Melissa Newhart

Selected as one of ten winners from over 1,000 applicants in 2023, the most competitive year to date.

Jbeau Lewis - Partner/music agent, UTA
Melissa Newhart - Executive of music brand partnerships, UTA
Carlos Abreu - Music agent, UTA

With a roster that includes Bad Bunny, Karol G, Anitta, Romeo Santos, Rosalía and other superstars, UTA’s clients are helping to boost Latin music — and making history in the process. Earlier this year, Bad Bunny’s El Último Tour del Mundo tour became the highest-grossing trek by a Latin artist in Billboard Boxscore history, grossing $116.8 million and… Show more

Jbeau Lewis - Partner/music agent, UTA
Melissa Newhart - Executive of music brand partnerships, UTA
Carlos Abreu - Music agent, UTA

With a roster that includes Bad Bunny, Karol G, Anitta, Romeo Santos, Rosalía and other superstars, UTA’s clients are helping to boost Latin music — and making history in the process. Earlier this year, Bad Bunny’s El Último Tour del Mundo tour became the highest-grossing trek by a Latin artist in Billboard Boxscore history, grossing $116.8 million and selling 575,000 tickets across 35 shows in February and March. Says Lewis: “Witnessing our Spanish-speaking stars evolve into bona fide global household names is truly gratifying and such a well-deserved result of their hard work and true cultural impact.” Show less

Newhart oversees East Coast business for the global Music Brand Partnerships division, which has closed more than 500 deals for clients since the start of the pandemic as a branding agent for the Jonas Brothers, Lauryn Hill, Anitta and more. She also helped bring Latin star Karol G into the U.S. mainstream, securing her as Smirnoff’s global brand ambassador — who also sponsored Karol’s first US tour, “Bichota.” Newhart also secured Young Thug as a Giuseppe Zanotti ambassador and set him up for… Show more

Newhart oversees East Coast business for the global Music Brand Partnerships division, which has closed more than 500 deals for clients since the start of the pandemic as a branding agent for the Jonas Brothers, Lauryn Hill, Anitta and more. She also helped bring Latin star Karol G into the U.S. mainstream, securing her as Smirnoff’s global brand ambassador — who also sponsored Karol’s first US tour, “Bichota.” Newhart also secured Young Thug as a Giuseppe Zanotti ambassador and set him up for an Adobe campaign that led to a deal extension. Additionally, she sits as communications chair for UTA Women’s Interest Group and as a member of La Femme Majeure, an event series dedicated to supporting women in music.

Biggest challenge ahead? “With the robust return of live events and the simultaneous emergence of virtual media like the metaverse, brands and artists must work together to develop partnerships that cater to this new hybrid model of in-person connection and digital experiences.” Show less

Melissa Newhart was one of the first hires to the Music Brand Partnership division at United Talent Agency, and in five short years has made an impact by closing brand deals for top artists including Jonas Brothers, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Young Thug, Bebe Rexha and Tierra Whack with global brands including Mastercard, Xbox, Louis Vuitton, Levi’s, Cadillac, Tanqueray and Smirnoff, among many others.

But among her proudest accomplishments is her work building Colombian artist Karol G into a… Show more

Melissa Newhart was one of the first hires to the Music Brand Partnership division at United Talent Agency, and in five short years has made an impact by closing brand deals for top artists including Jonas Brothers, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Young Thug, Bebe Rexha and Tierra Whack with global brands including Mastercard, Xbox, Louis Vuitton, Levi’s, Cadillac, Tanqueray and Smirnoff, among many others.

But among her proudest accomplishments is her work building Colombian artist Karol G into a global force, enlisting Smirnoff as the presenting sponsor for Karol’s sold-out 2021 “Bichota Tour,” her first-ever U.S. headlining run. As part of the deal, Smirnoff sponsored two sold-out, headlining shows in Colombia before some 70,000 fans, performances that gave Newhart “goosebumps.”

Newhart has been instrumental in recognizing new lanes of business for UTA and has been at the forefront of UTA’s expansion into the Latin music business.

During the COVID shutdown, live shows may have come to a screeching halt, but Newhart and her division still managed to close some 500 deals, she says.

“This time last year, MBP was orchestrating mostly digital campaigns, virtual events and livestreams,” she says. “This year, with the increase of vaccines, the ease of restrictions, and pent-up demand for in-real-life connection and experiences, we’re seeing an influx of renewed interest in tour sponsorship, branded events, and experiential marketing.”

Newhart currently serves as Communications Chair for the UTA Women’s Interest Employee Inclusion Group and is a member of UTA’s Internal Mentorship Program and La Femme Majeure, a UTA event series that helps foster and promote women in the music industry. Show less

When fashion brands pivoted from IRL shows to digital content amid COVID-19, Newhart teamed Ms. Lauryn Hill and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh and musical director Benji B for an original score promoting LV Spring/Summer 2021. Most recently, she paired Tierra Whack with e.l.f. for the artist’s first beauty endorsement, a collab that benefitted Women’s Way of Philadelphia, Whack’s hometown (the vocalist even served as creative director for the campaign video featuring her “Walk the Beat”)… Show more

When fashion brands pivoted from IRL shows to digital content amid COVID-19, Newhart teamed Ms. Lauryn Hill and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh and musical director Benji B for an original score promoting LV Spring/Summer 2021. Most recently, she paired Tierra Whack with e.l.f. for the artist’s first beauty endorsement, a collab that benefitted Women’s Way of Philadelphia, Whack’s hometown (the vocalist even served as creative director for the campaign video featuring her “Walk the Beat”). As for Newhart’s hometown, she’s from Scranton, Pa., site of The Office. Everybody stay calm! Show less

Melissa Newhart,
Music brand partnerships executive, New York lead, United Talent Agency

Sara Schoch,
Music brand partnerships executive, Nashville lead, United Talent Agency

Toni Wallace,
Head of music brand partnerships, United Talent Agency

In a year in which Wallace and her team closed 250 new partnerships, she points to Post Malone’s inaugural Posty Fest, staged in October in Dallas, as a high point. Profitable in its first year (“Which isn’t always the case… Show more

Melissa Newhart,
Music brand partnerships executive, New York lead, United Talent Agency

Sara Schoch,
Music brand partnerships executive, Nashville lead, United Talent Agency

Toni Wallace,
Head of music brand partnerships, United Talent Agency

In a year in which Wallace and her team closed 250 new partnerships, she points to Post Malone’s inaugural Posty Fest, staged in October in Dallas, as a high point. Profitable in its first year (“Which isn’t always the case for first-time festivals,” she says), the event’s financial success was fueled by 15 brand sponsorships, including Xbox, Lyft, Hasbro and Beats by Dre. Another sponsor, gaming accessory company HyperX, signed Post Malone to become its brand ambassador. Newhart helped orchestrate Lauryn Hill’s first brand campaign with Woolrich, for which the artist “led the entire creative process,” says Newhart, including the design of limited-edition jackets -- which retailed for upward of $2,300 -- that paid tribute to the 20th anniversary of Hill’s iconic album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. (They quickly sold out.) In Nashville, nine months before Jimmie Allen’s debut single, “Best Shot,” hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, Schoch was lining up partnerships for the singer with Starbucks, George Dickel Tennessee Whisky and Bumble, among others. Allen’s cover of Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” was first released exclusively on Spotify via the Nation of US playlist on the Starbucks app. “Artists don’t want to affiliate with brands that do not align with their values,” says Schoch. “It’s incumbent on us as representatives to think critically about every partnership opportunity.” Show less