Irving Azoff
U2 in Talks With Azoffs for Management — But Deal’s Not Done
U2 are in discussion with Irving Azoff, Jeffrey Azoff and Brandon Creed’s Full Stop Management after splitting with manager Guy Oseary last week, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. The talks are ongoing and no final decision has been made by either side. The talks follow news that Azoff is now involved in booking the MSG Sphere at the Venetian, part of Azoff Company’s long-term consulting deal with MSG properties. U2 is scheduled to open the MSG Sphere at the Venetian in November 2023, which Billboard first reported in July. Oseary had managed U2 under the Live Nation-owned Maverick artist management collective for nearly a decade. In 2020, he left Live Nation but agreed to continue to provide consulting services to CEO Michael Rapino, whose company now has 450 a...
Irving & Shelli Azoff Honored by Gwen Stefani, Meghan Trainor & More at Wallis Annenberg Event
BEVERLY HILLS — After years of pandemic postponements, Irving and Shelli Azoff were feted by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night, with a local who’s-who gala of their family, friends and supporters. Only, Shelli wasn’t there. Mrs. Azoff, Irving’s wife of more than four decades and business partner on a variety of projects, was home sick with COVID-19. And while it was surely disappointing, somehow, it was hardly surprising. In true power couple fashion, the Azoffs brought in about as high-profile substitute as you can get: Kris Jenner, the Kardashian-Jenner family matriarch who has been a longtime friend of the family. (“I’d say she was the best manager if the world if I was at any other event,” said James Corden, who emceed the presentat...
The Azoff Company Launches Giant Music Record Label With First Release
Giant Music is officially in business. The label, a venture from Irving Azoff and his son Jeffrey Azoff, has launched in earnest with an announcement Wednesday (June 8) that Atlanta-based trap artist SwaVay has signed to Def Jam Recordings through Giant Music. The first song, “JUGG,” leads the act’s forthcoming project Almetha’s Son with release details to be announced soon. This partnership appears to be a one-off deal with Def Jam, and whether Giant Music will continue a relationship with Def Jam or its parent company Universal Music Group is yet to be seen. [embedded content] Giant Music is being run by Shawn Holiday, the former co-head of Columbia Records’ urban music division who also held a dual role at Sony/ATV Music Publishing, where he worked with Travis Scott and Cardi B, am...
FAIR Act Bill to Repeal California’s ‘Seven-Year Statute’ Amendment Wins First Committee Vote
The Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act passed out of the California State Assembly’s Labor & Employment Committee on Wednesday (March 30) after a 4-2 vote in favor of the legislation. The bill now moves to the Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media for an April 19 hearing and vote. Introduced by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) in February, the FAIR Act — also known as Assembly Bill 2926 — would repeal a 1987 amendment to California’s “Seven-Year Statue” (a.k.a. California Labor Code Section 2855) that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years but before delivering the required number of albums in their contract. The Seven-Year Statute, which limits personal services contracts for state ...
Irving Azoff, Musician Orgs Hail California Bill to Cap Recording Contracts at 7 Years
If passed, the FAIR Act would correct for a 1987 amendment that excluded recording artists from the Seven Year Statute, a labor law designed to prevent employers in California from enforcing excessively long contracts. As a result of the 1987 amendment, which was pushed by the major record labels, recording artists who seek the protection of the statute are susceptible to legal action and severe monetary damages if they decide to part ways with the label they’re under contract to. In a statement, Music Artists Coalition founder Irving Azoff says amending the current law has become even more urgent in light of the streaming boom. “Streaming has been an unprecedented bonanza for the record labels, but not so for artists,” said Azoff. “It is unfair that the only Californians excluded fr...
Defying Pandemic Woes, Live Entertainment Giant OVG Showed New Growth in 2020
One company, however, has not only avoided layoffs completely but actually hired more than 50 executives in the last two months to assist with a growing portfolio of venues and development initiatives. The Oak View Group, founded by former AEG chief executive Tim Leiweke, has been a quiet but persistent force for prosperity and economic development during the pandemic. Launched in 2015 along with Leiweke’s partner Irving Azoff, OVG is overseeing $4.5 billion in arena development projects across the world, including in Austin, Texas. There, the company made its most recent high profile hire, announcing that Casey Sparks, who previously managed the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma for ASM Global for six years, was joining the company. Sparks will serve as vp of OVG Austin and assista...
