Heidy Vaquerano

Vaquerano negotiates lucrative transactions for musicians, actors, comedians and independent record labels.

As a first-generation college graduate and the daughter of immigrant parents, she also works on diversity and inclusion initiatives. She is the managing director of Girls in Tech Los Angeles and has partnered with local Black, indigenous and persons of color organizations. She serves on the SXSW Pitch Advisory Board, using her extensive network in communities of color to recruit diverse startups in the music, entertainment and virtual reality industries.

As buildings begin reopening, Vaquerano said she sees changes coming. “We’re hearing about retrofitting venues for livestreaming and looking at parking lots for events. It’s difficult getting shows back on track—I’m not sure I’d want to be at the first big concert right now. My clients who do traditional touring have pushed things back several times and are now looking at 2022.”

For longtime client Tom DeLonge, a founding member and former frontman of punk rock band Blink-182, Vaquerano has over the last two years struck deals to advance his solo career. In December 2019, she oversaw the sale of DeLonge’s music catalog to music investment company Hipgnosis Songs. The company acquired 100 percent of DeLonge’s copyrights to songs from albums like “Enema of the State,” including “What’s My Age Again?,” “All the Small Things” and “Adam’s Song.”

In 2020 Vaquerano negotiated a six-figure advance for DeLonge with Artist Arena as an amendment to an existing merchandising deal. She also helped the client restructure his contracts with entertainment media companies and regain ownership of his intellectual property in his band Angels and Airwaves for a potential catalog sale. And she represented DeLonge in connection with his first film directing effort, a science fiction feature titled “Monsters of California.”

Vaquerano worked hard to get where she is. “I was 19 when I got my first job at a boutique entertainment firm, and I went to law school at night,” she said. “There was nobody in my family to help me forge a path. I did it on sheer intuition. Now there are less than two percent Latina partners at U.S. firms, and I see opportunities to open doors for others. I tell young people, ‘I got there and so can you.’”

— John Roemer