BILLBOARD REVEALS 2012 POWER 100
January 27, 2012 By Billboard Staff
Billboard found something else that Irving Azoff, executive chairman of Live Nation, can sit atop: In the January 28 issue of the magazine, Billboard unveils the Power 100, a ranking of the most powerful people in the music business.
Azoff’s position on the Power 100 reflects a general trend in power, away from record labels and over to the management and touring side of the business. Of the 100 slots, 23 were filled by those in management or the touring business, compared to 21 record labels.
“Ultimately the artists are in control,” noted one top entertainment attorney, speaking in consultation to the creation of the list. “So whoever most influences the artist has the power. But the label role has diminished as they no longer can provide the established artists with as much cash as they used to.”
Rankings were determined by a combination of key factors including market share, exclusive Billboard chart data/boxscore information, and revenue. A team of 15 top Billboard editors then analyzed the value of these metrics to produce the final results. The list is U.S. based. As well, the Power 100 puts a premium on the top decision makers at each company. So, for example, the strong position of Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine’s is an argument against a high position for the number-two at that company, Steve Berman, who still makes the list.
The list boasts six artists, each of whom cracked the business ranking for specific reasons. “We couldn’t weigh the power of an artist’s fanbase against the power an executive has, or this would have simply been an artist list,” says Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director. “Our Moneymakers list is our artist list. But certain artists were able to break through to the Power 100 based purely on their business success or innovations.”
Artists on the Power 100 include Jay-Z and Beyonce as a power couple, Taylor Swift, U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga.
The rapidly changing music business is represented by the diversity of the remaining slots on the Power 100. There are 10 executives in television or movies (who either book artists or curate music for their productions); nine radio-industry executives and seven music-publishing executives (eight, including David Israelite of the National Music Publishers Association).
The list also includes executives from six digital service providers, from webcasters like Pandora to digital download stores like iTunes; five companies that use music for branding purposes and provide tour and artist sponsorship opportunities like Coca Cola, Chevrolet and AMEX; and five trade groups, like the RIAA and A2IM. There are also four lawyers, and two venture capitalists who invest in music-related companies.
Azoff’s placement at the top of the list is due to his command of the biggest concert-promotion company, the largest ticketing company and the largest artist-management firm in the world. Since live performances are the main revenue source for artists, the touring industry is well represented on the list.
In the year ended 2010, Live Nation posted sales of $5.06 billion in revenue, up 21% from the prior year’s total of $4.2 billion. That increase is almost entirely due to the merger with Ticketmaster that brought Azoff — a veteran music industry executive with a long resume that includes running major record labels and artist-management firms — into the company. But in 2011, going up against the merger numbers, Live Nation is still up 9.75% to $4.2 billion, up another 9.75% from $3.83 billion.
Azoff’s power reflects the changing dynamic in the music business. As he said in the Q&A that appears in the issue, “It’s all about the artist and those they empower to execute their business plans.”
BILLBOARD’S 2012 POWER 100 INDEX:
1. Irving Azoff
2. Coran Capshaw
3. Lucian Grainge
4. Martin Bandier
5. Doug Morris
6. Michael Rapino
7. Rob Light
8. Len Blavatnik
9. Tim Leiweke
10. Jimmy Iovine
11. Eddie Cue and Robert Kondrk
12. John Hogan
13. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter & Beyonce Knowles
14. Lyor Cohen
15. Randy Phillips
16. Emmanuel Seuge
17. Frank Cooper
18. Barry Weiss
19. Rob Stringer and Steve Barnett
20. Arthur Fogel
21. Marc Geiger
22. Dan Mason
23. Bob Pittman
24. Roger Faxon
25. Ronald “Slim” Williams and Bryan “Baby” Williams
26. Rio Caraeff
27. U2 and Paul McGuinness
28. Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman
29. Daniel Ek
30. Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald
31. Lewis W. Dickey, Jr
32. Peter Grosslight
33. Charles Attal, Charlie Jones and Charlie Walker
34. Robert Greenblatt
35. Van Toffler
36. Monte Lipman
37. Antonio “L.A.” Reid
38. Joel Katz
39. Mark Campana and Bob Roux
40. Tim Westergren
41. Peter Edge and Tom Corson
42. Tom Poleman
43. Chip Hooper
44. Hartwig Masuch
45. Rob Cavallo and Todd Moscowitz
46. Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch
47. Nathan Hubbard
48. Jay Brown
49. Evan Lamberg
50. Jon Bon Jovi
51. Lia Vollack
52. Jan Jeffries
53. Steve Bartels
54. Scott Borchetta
55. Blaise D’Sylva
56. Neil Portnow
57. Dennis Arfa
58. Cameron Strang
59. Cortez Bryant/Gee Roberson
60. Sean Parker
61. Steve Moore
62. Paul Rosenberg
63. Tifanie Van Laar
64. Ryan Seacrest
65. Robert Kyncl
66. Lorne Michaels
67. John Butcher
68. Clint Higham
69. Randy Spendlove
70. Rich Lehrfeld
71. Peter Luukko
72. John Branca
73. Melissa Lonner
74. Raul Alarcon, Jr.
75. John Frankenheimer
76. Cary Sherman
77. Larry Marcus
78. Taylor Swift
79. Kevin Mayer
80. PJ Bloom
81. James L. Dolan
82. Jesus Lopez
83. Martin Karl “Max Martin” Sandberg
84. Lady Gaga
85. Mike Dungan
86. Fred Wilson
87. Jon Platt
88. Willard Ahdritz
89. John Ivey and Alex Tear
90. Jody Gerson
91. Chris Tsakalakis
92. Nigel Lythgoe
93. Richard Busch
94. Debra Lee
95. David Israelite
96. Steve Berman
97. Rich Bengloff
98. Gary Overton
99. Daniel Glass
100. Simon Cowell
Irving Azoff: The Billboard Power 100 Q&A
January 27, 2012
By Ray Waddell (@billboardtour), Nashville
Billboard: Do people always take your calls?
Irving Azoff: Only the ones that want to complain about something.
What constitutes power in the music business?
The trust of artists.
The balance of power has shifted?
It’s all about live, live, live. Since the traditional recorded-music business models have drastically changed, there is truly diminished income derived from recorded music by artists-both current and catalog. The touring industry has become much more important as a majority revenue stream and the ancillary fan experiences and promotions that may be derived from it. It’s all about artists and those they empower to execute their business plans.
How is power best wielded? What’s the worst one can do with power?
Follow through on principled decisions. The worst thing one can do is think [the power] is yours-and not the artist’s.
When is it time to yell, and when is it time to chill?
Depends on who you’re dealing with.
Are things playing out the way you thought five years ago they might?
Between the worldwide economy and the lack of respect for intellectual property, you can be sure it will get tougher and tougher as time goes on.
And guys like me? Any power there?
Ray Waddell and Billboard hold all the power cards.
I guess now is when I start playing “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.”
I’d prefer “Life in the Fast Lane.”