Pratik Ruparell, Danny Wagstaff and Preston Drummond: these are the three personalities behind PDP Entertainment, a privately-owned, Canadian-based, full-service entertainment company. The music team, led by Pratik and Danny, has been leaving their mark on the industry in Canada and abroad for the past two decades. Not only have they worked with the biggest names in the game, including vaunted artists like Kanye West, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Chris Brown and Usher, to name a few, but they consider them friends, not faceless clients to be shuttled around the country on endless tours.
It is this intimacy and attention to detail that has created a name for PDP Entertainment. From booking the artist to actively promoting shows — on the street and in mainstream media — to producing the spectacle, Pratik, Danny and Preston have built a reputation for being hands-on, enthusiastic and honest. Their clients consider them friends and it is not unusual for one of them to receive a phone call from a celebrity looking for a bit of level-headed advice.
In 2002, PDP Entertainment teamed up with Reggae SumFest, in Jamaica, to produce and book one of the biggest summer festivals in the Caribbean. Each year since then, they have worked with the biggest artists in the world, including Destiny’s Child, Alicia Keys, and Mary J Blige, among many others.
Their partnership with Reggae SumFest, says Pratik, has quickly become the cornerstone of PDP Entertainment. They will be celebrating their tenth year with Reggae SumFest in 2012 for a weekend that promises to be bigger than ever. The monster weekend is a testament to PDP Entertainment’s respected reputation in the industry: artists consider it as much a vacation as a chance to entertain tens of thousands of people. PDP’s hands-on approach with artists — an important lessons learned early in their careers that still boldly resonates today — makes them excited to work with PDP, which has allowed the team to book unforgettable shows all over the world.
Now, however, PDP Entertainment have turned their sights back north, back to Canada, where they share this beautiful country with their closest friends and family. They are excited to bring their experience back home, entertaining Canadians across the nation, in both primary and secondary markets, with the hottest stars in the world. Their full-service abilities follow the spectacle through the entire way, from idea to showtime.
PRATIK RUPARELL
When most 17 year olds throw themselves a birthday party, it’s a chance to let loose, celebrate another step towards adulthood and perhaps revel in an empty house for the weekend. Few would even dream that a simple party could evolve into anything more than the cachet of excellent stories the next day. But, for PDP Entertainment co-founder Pratik Ruparell, his innocuous birthday parties have led to more than two decades of experience as one of the leading urban music promoters on the continent.
Pratik quickly moved up the ranks, traveling across Canada promoting and booking shows using a combination of street-savvy guerrilla marketing strategies and forward-thinking corporate ingenuity. A serendipitous idea one Christmas in Jamaica, with close friends and family, including Danny, brought Pratik to Reggae SumFest, one of the biggest festivals in the Caribbean. Pratik has spent the last decade booking the hottest stars in the world around the world. It is time for him to return home, bringing along a wealth of experience, honesty and enthusiasm. It won’t be long until all of Canada is dancing and reveling at one of his shows.
“I may not be able to dance like Chris Brown, sing like Usher or act like Tom Cruise, but I can throw one hell of a party!” – Pratik Ruparell
DANNY WAGSTAFF
Danny is the resident road warrior at PDP Entertainment. An eternal nomad, he is happiest watching the miles peel away underneath tour bus wheels, making sure his clients — no, his trusted friends — are as comfortable and relaxed as possible, from the moment they wake up in the morning to when the stage lights go down at night and the star explodes on stage. The hottest artists in the world know to call PDP for all their booking and promotion needs in part because they know that Danny will be there at the airport, waiting to embrace them, welcome them to his city and personally take them to the hotel. There is not a moment of the day or night when Danny is either in the next room or a phone call away, no matter what the circumstance.
There are few people with the confidence to conquer Canada’s vast highway expanses. Whether it is an artist’s first time in Canada or they are seasoned veterans, Danny will be there to make sure they consider our country a second home!
“Life is a highway….” – Tom Cochrane
PRESTON DRUMMOND
Preston Drummond loves a good idea. “I’ve always thought that if you work hard enough, you can always find investments that are as fun as they are intelligent,” he says. When he met Pratik and Danny in 2008, he knew he found the “next thing.” A lot of businesses fail or succeed based on the initial partnership. “At PDP, we have always tapped the individual strengths of each other and have been able to maximize growth potential based on those strengths and working together cohesively.”
“The music business can be a tricky beast to cage,” he continues, “but when you can master certain elements and build a business around it, you have a solid base from which to expand. I believe future growth of the company is limitless.”
“The Dow can lose 500 points in a day and there’s always a war or two to worry about, but people will always want to spend money on entertainment.” – Preston Drummond
