Live Nation Q1 Revenues Jump $72 Million (not Clear Channel)

dont be fooled... just becase they've changed their name (again) doesn't mean this isn't the same ole clear channel

I guess piracy isnt killing the music industry like we are led to believe.

live nation is seperate from clear channel. they are not evil. although it is fun to speak out about something important, especially when you get to ride a bandwagon. yay!

Typically, corporate spin-offs result with the parent company holding at least some singificant ownership interest (if not a majority or controlling interest) in the company that's been spun off. Whether that's the case here or not, I don't know, but I bet it is.

I think CC bought back millions in shares once the spin off was complete in December.

I listened in on Live Nation earnings call on Friday morning and posted about it on my blog.
Clear Channel is also a publicly traded company so their shareholders were given Live Nation stock when the transition took place last December, but there is no great evil Clear Channel gang that is sitting on a huge chunk of stock, so I seriously doubt anyone at that company is pulling the strings. Live Nation spun off for a reason.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that Clear Channel is the only thing standing in between your band (or your favorite band)
"making it big". There are a lot of hands at play. I've dealt with Live Nation a bit and I actually think they are solidly good promoters and a lot of artists agree with me.I think people should take more of a wait and see attitude before drawing any conclusions about Live Nation; this is a very new company, in a rapidly changing (and hella difficult) industry.

I listened in on Live Nation earnings call on Friday morning and posted about it on my blog.
While there is an overlap in directors between CC and LV, I don't think there is any big conspiracy. In this business (especially at that level), one hand washes the other, but I suspect Live Nation spun off for a bit more autonomy.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that Clear Channel is the only thing standing in between your band (or your favorite band)
"making it big". There are a lot of hands at play. I've dealt with Live Nation a bit and I actually think they are solidly good promoters and a lot of artists agree with me. We should all take more of a "wait and see" attitude before drawing any conclusions about Live Nation; this is a very new company, in a rapidly changing (and hella difficult) industry.
..honestly if you want to challenge the status quo, become a promoter.

As far as ownership, those of you with boring 401K plans probably own the biggest chunk of Live Nation since Fidelity is by far the largest holder with 15% of outstanding shares, in various mutual funds. The next two biggest holders are also mutual fund companies.

Lowry Mays, chairman of CCU, has the 5th biggest stake at 5.5%. In any event, who fucking cares? Shaddup already about about clear channel, it's lame.

Source: Factset Research Systems

all you indie fags need to shut the fuck up. the whole bashing CC thing is so '02. the club level of shows is what is booming most, which of the 3 factions of shows (clubs, theaters, arena/stadium/ampitheater) has the most independent promoters. And to be 100% honest, 99.9% of tiny promoters that you may "respect" couldn't pull off anything that considered a major show. not everyone is Bowery Presents, or R5 in Philly.

Grow up!

Okay, sure...

Live Nation is doing just fine and its not hard to see why - The concert side has usually done better than the radio side, but CC, as a company, is not fairing quite as well...

http://today.reuters.com/business/newsArticle.aspx?type=media&storyID=nN26353043

While LiveNation may be great solid promoters, there is a reason they are making so much profit. Yeah, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Coldplay may be doing a few more shows but the truth is ticket costs are becoming unreasonably high. I'm not talking about the club shows that most of us go to on a regular basis, I'm talking about the big shows that most of us go to once every few months, shows like Pearl Jam, RHCP, U2, whatever where tickets are reaching routinely in the 70 dollar range after fees and handling and what not. This is 72.1 million dollar increase comes from and I can tell you that the artists aren't getting anymore money than they used to.

ticket costs are higher because nobody buys albums anymore

ticket prices are higher because gas is f'n $3 a gallon

Live Nation was created because live concerts were resposnible for a great majority of CCE's revenue (i believe in the area of 70%) - but only something like 2% of CCE's profit. Stocks value began to drop etc. So CCE spun off it's concert promotions side to keep the CCE stock up.

Now Live Nation is technically a seperate entity - but if you take a look at who is running the company - it's still a majority of the guys who were in charge at CCE's concert division. Their stock has actually gone up a great deal. While CCe's still is floundering around.

Remember that both are publicly traded companies who have to answer to investors once those quarterly reports come out. So they both may have to make extreme manuvers once things continue at a "sour" pace. Live Nation no longer has the giant "open checkbook" policy where they could completely out price inidie promoters.

The small guys are pcking up some steam and are getting closer to competeing at a larger level. Especially as these "indie" bands are continuing to get lots of "mainstream" attention

Live Nation was created because live concerts were resposnible for a great majority of CCE's revenue (i believe in the area of 70%) - but only something like 2% of CCE's profit. Stocks value began to drop etc. So CCE spun off it's concert promotions side to keep the CCE stock up.

Now Live Nation is technically a seperate entity - but if you take a look at who is running the company - it's still a majority of the guys who were in charge at CCE's concert division. Their stock has actually gone up a great deal. While CCe's still is floundering around.

Remember that both are publicly traded companies who have to answer to investors once those quarterly reports come out. So they both may have to make extreme manuvers once things continue at a "sour" pace. Live Nation no longer has the giant "open checkbook" policy where they could completely out price inidie promoters.

The small guys are pcking up some steam and are getting closer to competeing at a larger level. Especially as these "indie" bands are continuing to get lots of "mainstream" attention

Right on, Sean.

"Don't fool yourself into thinking that Clear Channel is the only thing standing in between your band (or your favorite band) 'making it big'."

For starters, maybe your (favorite) band actually sucks.

"Your 401k plan is so boring"

lolz

LiveNation is officially no longer evil now that they're free of ClearChannel. Also, it's very important that things possibly classifiable as "so '02" aren't brought up in here.

'LiveNation is officially no longer evil now that they're free of ClearChannel'

Hook...Line...and...Sinker. Public perception is the rule. Do you think the average person ever gave a crap what Clear Channel was or is? Now that the name has been changed and the company has been spun off, most people wont even blink an eye. If Dave Matthews or Franz Ferdinand is playing there, then that's where the people will be. They have the ability to put on large shows, and not many other indie promoters do. At least as often as Live Nation does, though they can afford to compete as far as artist guarantees go. If you're okay with that, fine. I guess I am too. It wont keep me up at night. But at least be cognizant of what is going on.

Whenever you think about higher concert ticket prices, don't always say that the promoter is just bilking the ticket buyer.

In the same way that the average person is giving up more money at the gas pump, touring productions are having to pay much more at the pump to fuel the trucks & busses that move the show. The big difference is that a large production will have maybe 10 trucks & 10 busses (could be more or less for either type of vehicle), all fueling for the same trips. Also consider the fact that these types of vehicles are lucky to get 4 or 5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel (even more expensive than gasoline in many areas).

There are many other factors that are influencing the price of the average concert ticket as well.

Whenever you think about higher concert ticket prices, don't always say that the promoter is just bilking the ticket buyer.

In the same way that the average person is giving up more money at the gas pump, touring productions are having to pay much more at the pump to fuel the trucks & busses that move the show. The big difference is that a large production will have maybe 10 trucks & 10 busses (could be more or less for either type of vehicle), all fueling for the same trips. Also consider the fact that these types of vehicles are lucky to get 4 or 5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel (even more expensive than gasoline in many areas).

There are many other factors that are influencing the price of the average concert ticket as well.

Live Nation IS evil because I ordered tickets fromt them and they sold my name to every spammer in the world. NO NOT legitimate companies, but purveyors of fake rolex watches, viagara and other "meds" and "pharms". They suck. And if I change my e-mail I will never use them again.

People should start spamming this e-mail dns@livenation.com.