‘Free Larry Hoover’ Producer Randy Phillips Tapped by TEG to Create More Artist-Owned Events

Entertainment veteran Randy Phillips has joined the board of Australian live entertainment company TEG, one week after producing and promoting Ye and Drake‘s sold-out Free Larry Hoover benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Dec. 9.

TEG and majority owner Silver Lake Capital — which also has investments in Oak View Group and Endeavor (which owns WME) — financed the sold-out “Free Larry Hoover” concert, which was organized in just three weeks. Phillips hired the production team for the concert, including Rob Hallett from U.K. outfit Robomagic Live, production manager Bryon “Hot Dog” Tate and Roadwerx’s Steven Dixon.

“The four of us became DONDA Touring, supporting Kanye and working directly for him,” Phillips says. “That meant complete transparency in terms of the economics,” meaning that as both artist and promoter of his own event, every dollar Ye generated from the show “went into the artist pot,” including the rebate the ticketing company typically pays out to the venue and promoter.

The model, Phillips says, gives Ye more control over the live experience at his show and potentially means more money if the concert sells out. It’s a risky strategy for the rapper and his investors at TEG, Phillips adds. “It’s not for the weak of heart, but the result was phenomenal,” he says, noting that DONDA Touring also produced and delivered the broadcast of the show to distribution partner Amazon Prime Video.

A veteran entertainment executive who produced Ye’s 2013 Yeezus tour while serving as chief executive at AEG Live, Phillips most recently presided over LiveStyle, the electronic music company that emerged out of the SFX bankruptcy.

Phillips says he hopes Ye is interested in mounting more DONDA Touring dates in 2022.

“Kanye is a disruptor and always has been in his career,” Phillips says. “He doesn’t want to do just a normal tour. He wants to create iconic events like this one in capital markets and exotic locations like the base of the Pyramids in Egypt or playing on the African continent.”

Phillips is joining the TEG board at the request of Silver Lake managing director Stephan Evans to help identify and finance new opportunities to work directly with artists on unique touring projects like the Free Larry Hoover concert. One of Australia’s largest live entertainment companies, TEG operates several ticketing outfits including Ticketek — Ticketmaster’s top competitor in Australia — and manages the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. In 2016, TEG acquired veteran promoter Paul Dainty’s company the Dainty Group and today serves as one of the country’s largest promoters, exclusively producing The Kid Laroi’s tour in Australia and New Zealand.

“Randy’s track record in the business speaks for itself,” TEG chief executive Geoff Jones tells Billboard in a statement. “He has done just about everything in the live space and has enormous knowledge, experience, and expertise that I look forward to tapping into and working collaboratively with in order to grow the TEG business globally.”

Phillips will work alongside TEG’s Los Angeles-based executive Amos Pizzey to grow the TEG footprint in live entertainment, including by creating unique, financed and owned or co-owned intellectual property. Pizzey was the founder of branding and sponsorship company Talenthouse, where he worked with artists like David Guetta, Pitbull, Linkin Park, Eric Clapton, Green Day, and Mumford & Sons.