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In case you hadn't noticed, this blog is dead.

There will be a new one later. In the meantime, don't believe everything that you read.

Thursday stuff!

Lollapalooza full lineup finally announced

In addition to such big-name headliners as Modest Mouse, the Stooges and the previously confirmed Pearl Jam, the August 3-5 festival in Chicago's Grant Park will feature sets from Daft Punk, Muse, Interpol, Lupe Fiasco, Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Snow Patrol, the Roots, Paulo Nutini, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Patti Smith, Spoon, Amy Winehouse, the Hold Steady, Peter Bjorn and John, the Fratellis and Cold War Kids.

San Diego's Live Nation-produced Street Scene festival in negotiations to move to a larger space

Armed with a few tunes and a limp stage show, she's nonetheless on the road to pop domination, Lily Allen adds ever more US tour dates.


Lily DJing her afterparty last night in NYC at LOVE with DJ Aaron LaCrate

Austin 360 speculates on who will headline this year's Austin City Limits.

The Police and Pearl Jam are two names being thrown around, along with last year’s wish listers: Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Peppers. And it sure looks like the reunited Smashing Pumpkins (Billy Corgan’s back together again), who are playing every festival that doesn’t include a livestock contest, are headed here in September.

Live Nation to restore legendary Hollywood Palladium

Back!

I'm back and hoping I can get away with stealing Largehearted Boy's blogroll style.....

Pollstar discusses one company that is offering ticket insurance

The company, World Access, is also in the travel insurance biz, and VP of Marketing Communications Mark Cipolletti explained to Pollstar that when people travel for big events like concerts and something goes wrong with the trip, those people miss out on the event as well...... And when concertgoers opt to insure their tickets, Cipolletti said they are covered for "unforeseen medical, travel, and other circumstances that would prevent you from attending the event.

"Basically, it covers 100 percent of the ticket price, including any taxes that you've paid or shipping charges that you've incurred," he said. "It totally makes you whole for what you purchased the ticket for and it's coverage up to $10,000."

Line-ups for Al Gore and Live Nation's Live Earth benefit concert in London and New Jersey announced. The benefit concerts are planned for July 7th in seven major cities around the world. The other cities are Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Antarctica (???).

Here's info about how to obtain those free Ozzfest tickets

Websites for Ozzfest, Live Nation, Monster Energy, Jagermeister Music and F.Y.E have begun posting sponsor websites where fans can find codes and redeem them for tickets on June 12. Only two tickets will be up for grabs per person. To get the tickets, fans have to punch in the code at the website they registered for or go to Live Nation's Ozzfest website.

In Chicago Sun-Times, Jim DeRogaitis writes briefly about why Intonation Festival isn't happening this year.

Concert industry observers said Thursday the fact that Intonation has dropped out of the busy summer concert season for what would have been its third year underscores that the vibrant Chicago live-music market may be becoming saturated with weekendlong multiband events.

Live Nation grabs a stake in UK's Academy Music Holdings owners of popular venues Carling Academy Brixton and Shepherd's Bush Empire.

In the big branding move I was waiting for, Live Nation has announced plans to expand The Fillmore brand. New York's Irving Plaza, Philadelphia's Theatre of Living Arts and Detroit's State Theatre will join Miami's Jackie Gleason Theatre, and the two currently existing Fillmore's in San Francisco and Denver to form the national club brand.

"We do thousands of shows in small and midsized venues every year and we have some great venues, even putting aside the two existing Fillmores and House of Blues," (Bruce) Eskowitz (Live Nation's CEO of North American Music) told Pollstar. "We have some of the best, absolutely great venues in the United States. "We are converting many of those and you'll continue to see us convert and expand many of them to both The Fillmore and House of Blues brands," Eskowitz continued.

Live Nation Earning Call Report

So this call was brief and to the point. They are still operating at a loss, but a much narrower loss. They've acquired a lot of very valuable properties in the past year and while there were expenses involved in the purchases, they were one time costs, so the losses were brief investments which should (hopefully!) bring more profits (and get them out of the red) soon.

OK, enough money stuff.......
Burning Questions Answered!!

What’s been sold? What markets are they pulling out of?

Over the last year, Michael Rapino has brought singular focus to this company. The focus is MUSIC! The sports division was sold off, as well as a number of theater properties. By the end of the year most of their theater properties will be gone. They have been selling venues in smaller markets, but they didn't make much mention of where they are pulling out next. They did--however--mention that for tax reasons they would be unable to sell Boston Opera House, Hilton Theater, and a number of UK theater properties this year, so those will be hanging around for at least a few more quarters.

They also plan to hold on to the motor sports division--for the time being. Though Rapino did say that they would reevaluate the motor sports holding after the theater sale.

What’s been acquired? What markets are they entering?

In the last few quarters, Live Nation acquired Trunk, House of Blues, Concert Promotion International, and Music Today in order to expand their work in the global music business. The acquisition of CPI was the most notable and profitable acquisition making them the number one promoter in Canada and bringing in billions in revenue. In addition, they announced last week that they were expanding the French and Spanish markets with the Gamerco purchase.

What is their mission now (they were looking for a clarity of mission last we checked)?

MUSIC, MUSIC, AND MO MUSIC. As Rapino mentioned in the Credit Suisse presentation, they want to monetize every aspect of the live experience from the minute you go online to buy the ticket to the moment you peel away from the parking garage, your car full of artists' swag (Trunk LTD), and your car slapped full of the artist's bumper stickers.

Where are they with House of Blues acquisition?
All set! They are looking to expand the brand internationally!

Where are they on the online store with Music Today?
No mention.

What's up with food/beverage deals? Ticketing deals?
It looks like they will be renegotiating with Aramark. They don't want to be in the food and beverage business but "they would like to increase their margin." AS for Ticketmaster, it didn't sound so promising. Live Nation definitely wants a more direct relationship with the artist. It "will be a longer process to see if Ticketmaster and us can have a great future together and meet each other’s needs.”

Anything else interesting?

* They seem really excited about the Ozzfest deal and are interested to see whether it might work as a new model. They are looking for artists that are willing to share the (ever-expanding) backend, so that they can reduce their upfront expenses.

* Guidance-wise, the company is concerned about the summer season. “Doesn’t look like the superstar lineup is on the road….At this point it is fairly early in the year.." Rapino said. However they are very excited about The Police tour

* The booking strategy for ampitheaters will change this year, but to what? I dunno yet, but those things have GOT to stop losing money hand over fist

Live Nation - Fourth Quarter Earnings Call On Now

Live Nation Fourth Quarter Earnings Call is on now!

* What I’m Listening For:

* What’s been sold? What markets are they pulling out of?

* What’s been acquired? What markets are they entering?

* What is their mission now (were looking for a clarity of mission last we checked)?

* Where are they with House of Blues acquisition?

* Where are they on the online store with Music Today?

* More details on Gamerco acquisition…

* News on any new beverage/food deals…

* The plan for ticket-selling in the coming years, are they sticking with Ticketmaster?

* More on artist development!

Full report coming soon!

BRIEF: Live Nation Gets Buy After Spanish Play

Live Nation has maintained its "buy" rating from Morgan Stanley after purchase of Gamerco, the largest promoter in Spain. As Gamerco is also a major holder in French promotion company Jack Lombar, this acquisition is an important part of Live Nation's strategy to further push into European markets.

More info here.

Bumbershoot Gets A Boost

(via Seattle PI ) One Reel, producer of Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival, will receive a much needed boost of financial support for the festival from concert promoters AEG Live. The hope is that this support will allow the festival to attract bigger draws.

"Obviously, they are titans on the sponsorship and talent buying level, so they can bring a lot to the table in those areas," Bumbershoot artistic director Michele Scoleri said of AEG Live.

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed the companies have divulged that the agreement is for a five year term and will involve AEG financially underwriting the festival while One Reel maintains creative control. Bumbershoot will also benefit from being associated with AEG's other large festivals, New Orleans Jazz Fest and Coachella.

This announcement comes just days after House of Blues/ Live Nation announced the lineup for their forthcoming Sasquatch Festival, and event that has emerged and overtaken Bumbershoot in the region. With this extra push, perhaps Bumbershoot will be able to--once again--be a contender.

BRIEF: Brakes on Van Halen Reunion

Second life expectancy: Health (Eddie) and aging (Roth) issues, plus possible personality clashes, make a longtime return a long shot.
- USA Today, February 14, 2007

So lo and behold they were right (and won't that learn ya to just toss that complimentary copy of USA Today after the flight)! According to Pollstar, the drama-ridden hair rockers couldn't stop the infighting long enough to get the show on the road and collect their big paycheck.

According to Pollstar accounts, the whole thing was mired from the start due to miscommunication between the parties involved and improper planning. Rumors fueled the press announcement (made by whom? when? we dunno), and some still don't believe the gig is off.

The full skinny can be found here. If you sort it out, let me know.

BRIEF: Band Reunion Vital Signs

In light of all the upcoming band reunions, USA Today decided to try and gauge how long these "comebacks" will stay back. Here's a snippet:

Rage Against the Machine



Original life span: The agitprop rap-metal band was founded in 1991 in Los Angeles and crashed in 2000 with vocalist Zach de la Rocha's abrupt departure. Guitarist Tom Morello, drummer Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford forged rock band Audioslave with ex-Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell.

The resurrection: Rage is reigniting at the Coachella festival with Wilk, de la Rocha, Commerford and Morello.

Vital statistics: The band sold 10.2 million albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Rock hits included Bulls on Parade,Sleep Now in the Fire and Guerilla Radio.

Potential tour success: "They were a legendary live act," Waddell says. "If they go over well at Coachella, I think more dates are likely."

Second life expectancy: If they keep their rage focused against the machine, instead of on each other, nothing stands in the way of a successful return.

The rest of the predictions here.

The Police Report: Reunion Tour Is A Go

(Via Entertainment Tonight) As rumored by many, 80's super pop group The Police will indeed be touring this summer. Fresh from a reunion performance at last night's Grammy Awards ceremony, the threesome announced a worldwide which will run from late May to early August.

"We started 30 years ago, so it would be nice to do something to celebrate," Sting said recently at a press conference in Pasadena, CA...."It seems an organic time to discuss the past and say, 'Hey, what did we achieve?'"

The tour is co-produced by Live Nation and sponsored by Best Buy and while all the dates have yet to be booked the tickets will--of course--be in the high range of $50-225 for all you scalpers and MUCH MUCH more for us normal folk.

The Word's In - Concert Industry Is Up!

(Via CNN Money) The rumors (or possibly just positive thinking) proved true. According to a recent report, revenues on the touring side are up!

A recent Pollstar report states that North American tour revenue topped up at $3.1 billion last year, and increase of 16 percent from 2005. The top 100 tours of last year garnered a whopping $2.3 billion.

"There is no reason not to expect 2007 to be bigger than last year. We have had record revenues nearly every year thanks in part to rising ticket prices. Having superstar acts like The Police certainly helps," said Gary Bongiovanni, publisher and editor of Pollstar, in an e-mail from the Concert Industry Consortium, held this week in Los Angeles.

Of course, since much of this is due to monstrously high ticket prices for withering up old dinosaurs (no disrespect to Sting and co.) and the occasional country couple, what still remains to be seen is whether the industry can offer a reasonably priced ticket, bring more people out to more shows, AND develop smaller artists into big arena draws to create a true trend instead of just riding on a nostalgia and dumb luck .

(Yet Another) Free Prize Inside: ITunes Partners With Ticketmaster

(Via Filter)

In yet another announcement from the Concert Industry Consortium, Ticketmaster has announced that they have sorted out a deal with ITunes wherein ticket buyers will get free downloads with ticket purchase. Though this is not the first Ticketmaster "freebie" deal (I linked to news about other giveaway deals here, oh and and they did offer free downloads during the Bob Dylan ticket promotion), linking together with another strong brand like Apple's I-Tunes appears to be a step by company bigwigs to give TM a more favorable sheen. While all the terms of the deal have yet to be grinded out, it has been reported that in addition to the free downloads, the couple will also be selling joint $50 gift cards.

Without even seeing the final terms, I can wager to say that Ticketmaster can "hang with the cool kids" all it wants, but until it proves otherwise it will continue to be just a necessary evil rather than a choice brand. Anyone savvy enough to know how to download music will NOT be anymore compelled to spend upwards of $50 plus service fee for one measly free (DRM encoded!) I-Tunes track. While Ticketmaster has the monopoly on most shows in most markets, they are wise to the fact of the impending (potentially costly) split with Live Nation. Unless they sort out a merger (which may not even be legal), Ticketmaster will have to branch out, connect with the best of the other large promoters, lower service fees, and make the ticket purchasing process faster and more pleasant in order to stay afloat. Get your thinking caps on, guys.

BRIEF: Pollstar Award Results

(Via Pollstar)

Major Tour Of the Year:
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill

Most Creative Tour Package:
Def Leppard/Journey

Most Creative Stage Production:
Madonna

Best New Touring Artist:
Panic! At the Disco

Music Festival Of the Year:
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival

Int'l Music Festival Of the Year:
Reading/Leeds Festival

Nightclub Of the Year:
House Of Blues Chicago

Theatre Of the Year:
Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Walk

Best New Major Concert Venue:
John Paul Jones Arena

Red Rocks Award Best Small Outdoor Venue:
Greek Theatre, Los Angeles

Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue:
Hollywood Bowl

Arena Of the Year:
Madison Square Garden

International Theatre Of the Year:
Royal Albert Hall

International Arena Of the Year:
Wembley Arena

Nightclub Talent Buyer Of the Year:
Greg Siegel / The Wiltern, Avalon

Independent Promoter Of the Year:
Arny Granat & Jerry Mickelson
Jam Productions

Talent Buyer Of the Year:
Susan Rosenbluth / AEG Live/Concerts West

Facility Exective Of the Year:
Marilyn Hauser / Palace Of Auburn Hills

Bill Graham Award Promoter Of the Year:
Brian O'Connell / Live Nation

International Promoter Of the Year:
Phil Bowdery / Live Nation UK

Booking Agency Of the Year:
Creative Artists Agency

Boutique Booking Agency Of the Year:
Little Big Man Booking/Paradigm

UK Booking Agent Of the Year:
Neil Warnock / The Agency Group

Third Coast Agent Of the Year:
Brian Hill
Monterey Peninsula Artists/Paradigm

Bobby Brooks Award Agent Of the Year:
Marc Geiger / William Morris Agency

Personal Manager Of the Year:
Bob McLynn

Artist Development Executive Of the Year:
Harlan Frey / Roadrunner Records

Road Warrior Of the Year:
Dale "Opie" Skjerseth

Lighting Company Of the Year:
Upstaging

Sound Company Of the Year:
Clair Brothers/Showco

Staging/Equipment Company Of the Year:
All Access Staging & Productions

Transportation Company Of the Year:
Rock-It Cargo

Video Company Of the Year:
Screenworks

Ozzfest Costs Less! - Osbourne Affair To Be A FREE One This Year

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According to Roadrunner Records' heavy metal newsite Blabbermout, Sharon Osbourne and Live Nation are now feverishly working on plans to make 2007 Ozzfest shows absolutely cost-free. You heard me right, it won't cost a dime The announcement was made today at the Concert Industry Consortium conference in Los Angeles

"For the last few years," says Sharon, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money, however we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."

In the 12th year of this large and influential rock extravaganza, The Osbournes and Live Nation still intend for the festival to hit 25 major cities with the festival's namesake dark prince himself finally reclaiming the headlining slot (after a recent hiatus). In order to foot the cost of this hefty production, the concert promoters will be pushing even harder for sponsorship. However it appears that Sharon is looking at the event in a newer, more groundbreaking way:

"we have bands committed, but we're hoping that after today's announcement we'll have a whole influx of artists who want to be a part of something this ground breaking. We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they've got. They're also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of Ozzfest. I'm not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives."

So while hell hasn't exactly frozen over, the fact that ANYONE is giving ANYTHING away for free in this industry is incredible. I am excited to hear this news and with prices like this, I guess I'll see you in the pit.

Coachella Prioritizes Fans Who Go Whole Hog

(Via Desertsun.com) In order to ensure that fans looking to buy 3-day pass are prioritized, organizers of Coachella have discontinued sale of one-day tickets but won't say the event is officially sold out. With Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining Saturday Night and a Rage Against The Machine reunion planned for Sunday, tickets for individual nights were flying, so event planners claim they had to stop the flow.

Tickets for the full three-days are $249 and single-day tickets are going for $85 or $90 at the door. According to organizers, in past years even when the event was announced as sold-out tickets were still released at the door on the day-of.

What Else? More Changes at LN.

(Via PRNewswire) Everyone's fave concert promoters is delivering on their promise to focus more and more on the music. To this end they have reorganized North American Operations. Here are the main changes:

* Bruce Eskowitz (former President of Global Venues and Alliances) has been promoted to the newly created position of Chief Executive Officer - North American Music

* Live Nation's North American concert promotion, venue operation and sponsorship and alliances businesses are now all under a single division: North American Music

* Jason Garner (former COO, Amphitheatre Programming) has been promoted to the position of President of North American Concerts, replacing Charlie Walker, who left to take the helm of C3 Productions (which I reported about earlier today)

* Russell Wallach (former President of National Alliances) has been named President of Alliances, overseeing all national and local sponsorship activities.

* Don Watson (former VP of Operations at House of Blues) has been named Executive Vice President of House of Blues, overseeing the HOB-branded clubs and expansion.

* David Shuman has been named Executive Vice President of North American
finance.

* The Live Nation music business is now comprised of four major divisions:
(1) North American Music, led by Mr. Eskowitz
(2) International Music, led by Carl Pernow (International) and Paul Latham (UK)
(3) Global Touring, led by Arthur Fogel, who is also Chairman of Global Music
(4) Global Digital, led by Bryan Perez

As always, I am keeping an eye on the next steps...

BRIEF: Charles Attal Heats Up With Merger

While this week brought the unfortunate news of the closing of V2, the merger of Capitol and Virgin, and the uncertain news of changes at Live Nation, we also have the very exciting (but not all that surprising if you know the history of CAP) announcement that Charles Attal (producer of Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza) have joined forces with sports management company Capital Sports and Entertainment's music division to form C3 Presents. In addition to the two aforementioned (and top-grossing) festivals, they will also be producing a large country music festival.

While Charles Attal may not be my favorite promoter, I am excited about anything that gives Rapino and the gang some healthy competition.

Full article here.

BRIEF: Live Nation Partners with Live FM

In their further march towards world domination, Live Nation has now linked up with music social networking site, Last.fm (a website I still haven't figured out/don't understand the point of), to distribute concert information and links to ticket purchasing. The site will be using users' music preferences to deliver information about upcoming concerts by their favorite artists.

"Our objective is to make LiveNation.com the world's definitive online live music destination where fans can search for concerts, buy tickets and connect with other fans. Partnering with Last.fm is an important step in pursuing this goal," (says) Bryan Perez, Live Nation President of Digital Distribution.

Not much to say just yet except I hope that with the new partnership, Last.fm might be able to---at least--spiff up their site.

Full article here.

BRIEF: Franz Ferdinand's Kaparanos Tasting and Touring

Click here to listen to an NPR interview with Franz Ferdinand lead singer, Alex Kapranos, who recently released, Sound Bites, a compilation of his food reviews. The artist was commissioned last year by the Guardian newspaper to blog about the interesting and sometimes wacky meals (deadly Japanese blowfish, anyone?) he had whilst on the road. The book has received accolades for the thoughtful reviews and Kapranos' dry wit.

In his NY Times review, Dave Itzkoff even went so far as to jokingly query:

Why Kapranos continues to waste his time performing for crowds of ecstatic, devoted, nubile fans when he’s already found his true calling is anyone’s guess.

Festival Renaissance

(Via Monsters and Critics)

Following the trend enjoyed by--well, everyone else in the world- the US concert industry has decided to expand its focus on festivals. With the recent success of Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and many others, this sector has proven too profitable to ignore. According to the article, the big four festivals grossed a combined $40 million, and the Virgin Festival (which was held for the very first time only last year) grossed $3.5 million.

"There is a real market for an event built around a number of solid artists," (Peter) Luukko (of Philadelphia's Global Comcast) says. "I think we could put together events and have many artists, price it properly and go all day. I really feel there`s a market out there for that."

In addition to the aforementioned festivals, many other big events are planned for this year such as an AEG produced country-music festival on the Coachella grounds (AEG's Goldenvoice group produces Coachella), the second annual (Live Nation produced) Bamboozle festival, and possibly a festival on the grounds of Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky. The Churchill Downs space would come equipped with many of the facilities festial producers normally have to order in, such as toilets, food stands, and running water. These facilities are always a costly overhead and it is for this reason, and for reasons of stability that Boonnarroo producers , Superfly Productions, moved ahead this week with plans to purchase their own fairgrounds. According to a January 10th press release,

"We are really excited about making this investment," Superfly's Jonathan Mayers said. "It's an incredible property that can lend itself to many different kinds of events and gatherings. Our hope is that this will become one of the premier event sites in the world. We plan to work closely with all local officials as we determine what types of events will be a good match for this site. We are very open-minded about working with anyone interested in using the property," Mayers continued.

While no acts have been announced for this summer's Bonnarroo, the festival's first allotment of tickets sold out lightening fast in December. As Bonnarroo seems to be leading the festive pack, we can expect to see many other promoters following suit. More producers and promoters working hard to create truly great fan experiences can only be a good and FUN thing.

BRIEF: Preg Stefani Keeps Tourbus Rollin'

While countless rock and pop stars have woken up the morning after a show woozy and sick, it is usually due to a wild night of partying. In the case of pop-diva Gwen Stefani, her sickness in the morning was actual morning sickness as she discovered she was pregnant in the midst of a big tour. She decided to carry on undeterred and soon discovered the limits of jumping and gyrating with a (secret) bun in the oven.

"I would be seriously crying before I went onstage," she recalls. "I didn't know how I was going to get through the tour, putting on nine costume changes on a stage in front of 12,000 people every night. And I didn't want people to know (I was pregnant). I didn't want to become the Gwen Freak Circus Show -- 'Watch it grow onstage.'"



Full article here.

The Police Alert: Another Oldy but goody eyes touring

(Via ITV) According to a myriad of sources, it appears that 80's hitmakers, The Police, may be looking to reunite. 2007, will mark the 30th anniversary of their chart-topper, Roxanne, and according to their label and singer, Sting's, website, some sort of reunion will take place. However Sting is still uncertain as to the ""depth of the band's involvement". While the other players have been keen on a reunion, Sting (the most successful ofthe former members) has reportedly been reluctant. Will stay tuned....

BRIEF: Petty Words Recanted

After a stellar year touring (despite ticketing complications) in 2006, Tom Petty has decided to keep his options open for touring.

The singer was quite as saying:

"You never know how things are going to turn out, and I didn't see this year coming. Maybe next year will be even better."




Full article here.