LOS ANGELES, CA - October 16, 2007 - Live Nation's President and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rapino officially confirmed today that Madonna has entered into an unprecedented global partnership with Live Nation and will become the founding artist in its Artist Nation division.
"The paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with that shift," commented Madonna. "For the first time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans is unlimited. I've never wanted to think in a limited way and with this new partnership, the possibilities are endless. Who knows how my albums will be distributed in the future? That's what's exciting about this deal - everything is possible. Live Nation has offered me a true partnership and after 25 years in the business, I feel that I deserve that."
"Madonna is a true icon and maverick as an artist and in business," stated Mr. Rapino. "Our partnership is a defining moment in music history. I am thrilled that Madonna, who is also now a shareholder in our company, has joined with us to create a new business model for our industry. Bringing all the varied elements of Madonna's stunning music career into the Artist Nation and Live Nation family, moves her future and the future of our company into a unique and extraordinary place."
The first-of-its-kind partnership between Madonna and Live Nation encompasses all of Madonna's future music and music-related businesses, including the exploitation of the Madonna brand, new studio albums, touring, merchandising, fan club/web site, DVD's, music-related television and film projects and associated sponsorship agreements. This unique new business model will address all of Madonna's music ventures as a total entity for the first time in her career.
Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Live Nation's Global Music Division and Chief Executive Officer of Global Touring, who has produced the artist's last three worldwide tours with the company which generated close to $500 million in the last six years commented, "Madonna is without a doubt one of the most fiercely original artists in history. It is a great opportunity for Live Nation and Artist Nation to build upon our years of success with Madonna as a touring artist."
Artist Nation was created 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. Headed by the division's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Cohl, Artist Nation has significant infrastructure in place to execute additional revenue streams including recorded music, merchandise, studios, media rights, digital rights, fan club/website and sponsorship divisions.
Joining with Artist Nation to work with Madonna will be Live Nation's unmatched global distribution platform and artist-to-fan-reach, including over 80 offices in l8 countries, over 200 national and local sponsorship personnel, over l60 venues, access to over 35 million fans that attend well over l0,000 shows that Live Nation produces, promotes and/or hosts each year for over l,000 artists including fan access via Live Nation's growing database of over 25 million fans.
"I've been fortunate enough to work with Madonna for half my life. She has always encouraged me and set a great example for me to push the boundaries to reach our full potential. This partnership exemplifies just that," commented Madonna's co-manager Guy Oseary.
Angela Becker, Madonna's co-manager added, "The partnership and vision for the future that Artist Nation along with Live Nation presented to us assured me that this is the ideal home for Madonna. It is with great trust and optimism that we collectively move ahead together."
In regard to Madonna's relationship with her current label, the artist commented, "My time with Warner Bros. Records has been great. I appreciate their hard work and value the many relationships I have developed over the years with the label in the U.S. and around the world. I have an album coming out with them next year and I'm excited about it. We still have work to do together."
ABOUT MADONNA:
The multi-Grammy Award winning artist, songwriter, children's book author, producer and video visionary with an unrivaled reputation for astonishing stage spectacles, has made music history many times over, logging an incredible 12 number one pop singles and 35 number one dance singles in the U.S. alone. Her 2006 "Confessions" tour generated almost $200 million, making it the highest grossing concert tour of all time by a female artist. Over the last 25 years, Madonna's collective record sales number over 200 million albums worldwide. Her last album, Confessions On A Dance Floor debuted at number one in 29 countries and sold almost 8 million copies worldwide. Her last concert DVD The Confessions Tour - Live from London, sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide.
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.
The line-up has been announced FOR the former U-S vice-president Al Gore's 'Live Earth' concert at Wembley stadium On July. MADONNA, Duran Duran, Keane and the Black Eyed Peas are among the artists set to perform at the gig - one of seven shows around the world on the 7th July 2007. Other artists set to perform at the London gig are Snow Patrol, Razorlight, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, James Blunt, Genesis and Bloc Party. The organisers hope they'll do as much for environmental awareness as Live Aid did for poverty in Africa. Ticket(prices have not yet been determined). The concerts will be broadcast live on the BBC in London, and on NBC in the U.S. It will also be on more than 120 networks around the world, and streamed live online. Acts lines up for the American leg include Headliners for the U.S. concert at Giants Stadium include Bon Jovi, the Dave Matthews Band, Kanye West, Rihanna, John Mayer, Smashing Pumpkins and Fall Out Boy. Other shows will take place in Shanghai; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; Tokyo; and Rio de Janeiro. The concerts mark the start of a new campaign called Save Our Selves, the Campaign for a Climate in Crisis. "This monster lineup will ensure Live Earth meets our goal of bringing together people from around the world to combat the climate crisis," Live Earth founder and executive producer Kevin Wall said in a statement Tuesday. "Musicians who have answered our call span multiple genres and generations." Proceeds will create a foundation to combat climate change led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, which is chaired by former Vice President Al Gore. Source: BBC and Associated Press...
