya, Louis Dunford, and Rex Orange County.
- The move is part of a broader “UK agency carousel,” with a series of high-profile agent moves across major companies in recent months, including additions to CAA’s London touring team such as Lucy Dickins, David Bradley, and Nikos Kazoleas.
- Questions remain over whether Simmons’ high-profile roster, most notably Mumford & Sons, will follow him to CAA, given the often opaque nature of artist representation across territories.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has named James Simmons as a new agent in its Global Touring division, based in London. He was previously a music agent at WME, where he built an impressive roster that included Mumford & Sons, Little Simz, James Blake, and Rex Orange County.
Simmons got his start in the industry back in 2008 through a university work placement with a local live promoter in Brighton, eventually working his way through marketing, talent booking, and festival artist liaison.
He later moved to International Talent Booking (ITB), the same firm where his future mentor, Lucy Dickins, shaped his early career, before joining WME alongside her. Lucy Dickins also recently made the jump from WME to CAA.
Emma Banks, Co-Head of Global Touring at CAA, praised Simmons for his experience supporting arena tours across the UK and Europe and his contributions to major stadium shows, including Wembley.
CAA’s Global Touring division has had a strong 2026, securing headline slots at major events including All Points East in London, featuring Lorde, Twenty One Pilots, Jorja Smith, and Tems, plus festival headline appearances for Charli XCX and Florence and the Machine at Reading and Leeds.
This hiring pattern echoes other major industry moves, such as Scott Stoops joining Kaplan Perrone Entertainment, signaling that top-tier agent movement continues to reshape the live music landscape in 2026.
Takeaways
The Simmons signing is more than just a routine hire, it’s the latest chapter in what the industry is openly calling the “UK agency carousel.”
WME appears to be losing significant ground in London, with multiple senior agents now choosing CAA’s global platform and artist roster.
For Simmons specifically, this move is a career escalation: he goes from being a respected agent at WME to joining one of the most aggressive touring rosters in the world, backed by Emma Banks’ global network.
The big open question, one the industry is watching closely, is whether his artists follow. Mumford & Sons in particular, a stadium-level act with enormous touring value, could be a major prize for CAA if the relationship carries over.
Will Mumford & Sons and other key artists from Simmons’ WME roster make the move to CAA with him? Is CAA’s aggressive UK hiring spree a sign of a deeper strategic push to dominate the European touring market?
