Iser conceded in a July court filing that some of the representations made by Ellin were false, writing “had LXL obtained the rights to stream any major music festivals, such festivals not only would have been listed on LXL’s website so its subscribers could pay LXL to view the festivals, but there would have been press releases and/or disclosures of such streaming rights in LXL’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.” In court Thursday, Iser argued that Schnaeir was an accredited investor who had worked as a licensed securities broker for over 20 years and should have done a more thorough job conducting due diligence. If Ellin’s statements about the IPO or representations about his plans to merge LiveXLive with SFX and Quello had been true...
Asking around, one name keeps popping up: Liberty Media, the majority owner of satellite radio provider SiriusXM — itself owner of music streamer Pandora — and 33% of concert promoter Live Nation. Liberty also owns 5% of terrestrial broadcaster iHeartMedia and tried to buy 40% while iHeartMedia was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. And despite concerns a larger stake would result in anticompetitive behavior, the Department of Justice approved Liberty’s request to increase its stake beyond 5% in July 2020. Liberty Media could take a piece of UMG and add intellectual property to a “full stack,” vertically-integrated media company. On paper at least, Universal could woo artists by offering exposure on Liberty-owned broadcasters and with concerts on Live Nation-run tours and festivals. It ...
What three letters best explain the modest gains LiveXLive unveiled during its quarterly earnings call Thursday? The would be P-P-P as in the Paycheck Protection Program. Nearly all of the company’s $3.5 million reduction in spending for the quarter appeared to have come from the almost $2 million federal loan it received in March, coupled with $1.4 million in reductions of employee salaries and other expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped LiveXLive achieve its “best quarter in the history of the company,” according to CEO and chairman Rob Ellin, who reported a 11% increase in revenue and a quarterly loss of $7.5 million, or $0.13 per share. That missed the consensus estimate of a loss of $0.12, but marked a significant improvement from a loss of $0.21 per share a year ago (tot...