Madonna and Live Nation: A Match Made in Heaven?

By Alfred Branch, Jr.
TicketNews.com

Live Nation and superstar Madonna are reportedly negotiating a mega- recording, touring and merchandising deal worth in excess of $100 million, according to the New York Post.

News of the potential blockbuster agreement has been filtering out over the past couple of days, but either camp is talking publicly. If true, the deal could mark a new direction in the relationships between artists and entertainment companies.

“We have no comment at this time,” said John Vlautin, spokesperson for Live Nation.

With CD sales continuing to slag, artists are looking to find new, more stable sources of revenues with some not only looking at touring more often, but also reselling and auctioning tickets to their own shows. The potential deal that Madonna is mulling over could further marry artists to all revenue streams. . .
Brand-name artists such as Madonna, who has a lucrative clothes designing deal with Sweden’s H&M, stand to reap huge financial windfalls with the merchandising and touring components, even if music sales are down. In addition, the potential deal could include sponsorships. The new deal, likely to constitute several years, would replace the Material Girl’s expiring contract with Warner Music Group, but music distribution under the arrangement would still be handled by one of the major record companies.

Madonna is currently working on a new album with Justin Timberlake, and producers Timbaland and Pharrell.

Ticket broker Vanessa Garcia of the San Antonio, TX ticketer Tickets4AnyEvent.com believes that while the deal may be good for Madonna and Live Nation, fans may suffer.

“First of all Live Nation and Ticketmaster are doing whatever they can to control the market, the venues, the artists and the ticket resellers once again. Fans will end up having to pay more for their tickets in order for Live Nation to [recoup] part of their investment back,” she said.

Garcia added that Madonna has a very loyal fan base, but her last tour “did not do so well due to [high] ticket prices and controversy” surrounding her political and religious views.

“Tickets4AnyEvent.com will gladly sell tickets for her next tour, however we’ll be very cautious on how many tickets we purchase,” Garcia said.