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Posts Tagged “Deals”

deals

Ticketmaster Figures Out How To Use The Phrase "Synergize Backwards Overflow" In A Sentence

In a move that's part and parcel with the continued "verticalization" of the music industry, the Ticketmaster is buying a controlling interest in Irving Azoff's Frontline Management, which counts Christina Aguilera, The Eagles, Neil Diamond, and, oh yeah, Guns N' Roses, among its clients. Azoff will continue on as manager of these acts. The move is a push-back against the growing management/promoter/ticket vendor chimera that is Live Nation—if Live Nation can get into the ticket-selling game and the ill-advised 360-deal game, the logic seems to say, well then so can Ticketmaster get into the management game. Seeing as how today has been "all GNR all the time" around here, I have a theory as to the timing of this move. More »

2:00 PM on Thu Oct 23 2008
By Lucas Jensen
353 views, Comment

The rumored 360 deal between Shakira and megapromoter Live Nation has apparently been signed and sealed. The deal, which will last 10 years and will encompass tours, merch, sponsorship, and recordings, is in effect immediately—except on the recorded-music side, where Shakira still owes Epic three albums (one in English, one in Spanish, and one in "greatest-hits cash-out"-ish). The deal is rumored to be worth somewhere between $70 million and $100 million, which at least sounds reasonable in the context of the other deals the company's been striking lately. [NYT]

4 comments

The long-rumored $150 million, 10-year deal between Jay-Z and Live Nation reportedly closed Wednesday night, with Live Nation giving Jay a chunk of stock, $5 million per year for "overhead," $25 million for acquisitions and investments, $10 million an album (for a three-album deal), and $20 million for publishing, licensing, and other rights. Live Nation's stock has jumped sharply since the deal was reportedly closed. [Billboard]

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All You Need To Know About MySpace Music's Forward-Thinking Strategies "We believe the Web is becoming more social, and MySpace Music is a new way of consuming music online," said Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and chief executive of MySpace. Like... paid downloads! And ad-supported streams! And undisclosed financial terms, which is code for one thing: Universal Music Group is probably pocketing a lot of cash for its involvement in the venture. [Washington Post]

3 comments

deals

Live Nation Apparently Willing To Throw Lots Of Cash Jay-Z's Way

The New York Times is reporting that Jay-Z and Live Nation are on the verge of agreeing to a $150 million deal that will cover his recordings and tours for the next 10 years, as well as financing for his own venture, which will allegedly be called the Carter Music Group. Once the deal is finalized, Jay will become Live Nation's most highly paid artist, a title that is currently held by Madonna, whose deal with the concert conglomerate comes in at a now-measly-looking $120 million. Earlier rumors claimed that Jay was looking for at least $100 million for the Carter Music Group, with naysayers saying that his pocketing that much money was a impossiblity because "it isn't the '90s anymore." Anyone want to check the calendars in Live Nation's offices? [NYT / Photo: AP]

9:40 PM on Wed Apr 2 2008
By Maura Johnston
314 views, Comment

The banks who were supposed to finance the buyout of radio behemoth Clear Channel are, as reported yesterday, getting cold feet about backing the deal in the face of the credit crisis. According to the New York Times, Clear Channel and the private-equity firm looking to buy it out are planning to go to court in an effort to force the banks, which include Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, to finance the deal at the cheaper rate that was available when the deal was first announced back in late 2006, the days when credit flowed like water. [NYT]

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Credit Crunch Puts Clear Channel Buyout In Limbo "The $19 billion privatization of Clear Channel Communications Inc. was near collapse as the private equity firms behind the deal and the banks financing it failed to resolve their differences over the terms of the credit agreement, people familiar with the matter said. ... 'The sponsors do not want to do this deal,' said one person involved, referring to the private equity firms. 'No one wants to do this deal except for the seller.' " Anyone else think that this little piece of news is going to result in a worldwide outbreak of schadenfreude? [WSJ]

3 comments

Is the rumored deal where Cablevision and Ticketmaster would acquire 49% of concert promoter AEG Live on the verge of unraveling? Hits is hearing that Jim Dolan of Cablevision and Phil Anschutz of AEG Live are having a classic corporate-bigwig power struggle, and that negotiations are at the very least in hiccup mode. [Hits Daily Double]

4 comments

deals

Concert Business To Become Even More Tightly Knit

Billboard is reporting that two of my personal least favorite companies, Ticketmaster and Cablevision—the latter of which counts Madison Square Garden and the MTV-in-Pull-Ups network Fuse among its holdings—are on the verge of collectively acquiring a 49% stake in AEG Live, the second-largest concert promoter in the United States. (AEG's tours—which included Hannah Montana and Bon Jovi—took in $742 million last year, according to Billboard; the ever-expanding Live Nation was in the pole position.) According to sources, Fuse is in fact a key part of the deal, and the channel will be aggressively rebranded so that it can show the world that "AEG Live [is] a company now armed with a large media component and the world's largest ticketing company in Ticketmaster." But don't change that dial just yet! That MBA mumbo-jumbo just means that you'll probably be able to watch more live broadcasts of AEG Live-booked shows that just happen to be taking place at Fuse's neighbor across the street, Madison Square Garden—not to mention festivals like Coachella and All Points West, which AEG also has a hand in booking. And wait, there's more! More »

12:50 PM on Thu Feb 28 2008
By Maura Johnston
619 views, 4 comments

Latest by KinetiQ: @rad_matter: I was just about to comment the same thing. I think it's time to start cosplaying STRONG ACCOMPANYING VISUAL. more »

The variable-pricing digital-music site Amie Street has added artists like Cat Power, of Montreal, and the Mountain Goats to its site, thanks to new agreements with the Beggars Group, Matador Records, and Polyvinyl. Amie Street's pricing scheme is based on popularity, with users paying 0 to 98 cents a song based on how in-demand it is from users; right now, of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? is going for about 40 cents a track, while Vampire Weekend is, perhaps unsurprisingly, fetching top dollar. Er, penny. [Amie Street]

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Nickelback is ready to shake down Warner Music Group for more money, what with the Canadian band being one of the only bands that actually sells records these days. For its part, WMG is trying to hoodwink the band into signing one of those "we own all of you" 360 deals. Wait, really? What? How does the "we know you want more money, but we want you to give us more of your equity" tactic even make sense in this context? [NYP]

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Apple and American Idol have entered into a partnership that makes the iTunes Store the sole place to buy audio and video downloads of contestants' performances after the show. No word on whether or not promotion for iTunes' offering of Carly Hennessy's Ultimate High will be part of the deal, but we can all hope. [Silicon Alley Insider]

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the concert-industrial complex

Live Nation And Citi Team Up To Barrage Concertgoers With More Opportunities To Get Into Debt

Live Nation has teamed up with the banking giant Citi in a $100 million-ish deal that makes the blood-sucking leeches credit card issuer the "official credit card" of Live Nation events. Not that the "value" of that deal will help, you know, defray ticket costs or anything! Instead, Citi cardholders will be given the opportunity to run up their bills by buying "access to presale and preferred tickets, box seats at venues, premium seats, exclusive merchandise and a variety of VIP experiences" like smaller shows with big-name artists. The Hollywood Reporter also claims that the deal could also encompass naming rights for Live Nation venues around the country, a bit of news that makes me wonder if New York will soon be the home of the Citi Presents The Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza (A Live Nation Venue) (Your Name Here If The Price Is Right). Dare to dream! [Hollywood Reporter]

10:30 AM on Thu Feb 14 2008
By Maura Johnston
395 views, 4 comments

Latest by HONEYBFLY: Chalk this up to "Artists-Whoring-Themselves-Out-To-Rich-Overpaid-People-Desperately-Wanting to-Cling-To-A-Sense-Of-Cool-And-Have-The-Money-To-Do-So" in an attempt to recoup the money that they aren't seeing in the album sales of yesteryear. While I find this frustrating, if I were an artist trying to make a living and somebody offered more »

Something that I was wondering about after yesterday's announcement that last.fm would allow ad-supported, on-demand streaming of songs and albums: Is this a big deal? Can't you do the same thing at Napster and Rhapsody? A last.fm devotee replies: "To me, Last.fm is like a big music club, where there are lots of people who are really interested in music, and where there are lots of toys to play with. And now this music club is giving us a new toy .... on-demand music." I'm a bit skeptical—particularly since the whole "music discovery" ideal doesn't seem like it'll bring in any new members/revenue—but maybe the service's Grammy ads will change all that. [Duke Listens!]

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I was curious when, earlier this week, Daytrotter posted a long love letter to the online live-music archive Wolfgang's Vault and said that they were excited about the prospect of the two companies working together. As it turns out, WV has made a "substantial investment" in the live-music site, and in the press release touting the deal Wolfgang's Vault CEO Bill Sagan gives Daytrotter founder Sean Moeller what may be the highest possible compliment ever: a comparison to baby-boomer patron saint Bill Graham. Snugglebunnies for all! [Daytrotter / Billboard Publicity Wire]

1 comment

deals

Steven Tyler Pumps More Money Out Of Aerosmith's Catalog


Steven Tyler has sold an interest in the publishing rights to about 160 Aerosmith songs to Primary Wave, who you may remember as the people who facilitated that Very Special Nirvana Episode of Cold Case. Tyler apparently pocketed $50 million from the deal, according to the New York Post, but it does have a catch: More »

10:15 AM on Fri Jan 11 2008
By mjohnston
1,056 views, 12 comments

Universal Music Group has sold its video channel IMF—which actually had some decent programming, as well as a few blocks dedicated to videos from non-U.S. lands—to Ovation TV, which combines the stodgy ballet-and-books ethos of old-school A & E with incessant reruns of music shows from the UK and Ireland. (It may be the only broadcast outlet in the world that still cares about 1 Giant Leap!) IMF will cease broadcasting entirely sometime in the first quarter of 2008 to give way to Ovation's programming. [Ovation TV via Video Static]

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The Warner Music Group-owned distribution company Alternative Distribution Alliance has purchased the old-school online music store Insound for an undisclosed sum. ADA reportedly plans to use Insound's recently launched digital-store backend as a way for its member labels and indie accounts to open up digital stores of their own. [Billboard]

2 comments