Irving Azoff

[*Laura]

In the words of Bob Lefsetz,from his Jan 24 Letter called Music Industry Power Top Ten



3. Irving Azoff

"When Irving was building the present Frontline empire he told me his
goal was to build a monolith so powerful that when the major labels
wouldn't do something because it was "against their policy", he could
counter that a certain procedure/deal point was against HIS/FRONTLINE'S
policy.

But who could foresee the slip in label power in this century. Now
Irving manipulates the label, when he wants to use one at all. He sold
the "Warner" piece of Frontline to Barry Diller and then up and sold
Warner ANOTHER piece.

With Irving it's not a matter of trust, he's just smarter than just
about everybody else. And accessible. And charming. And the other
managers hate him for it.

Irving's got the power in an era where the manager dominates. Hell,
Irving's partner Howard Kaufman has got Rapino tied in a knot. Rapino
NEEDS Howard's acts, to fill his buildings.

You want to know the future of this business? Watch Irving.

And his artists trust him..."


The entire article: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

[CatEyes]

lefsetz is a fave of mine.

I love how he lets Rick Rubin have it in the other part of the list.

He also slams Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

One thing I really like in this article ( he mentions it in almost every email) is that he always states the importance of fans. This one reminded me of this place.

8. Music Blogs

We'll even put Pitchfork here too. This business was built by, and is sustained
by, rabid fans. Rabid fans scour the Web for information on their favorite acts
and new acts. Too many sites are started with the profit motive first, and
that's why they're untrustworthy. Hell, that's why MySpace has got such a bad
name. And Mark Zuckerberg is doing a good job fucking up Facebook too.

Music bloggers do it for the love of music. They can be trusted. Profit is
secondary. Are blogs the new radio? If not quite, they show a pathway to the
future, where it's about being turned on by love, not hype.

Cat

[Arkansas]

Seems a little patronizing, but probably accurate.
However, I do find the WalMart segment to be in direct contrast. If they are so doomed, then why is IA in bed with them?


later~

[*Laura]

lefsetz is a fave of mine.

Mine too.I read him religiously.

[*Laura]

He also slams Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Love it! He's right,it's time for a NEW Hall.

[perryfaithful]

One thing I really like in this article ( he mentions it in almost every email) is that he always states the importance of fans. This one reminded me of this place.
"..........This business was built by, and is sustained by, rabid fans"

Cat[/quote]




EXCELLENT!! Underline the word "sustained!"

So, Neal & CO, are you paying attention??

[marco17]

Seems a little patronizing, but probably accurate.
However, I do find the WalMart segment to be in direct contrast. If they are so doomed, then why is IA in bed with them?

I am not sure they view WalMart that way. What they probably see is that an insane number of people shop at that chain throughout the US and that there may be a lot of people who wouldn't step into a traditional music store these days. So, in their eyes, they are reaching a lot more people then they would if they didn't use them. A different band, but Bon Jovi is still popular enough worldwide, regardless to what you think of their music, and they marketed some of their latest releases with Target. They certainly don't need Target to get their music out there. Not to mention, I am sure any of these large chain stores love saying that they sell a Journey, Bon Jovi, or whatever band CD exclusively with extra material in their music section. Both parties benefit.

[Rockindeano]

You want to know the future of this business? Watch Irving.

And his artists trust him..."[/color]

So this explains the great mind that cooked up lead synced vocals. And yes, the band trusted him enough to go along with him.


He wasn't that tough during TG was he?

[sniper16]

deeno do you think journey was the first band to use taped recordings live.
or lasr for that matter

[Perrydise]

deeno do you think journey was the first band to use taped recordings live.
or lasr for that matter

Doesn't matter whether they were the first or last, the point is the people that PAID for the tickets to see a LIVE show didn't get the show they paid for.

[To Be Alive]

"Wal-Mart
Soon they’ll only be selling a handful of CDs, and then none at all."

I'd be interested to know what they're basing this on. I work for a WM supplier in a department that is being slowly phased out in many stores, to make more room for MORE Electronics, which includes CD's, DVD's, etc.

[Rockindeano]

deeno do you think journey was the first band to use taped recordings live.
or lasr for that matter

Of course not, but Journey was and is supposed to be better than that. So much talent. Their singer was lame. They should have waited for him. Azoff knew full well before signing the contract with Lippard that he was lame. He did it anyway. He is the braintrust behind that scandal. He came up with the idea. Real smart guy huh?

Azoff, you aren't too bright. A couple "fans with no lives" figured your game out.

[jrnyman28]

"Wal-Mart
Soon they’ll only be selling a handful of CDs, and then none at all."

I'd be interested to know what they're basing this on. I work for a WM supplier in a department that is being slowly phased out in many stores, to make more room for MORE Electronics, which includes CD's, DVD's, etc.

The department may include Cds and DVDs but I would be willing to bet the extra space goes to Games, MP3 players and Flat TVs and HD DVD players.

[To Be Alive]

"Wal-Mart
Soon they’ll only be selling a handful of CDs, and then none at all."

I'd be interested to know what they're basing this on. I work for a WM supplier in a department that is being slowly phased out in many stores, to make more room for MORE Electronics, which includes CD's, DVD's, etc.

The department may include Cds and DVDs but I would be willing to bet the extra space goes to Games, MP3 players and Flat TVs and HD DVD players.

You may be right. It's hard to tell from our local WM's because they're carrying more CD's than they used to, but half of the selection is Hispanic/Latino now, because of the increasing demographic in Northwest Arkansas.