Live Nation
Live Nation Discrimination Case Moved To Binding Arbitration
The move came after Live Nation produced a 2009 letter in which plaintiff Candace Newman agreed to arbitrate disputes with the company. A furloughed touring executive who sued Live Nation in July for race and gender discrimination and wrongful termination will have her case heard by a third-party arbitrator, according to court records in LA County Superior Court. Candace Newman, 38, who identifies as an African American single mother, filed a lawsuit against the touring giant in July, alleging she was furloughed by the company after complaining about a lack of diversity and alleged race discrimination. Newman was one of more than 2,000 employees affected by job cuts at the company, where she had worked for more than 10 years, including her most recent stint as tour director for North ...
Live Nation, Ticketmaster Move Forward With New Round of Furloughs
Live Nation Entertainment has begun a second round of companywide furloughs through its U.S. venues and Ticketmaster North America divisions. The cuts affects hundreds of staff members as the concert business continues to grapple with the human costs of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, Live Nation generated $11.6 billion in revenue, but the publicly-traded company is now less than a month away from beginning its third quarter with virtually no revenue and a $185 million in monthly expenses. The touring giant pulled its tours from the road on March 13 and has since only dabbled in pandemic-safe productions, such as drive-in concerts. While Billboard doesn’t have an exact number, sources estimate that hundreds of employees have been affected by the latest round of cost redu...
Live Nation CEO Remains Confident About Concerts Returning in 2021
Though other industry executives feel otherwise, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino remains confident about live music returning to the US by Summer 2021. In a memo issued to investors this week, Rapino said he expects live events to “return to scale” in time for the summer concert season of 2021.… Please click the link below to read the full article. Live Nation CEO Remains Confident About Concerts Returning in 2021 Alex Young You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Live Nation Boss Expects a ‘Robust Outdoor Summer Season’ in 2021
It’s been doom and gloom for the concert (and basically, music) biz since the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. However, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino sees light at the end of the tunnel. Despite a cataclysmic drop in revenue by an unfathomable 98%, Rapino is confident that live music will return to a “robust” state as soon as as next summer. In a memo shared with Live Nation investors ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Rapino outlined why he’s optimistic: Importantly, we remain confident that fans will return to live events when it is safe to do so. Our strongest indicator of demand is that fans are holding on to their tickets, even when given the option of a refund. Through the end of the second quarter, 86% of concert fans are keepi...
Live Nation Gets Financial Breathing Room With Changes to Credit Agreement
Live Nation has secured financial breathing room by securing favorable changes to its debt covenants ahead of its second-quarter earnings release on Aug. 5. Although covenants are standard requirements meant to protect the lender from a default, and manageable under normal circumstances, they can be impossible to achieve when a pandemic has crippled many types of businesses, especially live entertainment. The latest example of music companies shoring up debt and credit to weather COVID-19, Live Nation’s covenant revisions provide “additional financial flexibility,” CEO Michael Rapino said in a July 31 press release. That’s an understatement. The new covenants represent pandemic-era mathematical formulas that are critical for a company greatly affected by government safety measures. Music v...
Live Nation UK Cancels Drive-In Concert Tour Less Than Three Weeks After Announcement
Keep calm and carry on, live music fans. The concert industry will come back soon—just not as soon as we’d hoped. Live Nation UK has announced the cancellation of its drive-in concert series for the hit British musical Six. It was scheduled for 12 dates in different cities, taking place at venues such as airports and race courses with a capacity of 300 cars per show. Since some shows sold out since the tour’s June 19th announcement, Live Nation said ticket-holders will receive full refunds. Scheduled performers included The Streets, Ash, Sigala, Gary Numan, Skindred, Brand New Heavies, and Dizzee Rascal. The musical’s producer, Kenny Wax, said the tour had “been designed not as a money-maker but to put dozens of freelancers back to work,” ...
Live Nation Shares Bounce on Encouraging Vaccine Trial
Stocks of out-of-home entertainment companies got a boost from biotech company Moderna’s announcement on Tuesday. As markets reacted enthusiastically to a promising coronavirus vaccine trial, shares of concert promoter Live Nation leaped 12.2% to $52.09 on Wednesday (July 15) before closing at $51.84, up 11.7%. On Tuesday, biotech company Moderna published the results of an initial study for a coronavirus vaccine called mRNA-1273. The vaccine “elicits a robust immune response” in all trial participants, said chief medical officer Tal Zaks in a statement, and will enter the next phase — with approximately 30,000 participants — later this month. Jumps in other entertainment companies’ stocks reflect how desperate investors were for good news about markets brought to a...
Here is What the UK’s Largest Music Companies are Paying Women Compared to Men
According to a report published in Music Business Worldwide, there was a sizable wage gap between men and women in some of the largest music companies in the UK this year. In the UK, companies with over 250 employees are legally required to report their gender pay gap stats by April 4th of each year, a mandate that has been in effect since 2017. However, after reporting deadlines were interrupted by the impact of COVID-19, many UK companies were not required to file their gender pay gap stats. Two of the three largest major music companies in the UK, Sony and Warner, did file their reports, though, in addition to a litany of others, including streaming behemoth Spotify. As of April 5th, 2019, the average gender pay gap at Sony Music UK was 26.0%, and 31.5% at Warner Music UK. Spotify UK re...
Concertgoers Seek Ticketmaster Terms of Use Click Rates in Antitrust Class Action
Concertgoers suing Ticketmaster and Live Nation over live event ticket fees believe no one actually reads the terms of service that bind them to arbitration and are asking a California federal judge for discovery that could help them prove the websites’ formats are to blame. Olivia Van Iderstine and Mitch Oberstein in April sued Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation claiming the companies have a monopoly on live events and therefore can charge “extraordinarily high fees” for tickets. The companies responded in June with a motion to compel arbitration. They argue that in order to buy tickets through their sites users have to affirmatively agree to their terms of service at least three times — and those terms include a mandatory arbitration provision and a waiver of class...
Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Nelly to Play Live Nation’s First Drive-in Concert Series
When Live Nation stopped all tours back in March, fans and the live music industry wondered what would happen to concerts in 2020. Now, three months later, Live Nation is making moves to bring back the live show with the launch of a series of drive-in shows next month. “Live from the Drive-In” is the concert promotion giant’s new series to bring live music to Nashville.; Maryland Heights, Missouri.; and Noblesville, Indiana from July 10 to July 12, the Associated Press initially reported. Brad Paisley has been scheduled to play in all three cities while Darius Rucker and Jon Pardi will also perform in Nashville at Nissan Stadium. Nelly, along with El Monstero, is set to perform at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights. Yacht Rock Revenue is scheduled to play Noblesville on ...
Live Nation’s Festival Republic Drafts “Full Capacity Plan” to Get Live Music Up and Running by November in the UK
Melvin Benn, the managing director at Live Nation‘s Festival Republic, has unveiled his “Full Capacity Plan” with regards to reopening the entertainment and hospitality industries in the UK, which he recently discussed on BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat. The mission is to get them fully operational by November through partnering with the National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 track and trace app that is currently in development. What this means is that only people who have recently tested negative for the virus would be able to attend music venues, sporting events, theatres, and restaurants. Benn is also championing the initiative as a major incentive for people to begin using the NHS app. The app tracks and traces users’ whereabouts, allowing them to know if they̵...
Guy Oseary Stepping Away From Day-to-Day Role at Maverick
He will continue to manage Madonna and U2 and consult Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, extending his deal with the touring company. Guy Oseary is stepping away from his day-to-day role at his management collective Maverick to consult for Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and further concentrate on his tech and entertainment entrepreneurial interests. The news comes with a three-year extension of Oseary’s existing partnership with Live Nation, which purchased Maverick in 2013. He will still continue to manage Madonna and U2 under the Maverick banner. Other managers using the Maverick umbrella will continue to operate under Live Nation’s Artist Nation division. “I’m ready for my new chapter and welcome the opportunity to have more time to focus on management of Madonna and U2 while f...
