MG Live Promotes Sam Rogers to Director of Touring (EXCLUSIVE)

Sam Rogers rises to director of touring at MG Live, The Music Network can exclusively reveal.

Working closely with Matt Gudinski, CEO of parent company Mushroom Group, Rogers will oversee and secure talent for all MG Live tours across the region.

Rogers takes the reins of a concert promotion power station. Unveiled in July 2023, MG Live gathers several of Mushroom Group’s premier assets and is said to be Australia’s largest independent touring and events collective -- with a primary focus on developing branded events and experiences alongside its domestic and international headline touring.

Over the past year, the company delivered almost 200 shows across more than 50 tours, shifting upwards of 500,000 tickets.

"I’d always kept an eye on Sam and when the opportunity came up to have him join the team in 2020, even in the midst of a pandemic that had devastated our industry, it was simply too good to pass up,” comments Gudinski.

“Sam and I work incredibly well together, and I’m thrilled that he will be stepping into the role of director of touring at MG Live. His wealth of expertise and leadership will be instrumental in ensuring MG Live continues to set the benchmark for touring across our region."

Rogers will guide a slate of national tours including Jimmy Barnes, Tyler, the Creator, Bliss n Eso, Victor Ray, Montell Fish, Kofi Stone, and Australia’s Boiler Room plus more live content for 2025 and 2026.

“It’s exciting times,” Rogers tells TMN. “Sponsorships are a big part of the business at the moment we're going to see more and more of it moving forward. There is more appetite for that.”

Looking at the concerts business with a wide-angle lens, Rogers is an optimist. "We’re seeing a lot of really, really encouraging wins on a weekly basis, not just internally, but with some of our competitors in the market. And we're seeing tours still sell really well and really consistently at all levels."

There's a lot of "really good news stories out there. You’ve just got to navigate your way through the challenges,” he explains.

Joining the Mushroom Group in 2020, Rogers has played a “pivotal role in securing and delivering major tours” across a wide range of genres, reads a statement, including international artists J Balvin, Fatboy Slim, Kneecap, Macklemore, Peggy Gou, Madison Beer, Róisín Murphy, JPEGMAFIA, and The Roots.

In 2023, he was appointed agent with Mushroom Group's newly launched talent booking business, MBA.

At launch, MG Live consolidated Mushroom’s leading events and touring businesses, from Illusive Presents to Roundhouse Entertainment, Good Life Presents, I OH YOU Touring, Arena Touring and more.