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In a business shuffle that will create a startling, groundbreaking change in the world of music management, Madonna’s Israeli manager, Guy Oseary might end up taking a more active role in managing the career of U2, a band managed by 62 year old Paul McGuinness since its inception. The arrangement comes as Live Nation, which also owns Ticketmaster, is in talks to acquire both Principle Management, which has McGuinness in its hire and Oseary’s Maverick, according to the New York Times. Live Nation is reportedly offering $30 million for the combined companies.
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If the deal goes through, Oseary will become chairman of Principle management and will have more involvement in the day-to-day management of U2. Paul McGuinness said in a statement, “It could be seen as slightly poor etiquette for a manager to consider retiring before his artists has split, quit or died, but U2 have never subscribed to the rock n’ roll code of conduct … I have long regarded Guy Oseary as the best manager in his generation, and there is no one else I would have considered to take over the day to day running of the business.”
According to Pollstar, the top ten highest grossing tours included four by U2 and one by Madonna. U2’s last tour made $700 million in ticket sales and was seen by nearly seven million people. Hopefully, he won’t encourage the band to give away free music again, in the well-publicized and broadly criticized iPhone 6 fiasco, in which fans, foes and the indifferent weren’t happy that U2 had its new album automatically installed on the phone.
