Hitmaking, Taylor Swift, and FP&A

What’s the connection between FP&A and Taylor Swift? To answer we are joined by Michael Stotland, Vice President of FP&A at AEG Presents.

AEG Presents is one of the largest live music companies in the world, and most famously the concert promoter behind the $1 billion dollar revenue Eras Tour by Taylor Swift: the highest grossing tour of all time. For good measure, Stotland’s FP&A team also supports the tours of Paul McCartney, Katy Perry Elton John, and the Rolling Stones, and 25 music festivals, including the iconic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, along with Stagecoach, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, hangout Fest, electric Forest, and Firefly.

In this blockbuster episode, we want to teach you how FP&A feels (apologies to Swifties): Michael Stotland VP of FP&A at AEG reveals in conversation with host Glenn Hopper:

• How growing up in Los Angeles the entertainment industry the entertainment industry was a natural choice, and starting my career at MGM
• Spreading my wings at 20th Century Fox 
• Building up the FP&A function at MarVista (a TV and movie production company showcasing nearly 2,500 hours of content) and the story behind a facing a “fantastic year” during COVID FP&A leadership at AEG  helping live entertainment “ return from the abyss” 
• “Seeing the financials bounce” back as pent up demand was realized 
• Pulling external data into daily FP&A work 
• Heatmaps on beer costs and price of living as part of FP&A planning 
• Managing 3 areas of FP&A at AEG:  General, systems and business strategy units
• The FP&A dimension of Taylor Swift Eras Tour 
• Using local macroeconomics to impact business decision-making – from the UK to Singapore and the US
• How Television revenues and licensing of big movies saves movie studios 
• FP&A swiftness when Kanye West bowed out at the last minute at Coachella 
• Using AI to look at past events and ticket sales and performance on a contribution margin basis 
• Looking to optimize how we do FP&A and ambitions to become CFO
• Links between FP&A and my triathlon career 

Connect with Michael Stotland Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis at AEG Presents: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikestotland/

Further Reading:

Rolling Stone: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Is the Highest-Grossing of All Time and First-Ever to Hit $1 Billion

Investopedia: Swiftonomics: The Economic Influence of Taylor Swift

Datarails Blog: How FP&A makes Huge Hollywood Hits