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Manager Myles: A Web3 Mogul Assembles His Crew

At just 29, Myles Shear has made a name for himself in the world of music and live events. But what he’s doing behind the scenes as an investor may be most impressive.

As Ricky Fowler tees off on the 16th hole at this weekend’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, the roar from fans will provide a sonic sneak peek for an amped-up afternoon in Arizona.

At TPC Scottsdale, the Coors Light Birds Nest will see sets from Kygo, Sam Feldt, and Forester, spinning smashes at the same venue that Fowler found himself bombing drives from hours earlier. The common tie between the three electronic artists and the colorful golfer?

Myles Shear, better known as Manager Myles.

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The head honcho for the Palm Tree Crew collective has been throwing parties since he was a high schooler in Miami, this time putting together the worlds of PGA and EDM. While it’s sure to be plenty of fun for all involved, there’s a good chance Myles and his main man Kygo won’t be at TPC for long.

That’s because they have another party hours away in LA. And on that same night, they’re teaming up with Sports Illustrated for a Palm Tree Crew Super Bowl party on the eve of the big game.

That makes for a pretty exciting weekend for the manager multi-hyphenate yet to turn 30.

It’s also the tip of the iceberg for the man whose work melding music, events, investing, and Web3 is playing out before our eyes while he himself still mostly exists behind the scenes.

For now.

Life of the Party

There’s a reason Sports Illustrated, Jack Harlow, and a slew of sponsors will be rallying around Myles Shear for the biggest party in Los Angeles at Super Bowl Weekend.

Simply put, Myles gets it done and has a ton of fun doing it.

Take for example last December’s Art Basel event in Myles’ home city of Miami. While Kygo and Martin Garrix were on the bill to DJ, an impromptu set from Goldman Sachs CEO David M. Solomon stole the show. The party put on by Palm Tree and MoonPay NFT allowed attendees to dance their faces off while leveraging Shear’s crypto curiosity and wide-ranging network in an amazing way.

It also set the stage for the announcement of Miami Tech Week. While managing Kygo put Manager Myles on the map, it also provided the platform for the two talents to dive deep into investing and innovation. Even early on, this included going in on alternative currencies.

“In 2016 and 2017 we were buying crypto,” Myles told Boardroom. “We invested in Coinbase at the time and it was really interesting and it seemed pretty massive. At the time, it blew my mind and everybody around us in the music game. I really liked the product behind it and felt like there was a lot to do, so we invested in different crypto companies and paid attention to it.”

By investing early in the world of Web3 — or “getting on the bus,” as his mother and rabbi would say — Myles has merged the same college kid curiosity that took him from discovering artists as a blogger to catapulting Kygo as an artist who could sell out stadiums and have his name attached to three of the top 10 global songs in Spotify all at once.

From streaming on Soundcloud to concerts in the metaverse, Myles is always interested in what’s next, and his persona as an investor speaks directly to that drive.

“Wherever you work you can be comfortable and stay put,” says Myles. “But ever since I was 16 years old throwing the afterparties for my prom, I was always looking for the next door to open. At the time, the blog felt like everything, but I’ve always been on to the next and it’s been that way even with Kygo. We’re always opening doors and not scared of it at all. That’s been a key to the business that I’ve built.”

As the sun rises in Los Angeles on Super Bowl Sunday and late-night music turns to mid-morning mimosas, Myles and the Palm Tree Crew will be on to the next party, but also building the next venture.

Mogul-maker Myles

Shear is doing more than throwing parties and scheduling sets. At 29, he’s taking every bit of experience he’s gotten on his wild ride with Kygo, focusing on empowering other creatives to turn their music ventures into entrepreneurial excellence.

“We want to create outlets to help other artists and build other businesses,” Myles notes. “Kygo likes to work with unknown artists and we wanted to create an outlet to promote and help them. That’s Palm Tree Records and Palm Tree Management which was the first partnership we did together.”

By building the Palm Tree umbrella, Myles and Kygo have been able to put out an array of artists while also learning the pace and budget side of the business thanks to backing from Sony.

Simultaneously, the Palm Tree Crew continued to invest in companies and startups with the same energy as investing in a new artist.

It all came to life through the Palm Tree Crew Festival.

“That was really the next step, for me and Kygo to create that,” says Myles on the umbrella event. “It started with raising money for a fund. We also thought that when we invested in those brands, they’ll be at Palm Tree Festival. You’ll get to see Kygo play, the brands we’ve invested in, and all the artists we represent. That was the vision we came up with like four years ago.”

Citing help from friends and investors in creating the fund, the Palm Tree Crew claims stake in everything from plant-based food to cryptocurrencies to canned alcohol. It all goes into the bigger vision that Myles has made for Kygo since first meeting him online years ago.

“I wanted to make Kygo a mogul and show the world that he’s not just a curator of music, but he’s a curator of companies,” shares Myles. “Building his own festival and so forth.”

Hosted in the Hamptons in the summer of 2021, the festival saw Palm Tree artists, merch, and brands brought together in an immersive experience for fans that was sure to impress investors alike.

In 2022, the ‘so forth’ for Myles and Kygo is building more business in Shear’s home of Miami while throwing parties and festivals around the world — and likely in the metaverse.

Next is Now

While the last few years have been odd and unexpected where the world is concerned, Myles Shear remains optimistic and unafraid of the future.

This proves true as his main industry of music looks to enter a whole new world of Web3.

“Love the metaverse,” smiles Myles. “The majority of the world can’t go to shows right now, and I do think that the metaverse is going to play a huge part in everything. I can see all of our artists playing in the metaverse. We also have a crypto fund and we’re heavily invested in a lot of projects in Web3; this is a world where everybody can go together, there are no problems and it’s happening right now.”

Myles notes that Kygo began hosting non-fungible token drops a few years back, predicting that music NFTs will be massive and major for the future of the industry and the Palm Tree Crew.

Always adapting, he sees the decentralized, democratized world of Web3 as the next shift of alignment for fans and artists alike.

https://twitter.com/JMRothberg/status/1489558490632884229

“There’s something really cool about going direct to your fans,” Myles notes. “I think artists will have their own platforms and you’ll be engaging with them directly. The metaverse will be a place where you can feel closer and more a part of it.”

For Myles and the Palm Tree Crew — a collective actively working with renowned scientist Jonathan Rothberg all while throwing Super Bowl parties and buying Bored Apes — it’s still all about having a good time and being open to what’s new and next.

“Look, we’re just having fun,” says Myles. “That’s the key, you’ve got to enjoy it. When opportunities come, don’t be scared, take them in, embrace them and make the most of them.”

While his title has remained the same in many respects since becoming Kygo’s manager almost a decade ago at the age of 20, his endeavors have evolved as has he.

“A new age manager is how Rich Kleiman, Scooter Braun, or I am,” says Myles. “Being a manager and booking shows? That’s not good enough anymore. You need to be doing investments and that’s a new style that people need. It’s bigger than music, these are not just musicians: they’re global brands.”

Currently, the brand built by Myles and Kygo consists of investments all over the Web3 establishment, ranging from Royal to SuperRare, presenting a portfolio focused on the future but still core to their ethos of friendship and fun.

“I want to do all these things and I want to do it with my best friend,” closes Myles. “It’s not fun to have wins alone, it’s so much more fun to call your buddy up. We say the words ‘investing’ and ‘NFT‘ and everyone sort of thinks it’s a money thing but we’re doing it because it makes you feel good. You want to feel achievement, create change and inspire others.”

“That’s the big motivator: being able to do it with somebody you care about and help others.”

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Ian Stonebrook

Ian Stonebrook is a Staff Writer covering culture, sports, and fashion for Boardroom. Prior to signing on, Ian spent a decade at Nice Kicks as a writer and editor. Over the course of his career, he's been published by the likes of Complex, Jordan Brand, GOAT, Cali BBQ Media, SoleSavy, and 19Nine. Ian spends all his free time hooping and he's heard on multiple occasions that Drake and Nas have read his work, so that's pretty tight.

About The Author
Ian Stonebrook
Ian Stonebrook
Ian Stonebrook is a Staff Writer covering culture, sports, and fashion for Boardroom. Prior to signing on, Ian spent a decade at Nice Kicks as a writer and editor. Over the course of his career, he's been published by the likes of Complex, Jordan Brand, GOAT, Cali BBQ Media, SoleSavy, and 19Nine. Ian spends all his free time hooping and he's heard on multiple occasions that Drake and Nas have read his work, so that's pretty tight.