Connor Cupples is Operations Manager & Promoter at Crosstown Concerts, one of the UK’s biggest independent live music promoters, putting on around 600 shows a year.
With over 18 years in the industry, Connor started out as a local promoter in Cardiff before running Gwdihw, one of the city’s key live music venues, and going on to become Operations Manager & Promoter at Orchard Live. Along the way he’s worked with artists including IDLES, You Me At Six, Viagra Boys, TV Girl, Feeder, Rufus Wainwright and Super Furry Animals, and helped deliver Paul McCartney’s secret Glastonbury warm-up show and major outdoor events with Diana Ross, Bryan Adams, Tears for Fears, Paul Weller and Gerry Cinnamon.
At Crosstown, Connor promotes his own shows and manages two artists, with recent and upcoming work including Only Men Aloud, Welsh of the West End, La Dispute and Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys, alongside Crosstown’s wider roster featuring the likes of Sigur Rós, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol and Supergrass. He’s also part of the team behind Bristol Sounds festival.
His dual role means he’s across every aspect of a show — not just the booking and the room on the night, but the ticketing strategy, marketing campaigns, settlements and everything in between. It gives him a perspective that sits right at the crossroads of the creative and commercial sides of live music, and he’s used that to build systems behind the scenes that help a lean independent team compete at scale.