Irving Azoff
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This story is part of Billboard‘s The Year in Touring package — read more stories about the top acts, tours and venues of 2022 here.
Since opening in April, the Moody Center in Austin, has reshaped touring in central Texas, welcoming a bevy of star talent, including John Mayer, George Straight, Roger Waters, The Killers, and Boxscore record-breaker Harry Styles, to name a few. Over 36 shows, the building now tops Billboard’s year end Top Venues (10,0001-15,000 capacity) chart, grossing more than $62.7 million in the process according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. Averaging $1.7 million per show, the Oak View Group-owned arena took in more than $5 million more than its closest competitor, OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, which reported more than 110 concerts.
Moody Center general manager Jeff Nickler says the arena’s success is, first and foremost, due to the city of Austin. Dubbed the live music capitol of the world, Austin was without a proper arena prior to Moody Center and Nickler says the growing population had tons of pent-up demand for big name acts.
“A lot of major tours and artists were skipping the market due to the lack of a premiere venue. So, Oak View Group, Live Nation, [Live Nation-owned] C3 Presents, and [actor] Matthew McConaughey came into the market and we privately financed this building,” says Nickler. “We believed in the music in this market and that investment has paid off in a huge way.”
Moody Center does not have a professional sports team tenant (though the Texas Longhorns basketball programs play there after the arena took over the space from their former home, the 45-year-old Frank Erwin Center on University of Texas’ campus) and has been able to fill its calendar with major artists, many of whom regularly fill larger venues. According to Nickler, the arena’s draw is an amalgam of factors. First, venue partner Live Nation (who has had a record-setting year in revenue and could see its biggest year yet in 2023) has incentive to route their big tours through the new building like Post Malone, Florence + The Machine and Kendrick Lamar. But Moody Center remains an open building, meaning it books tours with any and all promoters including Live Nation competitor AEG.
“Then there is the Irving Azoff effect,” adds Nickler. Azoff is a co-owner of OVG and The Azoff Company manages acts including Styles, Eagles, and Lizzo – all of whom played the arena in 2022.
Styles conducted a six-night run at Moody Center in September and October selling 86,000 tickets and grossing $19.2 million. The multi-night stint was one of many from big artists who could easily fill larger capacity venues in competing markets including Dallas and Houston.
“We see this trend of continuing for artists to do multiple nights in the market,” says Nickler. George Strait and Willie Nelson, the Eagles, Styles and Mayer all did multiple night stints at the arena this year. There is an incentive for artists and promoters to play consecutive nights since it cuts down on bills from labor, marketing and more can cut a budget in half.
Another major advantage to playing Moody Center comes from its floor space. Unlike most arenas designed for sports, Moody Center can hold up to 3,000 fans on its floor compared to an industry average of 2,200, according to Nickler. An artist can significantly boost their grosses with the roughly 800 extra premium seats.
“Even though we have less seats, we can out punch our weight class because of the design of the building, the viability of the market and the ability to charge higher ticket prices,” says Nickler. “That’s a huge factor in why you see that giant number for those tour grosses.”
Irving and Jeffrey Azoff‘s recently-launched Giant Music record label signed Detroit rapper Tay B in partnership tie AFLN Music Group. Tay B released his most recent album, 4Eva In My Bag, earlier this year. Run by Shawn Holiday, Giant Music previously signed Atlanta-based trap artist SwaVay in partnership with Def Jam. Giant Music is a resuscitation of the Giant name for the Azoffs, with Irving having launched Giant Records in 1990 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records.
Podcast company Audio Up, which focuses on trying to create hit tracks by leveraging podcasts as the launch pad, announced a new strategic partnership with WME to support the development of artists from Audio Up’s podcast slate. Under the deal, WME will advise Audio Up on its touring and content opportunities across film, TV and digital and provide the company with access to its network across music, entertainment and brands. One of the first initiatives under the partnership is the development of Latin artist Balam, who will star in and contribute original music to the forthcoming Audio Up scripted podcast Day of the Dead. In tandem with promotional efforts around the podcast, WME served as an advisor on booking Balam’s Dec. 10 debut performance at reggaeton festival Viva Urbano. WME will also work with Audio Up on the podcaster’s Apple Music show The Ballad of Uncle Drank by turning the show’s title character into a real-life touring country experience.
Sony Music Masterworks made a majority investment in Dubai-based concert promotion, talent management, events and production company MAC Global. Day-to-day operations of MAC Global will continue to be led by co-founders Rob McIntosh and Daniel Goldberg, who will work with Sony Music Masterworks president Mark Cavell, senior vp of business development Josh Lerman and managing director of Senbla Ollie Rosenblatt. Under the arrangement, MAC Global will expand its remit to include comedy, sports, virtual events, orchestral events and immersive music experiences.
The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) teamed with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Music Makers Grant, which will award $5,000 annually to an emerging BIPOC songwriter or producer. BMAC will screen applicants, with Jam and Lewis personally picking the finalist. Online applications for this year’s grant close Nov. 15, with the winner to be announced in December.
Townsend Music signed Kaiser Chiefs in partnership with Absolute Label Services/Utopia, V2 and The Orchard for the band’s next studio album, which is slated for release next year. Townsend and Absolute will provide physical and digital distribution for the album in the U.K. under Townsend’s D2C+ model, while V2 will distribute it in France and Benelux and The Orchard will distribute it in other territories.
SoundExchange struck deals with Zelle and Cash App allowing registered creators to elect to receive their royalty payments via either of those mobile payment apps. Creators can contact the SoundExchange customer services team to learn more about app-specific eligibility requirements and sign up to receive royalty payments via the platforms.
Country newcomer Dalton Dover, who appeared on Season 16 of The Voice and has since garnered a following on TikTok, signed with Universal Music Group Nashville. He will release his upcoming music via Mercury Nashville.
Pop and melodic rap artist Zzz. signed with Warner Records in partnership with Lil Bibby‘s Grade A Productions. His major-label debut single is “All I Never Wanted.”
Live Nation has signed on as the exclusive booking partner for the nonprofit Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage festival. Ahead of the 2023 summer season, Live Nation will book all benefit concerts between June and October at the flagship Rumsey Playfield site in New York’s Central Park.
Composer Max Richter appointed Huxley as his global publicity and brands agency, which will also represent Richter and Yulia Mahr‘s Oxfordshire recording studio and multi-arts production facility Studio Richter Mahr.
U.K.-based Logan Media Entertainment teamed up with BMG to create a new record label, Tag8 Music, that will “specialize in the growing market for resurgent established artists,” according to a LinkedIn post by Logan Media. The label will launch with a roster including Blue, Pixie Lott, Roachford and a cast album of The Drifters Girl musical featuring Beverley Knight.
Naxos Music Group signed an extensive partnership with Downtown-owned FUGA. Under the deal, Naxos will have access to FUGA’s full suite of services including digital distribution, marketing services, royalty accounting and use of FUGA’s trends and analytics platform for Naxos and associated labels.
Los Angeles-based queer singer-songwriter Olive Klug (they/them) signed with Nettwerk, which will release their single “Out of Line” on Nov. 18.
European music royalty investing marketplace ANote Music partnered with Revelator, which provides digital IP infrastructure to music rights holders and music companies, for an arrangement that will allow Revelator clients to list their shares of tracks in their catalogs on ANote. The two companies will also collaborate on integrating Revelator’s technology, data management, predictive models and payment systems into ANote.
Symphonic partnered with music company Ropeadope for exclusive global distribution and marketing. Under the deal, Symphonic will provide digital and physical distribution and playlist pitching for Ropeadope’s full back catalog and key new releases. The partnership will encompass forthcoming releases by The Headhunters, Sarah Elizabeth Charles and Mthunzi Mvubu.
North Dakota pop-punk band Brooklane signed to Los Angeles-based Adventure Cat Records, an indie label from the artist management team at KMGMT. The band has new music in the works with producers Andrew Wade and Steve Knight. They are managed by David Pinder and Desanka Ilic at Cold Coffee Entertainment.
Vancouver-based artist management company Macklam Feldman Management signed on to represent acoustic folk-pop trio Tiny Habits, comprised of Maya Rae, Cinya Khan and Judah Mayowa.