THE GUDINSKI METHOD (UPDATE)

Australian rock star manager/concert promoter Michael Gudinski—for decades considered by many to be the most important music exec on the continent—is selling his company, The Mushroom Group, to AEG for $75m, according to insiders close to the deal.

The Mushroom Group consists of about 20 companies and includes labels, management firms, music publishing, touring and booking companies, a film company and a merchandise outfit. The Mushroom Man’s Frontier Touring Co. has been Australia and New Zealand’s premier international concert promoter for nearly three decades.

Down Under, AEG will be competing against Live Nation where Michael Coppel has led their efforts for the last seven years; he became Chairman of Live Nation Australasia in 2017. Live Nation expanded into the festival business in late 2016 by acquiring 51% of Secret Sounds Group, which owns and produces Splendour in the Grass and the Falls Music & Arts Festival.