Azoff MSG Entertainment Buys 50 Percent of Burns Entertainment

Burns Entertainment is a celebrity marketing company

Azoff MSG Entertainment (AMSGE), the joint venture between Azoff Music Management and the Madison Square Garden Company, has purchased a 50 percent stake in celebrity and music procurement firm Burns Entertainment.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The partnership with AMSGE, which will be called Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing LLC, offers Burns the opportunity to showcase their services to more corporations that seek to contract celebrity talent and music.

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“We are thrilled to have Burns as part of the AMSGE family,” Irving Azoff, chief executive officer of Azoff MSG Entertainment, said in a statement.  “Bob Williams, Doug Shabelman, and Marc Ippolito have built a globally recognized business and we are looking forward to helping take it to new heights.”

“We think the match with Azoff MSG Entertainment is the perfect partnership as we look to expand our business to the next level,” Bob Williams, chief executive officer of Burns Entertainment, added. “We always say that celebrities are not the only ones who need an agent’s help — the companies seeking their endorsement need an expert to guide them in paying the right price, making the right choice and contracting properly for their campaigns.”

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For more than 44 years, Burns Entertainment has represented large consumer brands — such as Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Audi, and Sprint — matching them with celebrities and licensing music for advertising campaigns and promotions.

Burns Entertainment was founded in 1970 by David Burns, who has since retired. Former PR executive Bob Williams bought the company in 1993 and brought in partner/entertainment attorney Doug Shabelman in 1996, followed by another, Marc Ippolito, in 1997.

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AMSGE was launched in September 2013 with four integrated units: Azoff Music Management; Global Music Rights; Television/Live Event Production and Experiential Marketing/Branding; and Digital Brand Architects (DBA).

Recently, AMSGE acquired a 50 percent stake in Pop2Life (P2L), an experiential marketing and music agency that specializes in branded entertainment, social experiences, and unique promotions.

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