2023 Impact 50: Irving Azoff

Chairman & CEO
The Azoff Company

As one of the most visionary, innovative and successful music executives of all time, it’s inspiring to take stock of the myriad ways Irving Azoff, more than five decades into his illustrious career, continues to be on the leading edge of the music business. His multi-faceted Azoff Company has his Midas touch in several music industry verticals, including Fullstop Management, Global Music Rights, Giant Records, Iconic Artist Group and Oak View Group (Pollstar parent company).
 
At the core of its operations is Azoff’s business philosophy and guiding principle, a simple question he often references in interviews and conversations: “Is it good for the artist?” He’s answered that question repeatedly in a variety of ways with extraordinary results.
 
That ethos was on full display at the 2023 Pollstar Live! Keynote panel on the thorny issue of ticketing, which Azoff moderated and included Garth Brooks, James Dolan and Makan Delrahim. “I care deeply about artists,” he said. “I thought we ought to hear the artist’s point of view on some of these ticketing issues.” The panel then went on to explain exactly why politicians and much of the public are misled by a secondary ticketing market run amok.
 
“These companies have no skin in the game,” Azoff said, “they have invested nothing, risk nothing, created nothing yet they reap the lion’s share of the profit. How does that make sense?”
 
He takes the same artist first perspective with Fullstop’s management clients including Eagles that just wrapped up their SRO Hotel California tour as well as U2 that in September, 2023 will open MSG Entertainment’s Las Vegas Sphere with “U2:VU Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere” including cutting-edge immersive technologies never before integrated under one roof.