LOS ANGELES, October 16 /PRNewswire/ --
Live Nation President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rapino announced today the structure behind its Artist Nation division. The new division was formed to partner with artists to manage their diverse rights, grow their fan bases and provide a direct connection to fans through the global distribution platform and marketing proficiencies that have made Live Nation the world's largest live music company. Artist Nation will service the company's 10-year partnership with Madonna.
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Comprised of recorded music, merchandise, artist fan site/artist ticketing, broadcast/digital media rights, sponsorship and marketing divisions, Artist Nation is led by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Cohl.
Mr. Cohl commented, "Artist Nation works for the direct benefit of the artist to better market their music across all their diverse businesses to extend their fan base. Our company can leverage Live Nation's many assets in order to help artists reach their fullest potential and deliver the ultimate experience to the fan. This is really an extension of the work we have already been doing with the Rolling Stones, U2 and many other bands over the years. In order to execute this, Artist Nation has put together a superstar team in every area of the music chain."
At the heart of the Artist Nation model are Live Nation's deep relationships within the industry and its global distribution and marketing platform which provides artists with access to hundreds of seasoned marketing, promotion and production personnel and a team of nearly 200 national and local sponsorship employees. The Company is strategically positioned in more than 80 offices in 18 countries around the world, with over 160 venues, all servicing the 35 million fans that attend Live Nation shows each year.
Through corporate alliances, direct marketing, mobile telephone partnerships, online activities, fan websites and innumerable other powerful tools, such as a growing ticket component and a growing database of over 25 million fans, Artist Nation is well positioned to exploit Live Nation resources and build a better relationship between artists and their fans.
Artist Nation, headquartered in Miami, Florida, has a streamlined infrastructure in place to execute on these additional revenue streams. In total, Artist Nation currently has over 300 employees around the world and relationships with more than 500 artists. As the Artist Nation division continues to grow, its infrastructure will be supplemented to provide artists with the best service possible while maintaining an efficient cost structure.
By itself the new Madonna partnership is expected to generate a financially sound return for Madonna and for Live Nation shareholders, as the partners work together over the next ten years to unlock the value of the "Madonna Music Business." In addition, Live Nation believes the return will be enhanced as it expects the Madonna partnership to attract other artists to Artist Nation and accelerate growth.
Artist Nation's divisions are comprised of: -- RECORDED MUSIC: Artist Nation's recorded music division serves in the creation, production, marketing, promotion, sales and distribution of artists' recorded rights. -- MERCHANDISE: Artist Nation's merchandise division includes creative, product development, sourcing, licensing, marketing and fulfillment services under three brands: -- Anthill Trading is a global merchandising company, representing some of the most prestigious icons and trademarked properties in music, entertainment and lifestyle. Anthill has relationships with over 50 artists, including names such as AC/DC, Il Divo, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, John Legend, Pearl Jam, Nelly Furtado, The Police, The Rolling Stones, Run DMC, The Wu Tang Clan, and Frank Zappa. -- TRUNK, Ltd. is a specialty merchandise company that acquires licenses primarily from music artists to design, manufacture and sell authentic, limited edition apparel and accessories for men, women and children through various distribution channels. TRUNK has relationships with over 100 music artists. -- Musictoday is the official online store for over 500 artists and athletes, including Dave Matthews Band, Elvis Presley, and the Rolling Stones. -- ARTIST FAN SITES AND ARTIST TICKETING: Artist Nation's online division provides more than 500 artists with fan club and website services and artist fan ticketing products. -- Ultrastar is the official artist website and fan club for over 20 artists including the Rolling Stones, The Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Genesis. Ultrastar also produces and syndicates original video content through its Virtual Ticket solution delivering content to online video and exclusive DVD's. The company also has full service marketing capabilities to integrate and manage an artist's entire online presence through contests, partnerships, affiliate marketing, social networking and grass roots outreach. -- Musictoday executes fan club ticketing for over 500 artists, festivals and venues and also manages 25 fan websites for artists such as John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Kenny Chesney, and Celine Dion. -- BROADCAST/DIGITAL MEDIA RIGHTS: Artist Nation's broadcast/digital media rights division provides artists means to produce and distribute live music audiovisual products. -- Studios: Studios provides artists with seamless, integrated means to produce and distribute live music audiovisual products. Studios has produced more than 1,000 recordings, pioneering the delivery of live concerts to 3G mobile phones in the U.S., helping artists sell more than 250,000 CDs and digital downloads to date and producing over 200 shows annually. -- Media Rights: Media Rights develops and contracts media rights in all forms of distribution, including television, home video, internet, mobile, radio, digital cinema and other emerging channels. Recent projects include DVD's for the Rolling Stones, Mariah Carey and Barbra Streisand, and documentaries for Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte. -- SPONSORSHIP AND MARKETING: Artist Nation's alliances group offers music marketing and sponsorship opportunities that provide unparalleled access to the overall music experience through long term partnership programs. Artist Nation also works with Live Nation's local and national sponsorship groups that employ over 200 sales professionals. In addition, Artist Nation's Tour Design division provides audio and visual production, post production, international design and development, graphic design, and marketing creative services.
ABOUT LIVE NATION:
Live Nation is the future of the music business. With the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry: onstage and online. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." Additional information about the company can be found at http://www.livenation.com under the "About Us" section.
Portions of this release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding anticipated higher margins and revenues, new revenue streams and growth opportunities, the anticipated financial return associated with the Madonna transaction and the expectation that such transaction will attract additional artists to Artist Nation. Live Nation wishes to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to difficulties in luring other artists away from more traditional contract structures, operational challenges in achieving strategic objectives and the risk that our markets do not evolve as anticipated. Live Nation refers you to the documents it files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of Live Nation's most recent Annual Report filed on Form 10-K, which contains and identifies other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements. Stockholders and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements.
Web site: http://www.livenation.com
