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City of Hope will present Jay Marciano, chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, with its prestigious Spirit of Life Award at a Oct. 22 gala headlined by legendary singer and songwriter Elton John.
City of Hope is one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. The Spirit of Life Gala, organized by the City of Hope’s Music, Film and Entertainment Industry (MFEI) volunteer and fundraising group’s, will take place at the historic Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Marciano is the 51st executive to be honored during the annual affair, recognizing individuals for their longtime philanthropic and humanitarian efforts. Besides managing some of the largest tours in history — Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” and Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” — Marciano is focused on galvanizing the industry to accelerate cancer research at City of Hope so that more people around the world may benefit from its findings.

In addition to the performance by John, attendees will experience a curated menu by chef Evan Funke, a master of the old-world techniques of handmade pasta, and an unprecedented act by magician and mentalist David Blaine — both experiences promise to round out an evening of magic. Comedian, actor, musician and writer Fred Armisen will emcee the event.

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“I am honored to be receiving The Spirit of Life Award from City of Hope and to be able to contribute to raising awareness and funds to speed its important work of eradicating cancer and improving lives for so many,” Marciano said in a statement. “I am also humbled and grateful that Elton John, a true superstar in every regard, has agreed to lend his immeasurable talents to this event with a performance that’s sure to inspire support for a cause that unfortunately touches so many lives.”

John’s historic, final tour saw the musical icon play 330 shows worldwide to over 6.25 million fans across the UK, Europe, North America and Australia. The U.S. leg of the tour concluded with three sell-out shows at Dodger Stadium. The concert was livestreamed on Disney+ in every territory the channel broadcasts in, a global first. He later headlined Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in June 2023, the final UK show before the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour concluded in July 2023, marking the end of more than 50 years on the road. Now, the stage has been set for another very special performance at the Spirit of Life Gala.

“Jay is more than a colleague; he is a dear friend,” John said. “It is my pleasure to lend my support to him as he receives the Spirit of Life honor, especially given City of Hope’s dignity-giving supportive care for people who face cancer, along with its unmatched research for other life-threatening illnesses. Their important work has led to advancements in the field that have fortunately enabled so many people to live beautiful, long lives. Everyone should have that opportunity, and I’m honored to play a part in City of Hope’s work towards that goal.”

Founded more than a century ago to serve people who had trouble accessing high-quality, effective cancer treatment, City of Hope combines inclusive, compassionate care with big dreams realized through breakthrough scientific research.

“Our longstanding supporters in the entertainment industry are helping us deliver on our most important goal: saving lives,” said Robert Stone, CEO of City of Hope and the Helen and Morgan Chu Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair. “Thank you, Jay, and our partners for helping us ensure that people with cancer, regardless of race, socioeconomic status or geography, have equitable access to the most advanced cancer treatments available.”

In its 50-plus year history, MFEI raised over $150 million to benefit City of Hope research and care programs.

“The music industry has the power to unite millions of people for a cause, and when that cause is cancer research, the impact can be transformative,” said Kristin J. Bertell, chief philanthropy officer at City of Hope. “Jay’s support will amplify awareness, raise crucial funds, and inspire hope for millions of cancer patients and their families. It’s not just about entertainment; it’s about saving lives through the power of philanthropy,” Bertell continued.

“City of Hope’s MFEI Board cannot thank Jay Marciano, and his entire team, enough for all they are doing to help fight these horrible diseases,” said Evan Lamberg, president of Universal Music Publishing Group. “There is not a single person I meet that has not, in some way directly or indirectly, been affected by cancer. City of Hope continues its battle against cancer around the clock and looks to continue to make the quality of people’s lives better.”

MFEI’s Spirit of Life Gala will conclude a year-long fundraising initiative which will also include auctions and a dinner series to benefit City of Hope. Tickets and sponsorship information can be found here.

AEG Presents and independent Portland, Ore., promoter Monqui Presents are bringing a brand-new music venue to the city that will be located in the Lloyd District at the former Nordstrom building site on NE Multnomah Street.  
Developed and operated by the two entities, the 68,000 sq. ft. venue will offer flexible seating for 2,000 to 4,250 attendees and feature a movable stage for dynamic event configurations. The strategic partnership will be led by AEG Presents’ president of Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest Don Strasburg and Monqui Presents co-owner Mike Quinn.  

“This is a project we’ve been working on with Don and the AEG Presents team for about ten years now — we have a great site, excellent design, and most importantly a shared vision in making the audience and artist experience a truly great one,” said Quinn in a press release. “We are extremely fortunate and excited about this partnership and thrilled to bring this venue to Portland.” 

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The release details the new venue’s location as “prime” given its placement within the Lloyd Entertainment District boundaries with “its extensive surface and adjacent parking facilities, coupled with easy access to light rail, streetcar lines, and the recently completed north-south bike and pedestrian bridge, ensures unparalleled convenience for attendees.” 

AEG Presents and Monqui Presents Partner to open new venue in Portland, Oregon.

Courtesy W.PA

“Mike and the whole Monqui team represent the fabric of Portland,” added Strasburg. “We worked together to find the perfect site and designed the perfect venue — we are excited to deliver the city of Portland the concert experience it so deserves.” 

According to the release, the venue will boast state-of-the-art acoustics and sightlines optimized for every patron while accommodating a wide range of musical genres and special events, from intimate acoustic performances to extravagant EDM sets.

Portland-based firm Works Progress Architecture, which also designed Mission Ballroom in Denver, has been entrusted with designing the new venue.  

“We’ve had an incredible 25+ year relationship promoting shows with Mike Quinn and Monqui and look forward to many more years of putting on historical shows together,” said regional vp of AEG Presents Pacific Northwest Chad Queirolo.

AEG Presents and Tim Hinshaw’s Free Lunch have entered into a strategic partnership, Billboard can exclusively report. Under the terms of the partnership, Hinshaw will be responsible for securing and marketing hip-hop, R&B and gospel tours for AEG’s global touring division. 
The alliance follows in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s “The Pop Out — Ken & Friends.” The Juneteenth concert at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. was presented by pgLang and Free Lunch. Streamed to fans around the world on Amazon Music — Hinshaw’s current client — the event broke the record for the most minutes watched of any Amazon Music production.

In announcing the partnership, AEG Presents president of global touring Rich Schaefer said, “Tim’s connection to hip-hop and R&B — whether it’s the music, the artists or the culture — is unmatched. I’m excited to bring someone of Tim’ stature on to help our team expand in an area we’ve already had so much success in. His spirit and energy will be a great addition to the touring team, and we look forward to learning from him as we help build our business together.”

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Free Lunch founder and CEO Hinshaw added, “I am honored that this chapter started with Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Out — Ken & Friends,’ an iconic moment for L.A. and hip-hop. Partnering with AEG is a natural next step for Free Lunch. I have been very fortunate in my career to play a role in delivering some of the most unforgettable live music experiences for the culture and look forward to continuing that success with Rich and the whole AEG team moving forward.”

Formerly Amazon Music’s head of hip-hop and R&B, Hinshaw launched Free Lunch in 2023. As noted in a release announcement, the multifaceted creative shop is principally focused on “authentically bridging the gap between culture and corporate America.” During Hinshaw’s five-year tenure at Amazon, he oversaw the streaming service’s industry strategy and partnerships across both genres, inclusive of the global flagship brand Rotation. Among the various projects he brokered was 2022’s exclusive livestream of The Big Steppers Tour: Live from Paris via Amazon Music and Prime Video. The event not only spotlighted Kendrick Lamar’s second performance in Paris, it also celebrated the 10th anniversary of his second studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Hinshaw also helmed artist negotiations for Amazon Music Live, a livestreamed concert series on Twitch and Prime Video that aired following Thursday Night Football. Among artists featured on the series were Lil Baby, A$AP Rocky and 21 Savage. Additional livestream projects under Hinshaw while at Amazon Music included: Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost Live concert in his hometown of Los Angeles; Kanye “Ye” West’s #FreeLarryHoover benefit concert in L.A.; J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival from Raleigh and Summer Walker’s homecoming show in Atlanta for Black History Month. 

Prior to joining Amazon Music, Hinshaw established the urban music division at Fender Guitars. He also worked in music marketing for Vans. Honored as executive of the year in 2022 for Billboard’s annual R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players issue, Hinshaw began his music industry career as co-manager of his songwriter brother, Charles “Prince Charlez” Hinshaw. That endeavor led to a joint venture label deal with Island Def Jam and a global co-publishing agreement with Rondor/Universal Music.

AEG Presents, a global leader in live music and events, announced Friday (May 10) that Brent Fedrizzi, who currently serves as co-president and COO of AEG Presents’ Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest regions, has been named president, North American regional offices.
Fedrizzi’s promotion follows Rick Mueller’s exit from the company, which the former AEG Presents president for North America announced earlier this week.

Fedrizzi, who will continue to be based out of Denver, is set to guide the company’s 100 U.S. venues – including the 50 owned and operated clubs and theaters in the AEG Presents portfolio – in all aspects of talent buying and promotion, as well as overseeing its 12 regional offices. He will report to AEG Presents chairman and CEO Jay Marciano and will join the company’s executive committee.

“I’ve known Brent for close to 30 years and have worked with him almost as long, so it’s especially gratifying to make this announcement,” said Marciano in a release. “He has a vision, a drive, and an insight into our business that’s been forged over his many years promoting events in every type of venue across the western United States. As co-president of our Rocky Mountain region, his feel for the business is a key reason AEG Presents is the dominant promoter in the market and the Denver office is one of our top performers. Simply put, he’s the right person for the job.”

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“When Jay and I first spoke about this opportunity, I jumped at the chance to work more closely with him, the regional team, and the company as a whole,” Fedrizzi said. “I’m excited for the challenge ahead, and I can’t wait to dive in; there’s never been a more exhilarating time in live events. I’m grateful for the trust Jay has put in me to guide the business into the future; the ability to do so with the people and the company I love is icing on the cake.”

A Colorado native, Fedrizzi began his career in 1991 at the Fey Concert Company in Denver, booking artists at various venues across the Rockies and the Southwest. In 1998, he joined forces with Chuck Morris and Don Strasburg to launch Bill Graham Presents/Chuck Morris Presents in the market. Through a series of acquisitions including SFX and Clear Channel Entertainment, that company would eventually become Live Nation in 2005. Fedrizzi remained there for nine years before leaving with Morris and Strasburg to join AEG Live as COO of the Rocky Mountain region. They quickly established themselves as the dominant force in one of the most competitive and active live music markets in the country and now promote more than 1,100 events annually at a variety of venues including Mission Ballroom, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre and Ball Arena, among many others.

In addition to his work at AEG Presents, Fedrizzi is a board member and four-time president of the North American Concert Promoters Association, a four-time Academy of Country Music award nominee, and a nominee for International Entertainment Buyers Association’s promoter of the year. He currently serves as chairman of the board for Visit Denver and sits on the board of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

AEG Presents, the second biggest live events company in the world, and powerful Latin entertainment company Cárdenas Marketing Network (CMN), have partnered in a deal that will combine both companies under one roof. The partnership, in which AEG acquired an undisclosed stake in CMN and which AEG Presents chairman and CEO Jay Marciano describes as a “full partnership,” will explosively boost AEG’s Latin music business and is AEG’s first Latin partnership of this scope.
CMN ended 2023 at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Promoter chart, and in 2022, it was No. 3, an enormous achievement for an independent company that CMN founder and CEO Henry Cárdenas self-describes as a “boutique concert promoter.” But it’s a very powerful boutique operation, with a slate that included Bad Bunny’s stadium tour in 2022 and currently Luis Miguel, Marc Anthony and Don Omar, among many other.

On its end, AEG is of course the powerhouse company behind Taylor Swift’s global tour and culturally-defining events like Coachella. Latin, however, was not its strong suit, although it promoted Karol G’s arena tour in in 2023. Now, AEG will have the Latin clout while CMN while have the global reach, and both companies will work together to create elevated and expanded experiences for artists and fans, with each benefitting from the complementary strategic alliance.

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“We are excited to partner with AEG Presents, one of the most powerful global forces in live entertainment. Together we look forward to making an even greater impact on the explosive growth in the Latin market,” said Cárdenas in a statement.

In an exclusive interview with Billboard, Cárdenas added: “We wanted to be bigger and more global. AEG is a giant company that also has venues and I’ve known Jay Marciano for 40 years, since he was president of Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden. Jay knows who I am, and I know who he is.”

Marciano added: “Henry is a true entrepreneur and visionary, and what he and his team have built is simply awe-inspiring. We have been looking to expand our presence in Latin music and concerts for quite some time, and it was important that we took the time to find the right partner; we found it in Henry and CMN.”

The partnership between AEG and CMN has been actively in the works for approximately six months, but it was in both Cárdenas’ and Marcianos’ minds long before then.

“I feel like I’ve been chasing Henry for 40 years,” laughs Marciano. “It’s like the girl I’ve been chasing forever, and she finally said yes […] Henry was in Latin music way before any of us figured out it was an industry. Timing is everything. And I think the timing for us and for him finally, after all these years, aligned perfectly.”

Cárdenas has been in Latin music promotion for 44 years. In 2001, he sold CFA (Cardenas, Fernandez & Associates) — which at one point was the biggest Hispanic-owned event-promotion company in the U.S. — to Clear Channel Entertainment and Grupo Televisa. In 2004, he launched CMN on his own and quickly grew it all over again, eventually becoming the top Latin promoter in the country. In all his years of operation, he says, he has never lost money, save for during the pandemic.

“I’m a boutique concert promoter. I take care of my business. My tours have to be profitable, and we take care of each tour,” he says, emphasizing that his is not a cookie cutter approach to concert promotion.

However, Cárdenas also wanted to grow and become more global and in 2019, he acquired Arena Bogotá in Colombia. At this point, merging made sense, especially with a company like AEG, which has assets and artists that Cárdenas can work with in Latin America, and likewise, offers Cárdenas’ artists an entree into other markets.

The key, however, was the relationship with Marciano.  

“It’s about people in this business,” says Marciano. “If you don’t have the right people, chances are you won’t be successful. With Henry we knew he had the foundation for decades and he could teach us a lot that we were missing.”

Cárdenas and Marciano had initial conversations several years back, at which time Marciano said: “Henry, I’m not going to hound you. But come the day you feel we’re better together than apart, give me a call.”

Last year he did, and conversations began in earnest.

“I think Henry believes Latin music is not just becoming big in North America but has the potential to become big in Europe and Asia and Australia and he can use our expertise and local offices,” said Marciano. “And we can also use his help because he understands the part of Latin music we’re just getting familiar with.”

Cárdenas will now take over AEG’s Latin activity and touring roster, which includes Carin León. In the spirit of AEG’s existing partnerships, such as the Messina Group or Golden Voice, Cárdenas will run the business, and make decisions on which artists and tours to bring to the business.   

“I told Jay, ‘This needs to be fun. If it’s not going to be fun, it’s not interesting.’ I want to run CMN like I’ve always done,” says Cárdenas.

The AEG-CMN merger follows the 2021 acquisition of Mexican concert promoter OCESA Entertenimiento by Live Nation for $416 million for a 51% interest in the company.

No amount or stake percentage was disclosed for AEG’s purchase of CMN. But, says Marciano, “I think I have the Latin partner That I always wanted.”

AEG Presents announced the appointment of Jay Belin as vp of international touring. A prolific talent booker with over 17 years of live music experience, Belin will be responsible for executing major concerts across Europe with the AEG Presents Global Touring division, utilizing his strong history and relationships built in his previous roles. Directly reporting […]

AEG Presents is the latest music-related company to announce a move to the Nashville mixed-use district Nashville Yards, which is being co-developed by AEG and Southwest Value Partners.

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AEG Presents will relocate its regional office to Nashville Yards in 2025. The company’s new location will be comprised of the company’s regional office, members of its global touring division and the Nashville outpost of AEG Presents partner Messina Touring Group. Combined, these three entities oversee everything from bookings at intimate clubs to stadium tour dates, having promoted tours for artists including Kelsea Ballerini, Zach Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church and more.

AEG will also book and operate the upcoming 4,500-capacity music venue that’s slated to open in Nashville Yards in 2025.

Rick Mueller, president of AEG Presents North America, said in a statement: “We’ve been hyper-focused on expanding our presence in Nashville for a few years now. It’s a big opportunity for us to be consolidating all our operations under one roof at what’s soon to be one of the most popular destinations in the city, and to be booking and operating a new, state-of-the-art music venue on-site makes it that much more exciting.”

“We have an exceptional partnership with AEG, and together we believe we are constructing one of the most uniquely attractive music, retail and creative workplace environments in the world,” added Cary Mack, managing partner of Southwest Value Partners. “Independent of that, AEG Presents is a preeminent entertainment brand and operator of world class entertainment venues, and we are very excited to have their extended presence at Nashville Yards.”

In November, booking agency CAA announced that its Nashville office will also relocate to Nashville Yards in 2025. Upon completion, the 19-acre mixed-used development will feature pedestrian pathways, open green spaces, plazas and Class A+ office, residential, hospitality, entertainment, retail and culinary offerings.

Veteran touring specialist Rich Schaefer has been officially promoted to president of global touring at AEG Presents. Schaefer takes over the role from Gary Gersh, who announced he would be stepping down last month. In his new role, Schaefer will oversee all aspects of the concert promotion company’s worldwide touring deals, operations and talent relations. […]

Whether he’s building live-­music clubs and theaters or renovating them, Rick Mueller abides by a simple rule for his complex job: “The best venues bring out the best in the fans and the best in the band.”

As AEG Presents president of North America, Mueller, 50, oversees all of the rooms in the territory for which the company is the primary talent buyer.

His purview includes more than 100 U.S. properties — mostly theaters and clubs managed by one of 13 regional offices that report to him. Among them are those owned and operated by The Bowery Presents, a collection of destination plays such as Brooklyn Steel and Forest Hills Stadium in New York and a series of newly opened clubs in Boston, Denver, Atlanta and Cincinnati. He’s also heavily involved in business development, overseeing construction of new projects that AEG Presents will exclusively book, like Nashville Yards, as well as bringing existing venues like the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Bowl under AEG Presents management.

“We’re building AEG as [a collection] of more regionally run businesses,” he explains. “That allows us to be more responsive to those markets — what’s happening musically there and what the customer wants.”

Mueller, who is originally from the San Francisco Bay area and now lives in Los Angeles, contends that strategy gives AEG Presents a “distinct advantage” over its main competition, Live Nation, where he briefly worked. “Live Nation is a very centralized company,” he says. “They buy their talent centrally. They make their concession deals centrally. They probably have their alcohol sponsored, and it’s driving whatever they serve in their venues. I don’t know that they give a lot of specialized thought in any given city to what is a great experience.”

You have opened a lot of smaller clubs. How do you identify markets that need another venue?

Since the pandemic, we’ve opened The Eastern in Atlanta, Roadrunner in Boston and the MegaCorp Pavilion in Cincinnati. They’re all doing really well, and we want to continue to add a lot more venues to that list. We’ve got Nashville Yards, which will open up at the end of 2024 or early 2025. We’ve got a venue in Raleigh [N.C.] that will open up in the first half of 2025. These are brand-new builds. As for what markets we look at — any place there’s opportunity. Sometimes that’s a function of a certain capacity room that doesn’t exist in a marketplace.

What size venues are your sweet spot?

We’re focusing on locations with capacities of 1,500 to 5,000. There’s more and more bands that are coming out of this frictionless distribution of music. They are able to sell tickets, so there’s a huge demand for these size venues. The bands can’t find enough dates, and we want to make sure that we service that opportunity.

You’ve opened a club called Racket in Manhattan, a market where you already have a number of small clubs. Why open another?

New York is a market where we’ve invested in very small spaces because it’s a very important developmental market for our relationships and conversations with bands. We feel that finding any venue in Manhattan — in this case, we renovated the old Highline Ballroom —is an opportunity we’re going to look at every single time.

What niche will Racket fill?

Look, in New York there’s a variety of bands that could sell more tickets than probably any other market in the United States. It’s also a first statement-type play. These smaller rooms are where we do a lot of, call it R&D. We build relationships with young bands, and then we want them on a path to play our whole venue portfolio. We hope that carries all the way through to our bigger venues like Forest Hills. It’s a true vertical pipeline where we can service an artist’s needs at any level.

Are small music clubs the new A&R for artists?

I think the internet is A&R for artists. In this day of social media and frictionless distribution, artists can be their own advocates. As far as building a live base, New York is a very important market to start relationships with artists early. In key markets that can handle a lot of shows, we’re going to continue to invest in that.

A lot of live-industry innovations start at the club level. What are your priorities?

What you’re seeing across the board in the industry is the desire for more premium offerings. There’s a huge group of people out there who are willing to pay a little bit more whether it’s for a better seat, a better experience, a better drink, better dining. We’re looking at that, but we’re also tailoring our offerings so that there’s an experience for everybody. We want to make sure that we offer a range of experiences — from cheaper to high-end.

Billboard recently reported that Gen Z concertgoers aren’t big consumers of alcohol. How do you adapt?

We’re keeping a very close eye on that. It’s a big part of the business, and it certainly hasn’t dropped off a cliff. People are still drinking, and we’re doing more offerings, whether it’s nonalcoholic or specialty cocktails. Almost on a daily basis, we look at where our numbers are and try to understand why, but it’s something that’s really hard to see in the moment. You have to collect data, and by the time you see where the trends are going, you hope you’re in a position to adjust to it.

How does your division run differently than, say, Live Nation’s House of Blues chain and its smaller venues?

Live Nation takes more of, I’ll say, a cookie-cutter approach to music. House of Blues is a chain, and it’s the same somewhat uninspired experience anytime you go to one of them. We’re opening brands that we hope speak to their markets and stand with their own identity.

Have you noticed any changes in the way fans buy tickets since the pandemic?

When we first came back, the number of no-shows was much higher than we’re accustomed to. That pretty much leveled off and came back into what you’d call traditional ranges. There are trends where a fan might wait a little longer to buy tickets. That’s more market-specific, and that dynamic has always existed. When I first started in this business at Bill Graham Presents, Detroit was this crazy, huge, late-selling market and would do thousands of tickets week of show at some of the amphitheater properties. It doesn’t sell the same way now. San Francisco has had a lot of changeover in terms of its population. Sales are up, but we see [ticket purchases] shifting a little bit later in the overall cycle. We are seeing more of a strong close to a lot of shows there, and why that is I’m not sure. But as an industry, we’re still selling a lot of tickets early in the game, especially in big arenas and the stadium star category. Business has been incredibly good. You haven’t really heard about a lot of large-scale underperforming tours.

What are the hot genres for ticket sales?

Generally stated, country continues to explode, as well as the land that Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers and even Jason Isbell inhabit — they aren’t traditional-style country. Kelsea Ballerini’s most recent tour is exploding. We’ve also seen incredible results with dance music. If you look at what has gone on at Brooklyn Mirage, which is not in our company, they’ve had what appears to be a record season.

What headwinds do you see?

If there’s a negative trend in the business, it’s that more multigenre festivals have struggled to maintain success. The big experiences like Coachella, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands are stronger than ever. They’re brands that people trust, and the festival experience is great. Below that, some festivals have struggled, while you’re seeing more single-genre festivals — dance, for instance — succeed. Look at Electric Forest. It speaks to a very specific audience, and it’s stronger than ever.

A year ago, indie and smaller acts were canceling tours because they were losing money. Is that still happening?

It has leveled off. A lot of people had sold tickets at a different kind of ticket price before the pandemic and made their budgets on one set of dynamics. Then when it was time to go out and tour post-pandemic, it cost a lot more to be out on the road. If your sales weren’t that good or you weren’t expecting to earn any back-end, you could end up losing money, which is why I think some people pulled down their tour plans. Costs have gotten under control, but it’s still expensive to tour. The challenge for midlevel tours is finding a balance between prices that are welcome among the fan base and the costs of being out on the road. Sometimes you have to find a mix of festivals and soft-ticket money out there to help pay for the markets that don’t cover the nightly bill that you need to earn.

How does the currently high level of inflation affect AEG’s business?

It costs a lot more for security and the labor to run our shows. And again, in some of these big markets where there’s a lot of events going on on a given weekend, it can be hard just to find staff. So managing our labor costs has been a real challenge. We have to look carefully when we do an event and what that costs and if we can make enough money for it to be worthwhile. Sometimes you go into these unique situations where the artist doesn’t seem to make any money because it costs more to do the show, and we’re struggling to make money, but it’s an important look for the artist. So we are all going in with the right goals and intentions to grow that artist’s career so that they make money on their live shows when they come back to that market.

Gary Gersh, president of global touring at AEG Presents, is leaving the concert promotion giant after eight years at the company, chairman Jay Marciano announced in a staff letter on Wednesday (Sept. 13). Rich Schaefer, currently the company’s senior vp of global touring, will step into Gersh’s role as president. “Gary played a vital role […]