Lovitch

THE GREAT HYPOCRISY OF IRVING AZOFF AND HIS MUSIC ARTISTS COALITION PART TWO THE 1980s By the 1980s, Irving Azoff wasn’t just managing artists anymore. He was becoming one of the most powerful people in the music business. And his own words tell you something about how he viewed that power. In 1985, Azoff was quoted talking about keeping track of his “enemies.” Then came Michael Jackson’s Victory Tour. Concert promoter Frank Russo had been selected by the Jacksons to promote their national tour. Weeks later, Russo was out. He sued for $40 million, saying Irving Azoff helped turn the Jackson brothers against him and push him out of the tour. Then Azoff went to MCA. A huge entertainment company. While Azoff was running MCA’s music operation, MCA also bought management businesses tied to him for around $25 million. Power on both sides of the table. Sound familiar? Vertical integration before Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Then there was Irving Azoff’s relationship with Sal Pisello. Pisello, whom federal court records described as a high-ranking soldier in New York’s Gambino crime family, told federal investigators his first MCA contact was Irving Azoff. Pisello then made hundreds of thousands of dollars through MCA deals. Then came testimony at Pisello’s trial that a record dealer was told to bring $50,000 cash in a brown paper bag to Las Vegas and was told the money was for Irving Azoff. Then came intimidation. And it wasn’t just in boardrooms or courtrooms. After a feud with a rival manager’s wife, Irving Azoff sent the manager a live boa constrictor for his birthday with a note: “Now you have two of them.” Then came pressure on the media. In 1988, while Irving Azoff was the top guy at MCA Records, MCA executives sent a letter to roughly 150 music industry publicists and marketing executives warning them to think twice before giving Spin magazine advertising or access to their artists. Spin publisher Bob Guccione Jr. said MCA had already pressured the magazine for more coverage of MCA artists by threatening to pull its advertising. MCA eventually stopped advertising in Spin and advised its artists not to participate in Spin stories. Sound familiar to @LiveNation in 2026 ? Before lawmakers sit across the table from Irving Azoff and the Music Artists Coalition and listen to them talk about changing the future of the music business, maybe they should understand the history of the man sitting across from them. And we’re only through the 1980s. @MusicArtistsCo @MassGovernor