Irving Azoff

CHAIRMAN/CEO, THE AZOFF COMPANY

Over the course of the last decade, Azoff has expanded beyond his power base as one of the industry’s top artist managers (the Eagles, Harry Styles, John Mayer, Jon Bon Jovi), with ventures in arena development, music asset investment, music publishing and more. In 2021, Azoff and Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke completed the redevelopment of the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle; opened the UBS Arena in Belmont, N.Y.; moved forward on venues in Palm Springs, Calif.: Austin; Baltimore; and Savannah, Ga.; and acquired Spectra, a live events and entertainment company. Oak View expanded internationally with ongoing development projects for arenas in Manchester, England; Ontario, Canada; São Paulo; and Milan. Azoff launched Iconic Artists Group and is already active in acquiring stakes in the music and other rights of legacy acts such as The Beach Boys, David Crosby and Linda Ronstadt. Global Music Rights, the boutique performing rights organization that Azoff launched in 2013, just announced it has reached a conditional settlement that will both provide long-term licenses and end litigation with the Radio Music Licensing Committee over the royalty rates, which have been at risk during five years of litigation involving countercharges of antitrust practices. The Music Artists Coalition, which Azoff, Coren Capshaw, John Silva and others co-founded in 2019, continues to advocate for the rights of creators by lobbying for legislation that would change the music business and pushing behind the scenes to change industry practices that it sees as unfair to artists.

FOR FELLOW 2022 BILLBOARD POWER LIST HONOREES, SEE PAGE 64.