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Primary Wave and Violator Management Forge Music Management Partnership

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday September 16, 2011 @ 8:33am PDTTags: Cee Lo Green, Irving Azoff, Live Nation

Like other parts of the music business, there’s a lot of consolidation taking place in talent management — including this announcement today from feisty independent firms Primary Wave and Violator Management. They’ve chosen the unfortunate name of Primary Violator Management for the 50/50 joint venture. Primary Wave’s client list includes CeeLo Green, Ginuwine, Goodie Mob, Eric Benet, Cody Simpson, Case and GMD3. Violator adds Curtis “50 Cent’ Jackson, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Soulja Boy, and Diggy Simmons. Primary Wave CEO Larry Mestel will be in charge. Competition is intensifying: Yesterday, Live Nation Chairman Irving Azoff said he plans to announce a big music management acquisition soon. Here’s today’s release:

New York, N.Y. (September 16th, 2011) – Music industry veteran, Larry Mestel, CEO of Primary Wave Music, one of the largest independent music publishing, marketing, branding and talent management companies in the United States, announces a unique partnership with legendary music manager, Chris Lighty, Founder and CEO of Violator Management to create Primary Violator, a new powerhouse talent management firm. The new business venture will bring together Lighty and elite music manager Michael “Blue” Williams, uniting two of today’s most influential and successful talent managers in urban and pop music. READ MORE »

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Live Nation Says Stage Is Set For Strong 2012 Despite New Competition

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday September 15, 2011 @ 5:26pm PDTTags: AEG, American Idol, Glee, Irving Azoff, Live Nation, Live Nation Entertainment, Michael Rapino, The Voice, The X Factor, Ticketmaster

Don’t tell Live Nation executives that their concert acts are getting old. While one-time hitmaker Neil Diamond continues to hit the stage at age 70, Chairman Irving Azoff says that “every year there’s a Taylor Swift, or Justin … Read More »

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Live Nation’s Irving Azoff Will Manage ‘The X Factor’ Winner

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday August 4, 2011 @ 12:53pm PDTTags: Irving Azoff, Live Nation, Live Nation Entertainment, Simon Cowell, Syco, The X Factor

Curious that the press release (below) doesn’t explicitly say that Azoff is chairman of Live Nation Entertainment — the parent of Ticketmaster and the No. 1 owner of concert venues.

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4, 2011 — Front Line Management and Syco Entertainment today announced a partnership which will see the future winning artist or group of the U.S. version of The X Factor managed by Front Line Management, the world’s leading artist management group.

Front Line, a division of Live Nation Entertainment, manages the careers of some of the world’s biggest-selling artists, including The Eagles, Miley Cyrus, Journey, New Kids on The Block, Christina Aguilera and Fleetwood Mac.

Read More »

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Concert Ticket Sales Down? No Matter, Biz Deals Lead To Rocking Pay At Live Nation

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday April 15, 2011 @ 5:00pm PDTTags: Irving Azoff, Live Nation Entertainment, Michael Rapino

It’s fascinating to watch companies in decaying industries resort to financial sleight of hand to try and survive — which is why we’re going to start paying attention to the music business. But you’d never know that music, including the concert business, is in trouble from the huge compensation packages that Live Nation just revealed it paid last year to its two top executives: chairman Irving Azoff and CEO Michael Rapino. They collectively made $38.7 million, mostly because they engineered several business deals including a merger with Ticketmaster — a combination that tightened Live Nation’s grip over the concert business but provided no discernible benefits for consumers. The financial gamesmanship certainly worked well for Azoff. He picked up a lot of Ticketmaster stock back when Barry Diller controlled the company and wanted to merge it with Azoff’s Front Line, a management firm that handles performers raging from The Eagles to a blues band that Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan fronts in his spare time, JD and the Straight Shot. Diller left Live Nation last year after losing a boardroom battle. Still, Azoff made $22.8 million in 2010, which included $13.8 million for his Ticketmaster and Front Line holdings. Live Nation also paid $731,130 to a private airplane company that Azoff owns — as well as salaries to his son, daughter and son-in-law, who hold non-executive jobs at Live Nation. Rapino ended up with nearly $15.9 million, a 138% raise over his compensation in 2009. Read More »

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