Barry fucked Malone so Irving used Malone to fuck Barry.<\/p>\n
Although he’s well compensated, Barry Diller is not the seer "The New Yorker" and the mainstream media make him out to be.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s got a ragtag bag of assets over at IAC that yield no synergy to the point where John Malone wanted the business to be run a different way and Barry deconstructed the empire to ensure that Malone couldn’t win and Malone sued and lost.\u00c2\u00a0 Case closed.\u00c2\u00a0 Or is it?<\/p>\n
Barry plays to the press.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re all his buddies.\u00c2\u00a0 He gives access, he charms them, he shows up with Diane on his arm, it’s all so chi-chi.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Malone lives two time zones away in the Mountain West and cares first and foremost about the wallet.\u00c2\u00a0 Every night you stare at your TV, do you know that no one shaped what you see on the set more than John Malone?\u00c2\u00a0 Not a household name, but a powerful presence in not only visual media, but satellite radio.<\/p>\n
Irving Azoff’s a charmer too.\u00c2\u00a0 And one of the few who can manipulate and backstab as well as Barry Diller.\u00c2\u00a0 Although Irving’s more in the mold of Malone, he’s about business efficiency, closing, getting what he wants.<\/p>\n
Roger Ames wanted to merge Warner Music with EMI.\u00c2\u00a0 Then BMG.\u00c2\u00a0 He couldn’t close.\u00c2\u00a0 The winners are not the theorists, it’s those who can close.<\/p>\n
In other words, are you sitting at home listening to your music, a dedicated fan, or do you want to be in the business, the music INDUSTRY!\u00c2\u00a0 If it’s the latter, pay attention, because this is how it truly works.\u00c2\u00a0 Be an intern, work your way up to a junior position in some management company or soon to go out of business record label, think you’re getting ahead, but you’re not.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the business was shaped by entrepreneurs who if they worked for anyone else did so briefly, before they went on their own and conquered.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s kind of like being a band.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want the label to babysit you, if you’re not hands-on, paying attention to your business, you’re gonna wake up one day to find that not only are you not where you want to be, you’re probably broke.\u00c2\u00a0 This is one area where the Republicans have it right, the old school Republicans, success in the entertainment industry is all about taking personal responsibility.<\/p>\n
Irving didn’t want to answer to Barry.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that simple.\u00c2\u00a0 Barry was the boss.\u00c2\u00a0 And being the boss, you get to add your two cents.\u00c2\u00a0 But Irving can’t work for someone, nor does he want to, he wants to go his own way, as one of his management clients so eloquently put it.\u00c2\u00a0 He needed to make a deal with Ticketmaster in order to gain size and power, this came with Barry, how could he get rid of Barry?<\/p>\n
By enlisting the fucked Malone to buy up all of Live Nation’s newly-minted stock via a tender offer.\u00c2\u00a0 Which wasn’t wildly successful at first, but it put Barry Diller on notice.\u00c2\u00a0 And today, Barry Diller resigned his position as Chairman of the Live Nation board.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s clear sailing for Irving and Rapino hereafter.<\/p>\n
Of course it’s a public company, of course the industry has endemic problems, but whatever solutions Irving can conceive of, he can now act on without worrying about his dad looking over his shoulder.<\/p>\n
This is not radically different than Tommy Mottola killing Walter Yetnikoff.\u00c2\u00a0 Or Doug Morris getting rid of both Bob Krasnow and Mo Ostin.\u00c2\u00a0 This is where the real game is played, at the elite level.<\/p>\n
In other words, are you a worker bee or a big swinging dick?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you take orders or give them?<\/p>\n
The entertainment business will always be about those who give them.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s inherently "what have you done for me lately".\u00c2\u00a0 No one needs a record or a movie or a TV show like they need food, but concoct something precious and people will beat down your door to consume it.\u00c2\u00a0 While they’re doing the consuming, are you getting paid?\u00c2\u00a0 How much?<\/p>\n
Presently Live Nation is about milking the old acts until the new appear.\u00c2\u00a0 Can they bridge the gap?\u00c2\u00a0 Can they deal with the debt?\u00c2\u00a0 Can they create enough new products with healthy margins to prosper?<\/p>\n
Those are the questions.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ll see if Irving has answers.<\/p>\n
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