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Live Nation Says Stage Is Set For Strong 2012 Despite New Competition

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday September 15, 2011 @ 5:26pm PDTTags: AEG, American Idol, Glee, Irving Azoff, Live Nation, Live Nation Entertainment, Michael Rapino, The Voice, The X Factor, Ticketmaster

Don’t tell Live Nation executives that their concert acts are getting old. While one-time hitmaker Neil Diamond continues to hit the stage at age 70, Chairman Irving Azoff says that “every year there’s a Taylor Swift, or Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga.” He adds: “We’re managing all the winners of The X Factor. We predict the tour will be huge. It’s Idol plus The Voice plus Glee on steroids.” That kind of shameless self promotion was the order of the day this afternoon as Azoff and CEO Michael Rapino made the investment case for their concert venue, talent management, and ticketing colossus at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media Communications and Entertainment conference. Rapino says that “in an overall tough economic time, we’re thrilled that the industry came off a horrible year and stabilized…. We will finish the year flat to up as  an industry and the early pipeline for 2012 looks good.”

Azoff says that Live Nation plans to take advantage of the crowds that will flock to Europe next year around the Summer Olympics in London. “The biggest names in the business will be on the road,” he says. “We’ll get a non-economy blip.” One of his mainstays, The Eagles, continues to tour and plans a Broadway show called (what else?) Hotel California. “No one knows whether the Rolling Stones are touring or not,” Azoff says. The execs say that they’re also making deals that could pay off — including a soon-to-be-announced acquisition of a management team. They don’t all work: Azoff chastised “one of my prima donna managers” who fired Kid Rock for bad behavior. The company had fewer problems arranging for Jennifer Hudson to sell Weight Watchers diets, and Mariah Carey to hawk Jenny Craig. Meanwhile, the Live Nation chiefs say that they’re unfazed by the emergence of a ticketing operation from their top competitor, AEG, that might challenge Ticketmaster. The No. 2 concert company is poised to sell tickets at its own venues in a partnership with Outbox Technology. “We don’t believe they’ll have as good a ticketing solution,” Azoff says. “So far our renewal rates have been phenomenal.”

 

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AEG Rolling Out Rival Biz To Ticketmaster

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday August 23, 2011 @ 7:35am PDTTags: AEG, Anschutz Entertainment Group, Live Nation, Ticketmaster

No matter what the consumer will still get screwed. Anschutz Entertainment Group will roll out its much-hyped challenge to chief rival Live Nation Entertainment’s Ticketmaster this Saturday. So the battle is on. AEG has partnered with start-up … Read More »

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Live Nation Credits Growing Concert Ticket And Ad Sales For 2Q Results Above Expectations

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday August 8, 2011 @ 1:16pm PDTTags: Live Nation Earnings, Live Nation Entertainment, Michael Rapino, Ticketmaster

Live Nation’s increase in ticket prices didn’t deter many people from going to see concerts in 2Q. The company reported net earnings of $13.3M, up from a $32.8M loss in the same period last year, on revenues of … Read More »

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Jim Dolan Joins Live Nation Board After Company Says He Can Still Be A Competitor

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday June 30, 2011 @ 2:19pm PDTTags: AMC Networks, Cablevision, Cablevison James L. Dolan, Live Nation Entertainment, Madison Square Garden, Ticketmaster

The mind-numbing network of interlocking corporate relationships at Live Nation — the No. 1 concert promoter and owner of Ticketmaster — just became much more complicated with the announcement that Jim Dolan is joining its board of directors. He’s a power in live entertainment in his role as executive chairman of Madison Square Garden — a major owner of concert venues (Radio City Music Hall, The Beacon Theater, The Chicago Theater), sports teams (New York’s Knicks and Rangers) and media outlets (MSG network and music channel Fuse). Dolan’s also CEO of Cablevision Systems, a director of AMC Networks, and a Live Nation client in his role as lead singer and guitarist for blues band Read More »

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