❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

More artists’ revenue for Live Nation

Marketplace Staff May 7, 2009
HTML EMBED:
COPY

More artists’ revenue for Live Nation

Marketplace Staff May 7, 2009
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Renita Jablonski: The nation’s biggest concert promoter will put its first-quarter earnings on stage this afternoon. Live Nation is still waiting to find out if regulators will approve its proposed merger with Ticketmaster. Joel Rose has more.


Joel Rose: Live Nation called itself the future of the music industry.

Jay-Z: Came from the bottom of the bottom, to the top of the pops.

The company spent hundreds of millions of dollars to sign Jay-Z, Madonna and others to so-called “360 degree” deals that gave Live Nation a share of all the artist’s revenue streams, including merchandise.

Bob Lefsetz: The problem was these were vast sums. That paradigm is completely dead.

Longtime industry watcher Bob Lefsetz says Live Nation is still trying to get a bigger share of artists’ revenues. But its approach has changed. Now, Live Nation is trying to merge with Ticketmaster, which happens to own Front Line Management, a company that represents hundreds of top touring artists.

Lefsetz: Suddenly it will be easier to make deals with acts, because they’ll be part of the same company, where at present there’s an adversarial relationship.

But the deal still faces serious anti-trust scrutiny from regulators in Washington and internationally.

I’m Joel Rose for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.