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AEG Live boss renews contract
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 13 February 2012
Entertainment giant AEG has re-signed the boss of its live entertainment division in the US to another five year contract. Randy Phillips has been CEO of AEG Live for ten years already.
The new contract was confirmed by the overall boss of AEG, Tim Leiweke, who told reporters: “Under Randy Phillips and his entire management team, the last three years at AEG Live have been the best three years in our history; including 2011 – our best year ever. We are proud that the management team’s entrepreneurial spirit, shared goals, incredible experience and knowledge of our industry, along with our employees, so many of whom have been here from day one, have been the backbone of this company these past ten years. It is also ironic that for years people questioned whether or not we were committed to this business. Now we are the most consistent and respected in the industry. I am happy to have Randy back and look forward to the next ten years”.
Although still second to Live Nation in terms of dominance in the live music space, AEG Live under Phillips does seem to have had a more stable few years than its bigger competitor, even as the US live market wobbled a bit in 2010. Phillips also weathered the fall out of Michael Jackson’s death, his company having already invested millions into the planned ‘This Is It’ London residency when the king of pop died. That was partly helped by the revenues made by the ‘This Is It’ film, which was, in many ways, a direct result of the AEG Live CEO’s personal interest in making documentary films around his company’s biggest live shows. The firm was also involved in Justin Bieber’s concert film ‘Never Say Never’.
Of course the Jackson family’s lawsuits against AEG are still rumbling on. Both Jackson’s mother and father say the live firm should take some responsibility for the late singer’s demise as it was they who hired Conrad Murray, the doctor found guilty of causing the king of pop’s death. Those cases could cause some stresses for both AEG and Phillips if and when they go to court, even though the live firm argues that Jackson himself insisted Murray be hired, and directly oversaw his employment.
