For the international contemporary live music industry
Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) was able to extract some positives from its second quarter (Q2) financial report, which was otherwise as devastating as for just about everyone else in live entertainment, but on a larger scale. Its survey of fan intentions found that 86 per cent were happy to retain their tickets…
Read moreGERMAN PAN-Europeticketing and promotion giant CTS Eventim has stepped in to support the country’s largest promoter Barracuda Groupo after a bank which holds €34 million ($40.6m) of its deposits was ordered to stop operating in July. Austria’s Financial Market Authority instructed Commerzialbank Mattersburg (CM) to cease trading, including all withdrawals,…
Read moreA PRODUCT launch featuring drones by telecoms giant AT&T made the country’s first drive-in concert by Latin Grammy-winner Pedro Capó viable for co-promoters Move Concerts and No Limit Entertainment (NLE, part of Live Nation Entertainment). Staged in the car park of Hiram Bithorn Stadium (cap. 18,300) in San Juan, the event…
Read moreONE OF the country’s biggest arenas, Madrid’s WiZink Center (cap. 17,452) is reopening for concerts. The venue’s operator Impulsa Eventos e Instalaciones (IEI) has partnered with naming rights sponsor WiZink bank and telecoms company Telefónica to host paid-for live streamed concerts. The concerts will be performed in front of a small…
Read moreONLINE RETAIL giant Amazon has secured a naming rights deal with venue management company Oak View Group (OVG), to rebrand the 18,100-capacity KeyArena in Seattle as Climate Pledge Arena. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says the name is “a regular reminder of the urgent need for climate action”, and the venue…
Read moreVENUE ASSOCIATION LiveKomm has launched a funding programme to support 215 grassroots venues across the country. The initiative will support venues with a grant of €200 per concert, covering 6,900 events at a cost of €1.4 million ($1.133m). The Live 100 scheme will see €100 ($132) given to the venue…
Read moreA PHASE 2 in-depth investigation into the $4.05 billion merger of the two biggest secondary ticketing operators, Viagogo and StubHub, is to be underyaken by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It launched an initial Phase 1 investigation last December and announced its findings in early June. It said the…
Read moreUK-BASED agent Lucy Dickins has been appointed co-head of WME’s worldwide music division following the departure in the US of WME partner and worldwide head of music Mark Geiger.
Read moreCOVID-19 event restrictions are being loosened worldwide but promoters do not expect business to return to anything like normal until the next year. New Zealand went into lockdown on 25 March, but all limits on gatherings were removed on 8 June and social distancing is no longer required. Showcase Entertainment…
Read moreVETERAN REGIONAL figure Thomas Oversen, now working with Saudi Arabian government-owned Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA), believes the county’s growing interest in live entertainment will help the wider region, once the Covid-19 crisis has passed. He says the acquisition of a 5.7 per cent stake in Live Nation Entertainment (LNE)…
Read morePAN-EUROPE ticketing giant and promoter CTS Eventim reports a 34.7 per cent fall in first quarter (Q1) 2020 group revenue to €184.6 million ($203.2m), as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It says the “virtual standstill” in live entertainment in March, the last month of the quarter, also contributed to…
Read moreTHE ITALIAN government has announced that concerts will be allowed to take place from 15 June for the first time since the country went into lockdown on 9 March. Outdoor concerts with up to 1,000 attendees and indoor shows with an audience of up to 200 will be allowed. While…
Read moreIN AN effort to weather the Covid-19 storm, Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) increased the value of its bonds sale to $1.2 billion, days after stating it would be worth $800 million. In its latest bout of fund-raising (see below) and follows last month’s announcement of a $500m cost-cutting exercise. The…
Read moreTHE FORUM (cap. 17,505) in Inglewood, Los Angeles, has been sold by the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp (MSGE) to Steve Ballmer, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. The $400 million deal will see the arena operated by the newly formed Forum Entertainment, with its existing leadership team of…
Read moreVIAGOGO FACES a major setback following a landmark ruling by its Supreme Court that requires the controversial re-sale site to provide detailed information about every ticket it lists, including the seller’s name and address. The judgment sets an important legal precedent for secondary ticketing in the country, with re-sale platforms…
Read moreAn investment fund controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is now the third largest shareholder in Live Nation Entertainment (LNE), following its acquisition of a 5.7 per cent stake in the company. The sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) stake, comprising 12,337,569 shares in LNE, was valued at…
Read moreThe European festival season has been all but obliterated by the fight to limit the spread of Covid-19, with the Germany and the Netherlands among the latest to introduce a ban on events until the end of August. In addition, the European Commission (EC) says festivals and concerts should be…
Read moreTHE COMPETITION and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed it will enter Phase 1 of an investigation into the acquisition of eBay-owned StubHub by Viagogo, after issuing both resale websites with an Initial Enforcement Order in January (see Audience, issue 241). The CMA’s action prevents the two companies from integrating, although…
Read moreTHE MAN they called Mr Pori Jazz, the festival’s founder, died on 27 February, aged 76. Kangas cited the 1958 Newport jazz festival and his inspiration and launched Pori Jazz in 1966, drawing an audience of 1,500 to Kirjurinluoto Park, across the river from the town centre. The event expanded…
Read moreGLOBAL GIANT Live Nation Entertainment (LNE) intends to cut expenditure by $500 million in a bid to counter the devastating impact of the worldwide Covid-19 live event shutdown. Leading the cost-cutting exercise, LNE president and CEO Michael Rapino has volunteered to forego his $3m basic salary, while other senior executives…
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