Talent agency Paradigm buys TCAA

Hollywood talent agency Paradigm, continuing its expansion into music, said Wednesday that it had bought Nashville-based Christian music booking firm Third Coast Artists Agency.

The deal is the latest move by Beverly Hills-based Paradigm to increase its presence in the music sector through a series of low-key acquisitions. In the last five years, Paradigm has acquired Monterey Peninsula Artists and Little Big Man Booking, specialty talent boutiques with a niche in music. The move comes as a merger between rival talent agencies William Morris, which has a strong music department, and Endeavor moves closer.

“It fits strategically into our music business, which is an important, growing and profitable area,” said Paradigm Chairman Sam Gores. “We’re very committed to taking the great platform we already have and building on that by tapping into Christian music. And this allows us to expand in Nashville, which is a very important market.”

Co-founded in 1999 by Mike Snider and his wife, Lisa, Third Coast Artists Agency has developed a roster of clients in the Christian music market, with such artists as MercyMe, Natalie Grant and Hawk Nelson.

“This purchase gives us the opportunity to go to the next level and provide services we couldn’t before,” Mike Snider said.

Although largely catering to the Christian market, he said, Third Coast artists have the “potential to cross over. Now they have an agency able to gain them exposure.”

The firm’s 10 employees and 30 artists will move into Paradigm’s Nashville offices, which currently house a major part of Paradigm’s music business, alongside the agency’s offices in New York and Monterey. Financial terms were not disclosed. Music clients at Paradigm include Coldplay, the Black Eyed Peas and Toby Keith.

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yvonne.villarreal@latimes.com