During a discussion with filmmaker Sam Katz, lauded concert promoter Larry Magid, HON ’12, opened up about his decades of experiences shaping Philly’s musical landscape.
Photo by Ryan S. Brandenberg
“You have to be two, three, four steps ahead of everyone,” responded renowned concert promoter Larry Magid, HON '12, when asked about his visionary approach to finding success in the music industry during a Q&A at Temple’s Performing Arts Center on Dec. 4.
“If you want to be a promoter or producer, you’d better have a deep understanding of what the public wants and you have to watch the socioeconomic conditions,” Magid continued. “You have to watch what’s coming up.”
The conversation took place during a celebration of Magid’s new book, The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City. The night began with a reception featuring food and drink concessions and jazz by the Chris Farr Quintet and then segued into a discussion with Magid led by local filmmaker Sam Katz.
The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City, edited by Magid, is an anthology of writing cataloging the most important players in Philadelphia’s musical history, including not only the musical acts but the venues, festivals, record labels, promoters, TV programs and DJs that have had a hand in creating the vibrant music scene Philadelphia boasts today.
Magid is one of the most prolific concert promoters in the country. Starting his career booking acts for local venues while he was a student at Temple in the 60s, he has gone on to produce and promote thousands of concerts, including Live Aid and Live 8. Magid opened the Electric Factory (now known as Franklin Music Hall) in 1968 and then co-founded the concert promotion firm Electric Factory Concerts, which were both foundational in establishing Philadelphia as a hotbed for live music. He has also been a producer and promoter of Broadway shows and national and international tours—he won a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event for Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway in 2003 and again for Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays in 2005.
Throughout his career, Magid has been a generous donor to Temple. His gifts include the Alexander Magid and Leon Fisher scholarships at Klein College of Media and Communication and a contribution to the Donald H. Fey Memorial Scholarship Fund as well as, among others, the creation of 11 new scholarship funds for students with financial need enrolled at Boyer College of Music and Dance; Klein; the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts; and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. To commemorate his achievements and contributions, Magid received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Temple in 2012.
Magid’s conversation with Katz moved fluidly between personal anecdotes, musical history and career advice. Magid recalled how he enrolled at Temple because he wanted to study with broadcasting pioneer and longtime Temple professor Lew Klein (after whom Temple’s Lew Klein College of Media and Communication is named) but wasn’t able to due to limited space. Nonetheless, he persevered and began booking and producing events while still a student.
He credited the student population of Philadelphia as part of the reason why rock ’n’ roll has blossomed in the city since its inception. “Philadelphia was great as a college town,” said Magid. “If this music could happen in Boston and Philadelphia, these college towns, then this new concept of rock music was going to happen.”
Magid shared his memories of discovering a few fellow Owls who have also secured their place in the canon of Philadelphia music history: Hall & Oates. “I remember coming up to these guys who were saying, ‘This is gonna be the electric Simon and Garfunkel.’ It was Daryl Hall and John Oates. They were unbelievable. The first couple of songs that they wrote were great, and they just blew us away,” said Magid.
Magid also recounted memories of Bruce Springsteen’s early shows in Philadelphia. “We bought out the Tower Theater at the end of ’74. We booked four nights culminating in this spectacular New Year’s Eve show, and that was credited as the show that broke him out,” said Magid.
Despite his success, Magid still approaches the industry with humility. When asked by Katz what a concert promoter does, Magid responded, “I’m still learning.”