Features
Jay Marciano, COO, AEG; Chairman and CEO, AEG Presents
– Jay Marciano
The Maestros
Executives who have a concept and vision and turn it in to a brilliant show or event.
Jay Marciano
COO, AEG; Chairman and CEO, AEG Presents
As head of mogul Philip Anschutz’s AEG Presents, the second-largest concert promotion company, concert veteran Jay Marciano has shown he’s not averse to taking his gloves off, battling chief rival Live Nation over booking policies at AEG’s flagship venues, Los Angeles’ Staples Center and London’s
O2 Arena. Under Marciano’s watch, AEG Presents grossed $1.6 billion worldwide in 2018 – up from 2017’s $1.3 billion from 2,928 shows – as blockbuster tours by clients Ed Sheeran, The Rolling Stones, Kenny Chesney, Elton John and Taylor Swift (alongside Messina Touring Group) led the way.
Since ascending to his current post at AEG in 2013, Marciano has doubled AEG’s number of venues; rebranded the company’s promotion side as AEG Presents; launched festivals including
Desert Trip, Panorama, Hyde Park and All Points East to join AEG’s festival centerpiece Coachella; and acquired promoters The Bowery Presents, PromoWest Productions and Frontier Touring in New York, Columbus, Ohio and Oceania, respectively. He also opened Las Vegas’ sparkling T-Mobile Arena.
A veteran of 18 years at Universal Concerts and a self-described Air Force brat, Marciano was originally hired by AEG’s Tim Leiweke (now CEO of Oak View Group, owner of Pollstar) in 2011 to lead its European operations.
The hire marked a return to the organization for Marciano: From 2003 to 2005, he served as AEG Live’s Chief Strategy Officer, developing the company’s regional offices and running its music festival division, where he oversaw the acquisition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
After that stint at AEG, Marciano worked for six years at Madison Square Garden Entertainment, where he oversaw bookings and productions at Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and the Chicago Theatre and helped to formulate the concept for Billy Joel’s Madison Square Garden residency with AGI’s Dennis Arfa.
Notoriously media-shy – he even lacks his own Wikipedia page – Marciano quietly and confidently executes his job as one of the concert promotion industry’s most respected and impactful pioneers.