Live nation
With all apologies to Charli XCX, the 2024 concert season should have been dubbed “VIP summer” for the amount of upselling done by U.S. amphitheaters.
At Live Nation amphitheaters, revenue from VIP clubs was up 19% and VIP ticket premium revenue for major festivals was up more than 20% in the third quarter. Earlier this year, VIP/premium offerings represented 9% of Live Nation’s overall amphitheater business but “should be 30% to 35%,” CEO Michael Rapino told investors in February.
Amphitheaters where Live Nation controls the food and beverage experiences have the potential to deliver more fan spending. Converting an area of grass into a VIP club provides 20% to 30% returns on investment, Rapino explained. At Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, for example, Live Nation took the 15,000-seat venue from no premium offerings to three premium tiers. Of the 40 U.S. amphitheaters in its portfolio, the company could “Jonesify” half of them, Rapino said during an investor call on Wednesday (Nov. 13).
Trending on Billboard
Diving headfirst into VIP pricing is sure to help Live Nation’s bottom line. The company believes premium offerings can add $200 million in adjusted operating income per year, according to its investor presentation. This year, VIP net per-fan spending will have grown at 20% annually since 2019, well ahead of overall net fan spending growth of 8% annually.
From exclusive lounges to fan meet-and-greets with artists, the concert business has been better than other music industry segments at filtering customers according to their willingness to pay. VIP status became standard practice at music festivals to separate the people who can afford a $400 ticket to camp in a grass field and those who can afford deluxe accommodations, food and beverage, and transportation. The year-old Sphere in Las Vegas takes customer segmentation to a new level: Tickets are relatively expensive for a single concert without considering travel and accommodation — which Live Nation bundles with Sphere tickets through Vibee, a destination experience company it founded in 2023.
It may be ahead of other music companies, but Live Nation is merely following practices familiar to companies such as airlines, which charge more for early boarding, and theme parks, where paying a premium allows you to spend less time standing in line for rides. Insurance companies offer multiple tiers of services that include add-ons such as “accident forgiveness.” Everywhere you look, there’s an expensive option that’s out of reach for most consumers but well worth the value to others.
The wave of upselling now extends to VIP tiers in music streaming. Last week, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) announced it has 10 million Super VIP subscribers accounting for 8.4% of its 119 million subscribers. Super VIP, launched in the first quarter of 2022, provides such perks as better sound quality, priority access to music content and live event tickets. With a cost five times the normal subscription tier, Super VIP subscriptions helped TME’s average revenue per user increase 5% from the prior-year period. That success with VIP pricing is likely a harbinger of things to come. A single tier may not deliver the kind of profitability investors now demand.
“I think Spotify and the labels, long ago, realized this ‘one price for everybody’ thing gets these companies off the ground, but ultimately it’s not sustainable,” says pricing strategy consultant Rafi Mohammed, who espouses a strategy he calls “good-better-best” and encourages companies to create more valuable tiers of products and services for subsets of customers who are willing to pay extra. “If you’re a company and you’re not doing it, you’re making a mistake,” he says. “There are always going to be higher-end people who are willing to pay more for a more enhanced experience.”
With the current music streaming model relatively unchanged for two decades, music companies are increasingly engaging in the kind of customer segmentation taught in business schools. Companies that want to deliver strong, sustained growth are looking at ways to provide more valuable — and more expensive — experiences to those customers willing to pay for them.
Record labels are itching for a high-priced streaming subscription tier that would produce greater royalties. Spotify’s VIP tier — for lack of a better term — seems all but inevitable at this point. In September, Universal Music Group (UMG) COO (then CFO) Boyd Muir said the company was in “advanced talks” with the streamer for a high-priced tier that offers a better user experience than standard subscription plans. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek lifted the veil on a pending VIP plan in July, saying it would “probably” be priced at $17 or $18 per month and provide subscribers with “a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board, and some other things that I’m not ready to talk about yet.”
UMG has said that internal market research shows 23% of subscribers would be willing to pay more for a VIP experience. But Will Page, Spotify’s former chief economist, isn’t sure Spotify is ready for a VIP tier. “It needs to walk before it can run towards a VIP platform,” he says.
Since the days of pre-Spotify subscription services such as Rhapsody, the basis $9.99 (in the U.S.) price was raised only recently but hasn’t kept pace with inflation. Spotify launched in the U.S. in 2011 and didn’t raise the individual premium price to $10.99 until 2023. Had the price kept pace with inflation, that $9.99 tier would have cost $13.50 by the time the price hike took effect. While video-on-demand streaming platforms such as Netflix have consistently raised prices over the years, music platforms like Spotify refrained, keeping their prices unchanged for fear higher prices would stunt their growth. “I would love to see the industry earn its stripes in showing pricing power before it goes to base two, which is market screening power,” says Page.
In the meantime, the music business has other ways to cater to VIPs, including a new slate of “superfan” platforms and vinyl records. Vinyl mimics a VIP strategy by upselling fans to an expensive physical item over low-value online streaming. And just as film studios use a so-called “windowing” strategy by releasing movies to theaters before streaming platforms, artists and labels are increasingly selling vinyl LPs ahead of their streaming street dates — a strategy that’s been largely absent in music since 2016. To Page, artists and labels are missing a big opportunity by not using vinyl to create a VIP release window.
“In America alone, vinyl is going to be a billion-dollar business,” says Page, “and the people who can sell it are the types of artists who would appeal to a VIP strategy.”
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the oil-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund, has sold its entire stake in Live Nation, according to an SEC filing dated Thursday (Nov. 14). In April 2020, the $925-billion PIF acquired approximately 12.5 million shares that amounted to a 5.7% stake in Live Nation, making it the fourth-largest shareholder behind […]
Concert promoter Live Nation turned its busiest summer concert season ever into an all-time financial haul. With the number of shows up 13% and fan attendance up 3%, adjusted operating income (AOI) reached a record $909.8 million, up 4% from the prior-year period, the company announced Monday (Nov. 11).
The third quarter benefitted from a heavy schedule in Live Nation’s owned and operated amphitheaters, which can generate ancillary income from food, beverage and parking. As a result, AOI increased even though revenue of $7.7 billion was 6% short of the $8.15 billion generated in the third quarter of 2023. Net income fell 13.4% to $451.8 million.
“We wrapped up our most active summer concert season ever, our show pipeline has never been bigger, and brand sponsorships are accelerating,” said CEO Michael Rapino in a statement.
Trending on Billboard
The concerts division had a record AOI of $474.1 million, up 39% year-over-year, on revenue of $6.58 billion, down 6%. Venue Nation, the venue operation division, saw a double-digit increase in on-site spending per fan at major festivals and a 9% increase in per-fan spending at amphitheaters. Live Nation hosted 112 million fans globally in the quarter, up 3%, which more than compensated for a 30% decline in stadium attendance.
The change in venue mix — fewer high-priced stadium tickets, more lower-priced amphitheater seats — caused Ticketmaster revenue to drop 17% to $693.7 million and AOI to fall 33% to $235.7 million. Sponsorship and advertising AOI grew 10% to $275 million on revenue of $390 million, up 6%. That revenue growth came mainly from a 20% increase in the number of strategic partners that generated more than $1 million of sponsorship and advertising revenue. The division added such brands as American Apparel, Wrangler, Ultra Beauty and American Eagle in Mexico to global festivals.
“As we look toward an even bigger 2025, we have a larger lineup of stadium, arena and amphitheater shows for fans to enjoy,” said Rapino. “Momentum continues to build, as we expand the industry’s infrastructure with music-focused venues to support artists and reach untapped fan demand across the globe.”
Ticket sales in September and October were up 20% year over year, and Live Nation has already sold more than 20 million tickets for concerts in 2025, a double-digit increase. Recent stadium ticket on-sales — including Coldplay, Rüfüs Du Sol and Shakira — saw double-digit growth in gross sales compared to past tours.
Venue Nation expects to host about 60 million fans in 2024, up 8% from 2023; it will benefit from VIP enhancements at Northwell at Jones Beach amphitheater in New York, Estadio GNP in Mexico City and others. At Northwell at Jones Beach, for example, season seat and box suite sales are up 50%, VIP club sales are up 50%, and per-fan food and beverage spending is up double-digits.
Following the announcement, which came after the markets closed on Monday, Live Nation shares rose 5% to $130.00 in after-hours trading.
Live Nation, which is facing a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden, saw its share price jump on Wednesday (Nov. 6) following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election a day earlier.
Live Nation shares gained 7.1% to $125.99 and rose as high as $127.64, just shy of its all-time high of $127.75 set on Nov. 5, 2021. Investors could see Trump’s re-entrance into the White House as a good sign for Live Nation’s efforts to thwart efforts by the DOJ to break up the company.
In a lawsuit filed in May, the DOJ alleged Live Nation abused its market power to hurt competition through exclusive ticketing contracts and threats and retaliations against venues that choose competing ticketing companies, among other actions the DOJ claims are illegal and violate the consent decree that placed competition-enhancing restrictions on the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
Trending on Billboard
“The change in administration typically brings a change in the climate around anti-trust efforts and could impact a case such as Live Nation,” says Bill Morrison, a partner at Haynes and Boone. “It depends on the who are in those key spots, and then what the priorities are of those offices. We’ve seen big pivots in the past.”
Faced with the prospect of fewer regulations and an administration perceived to be pro-market, U.S. indexes posted big gains on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.6% to a record high. Similarly, the Nasdaq composite rose 3.0% and the S&P 500 improved 2.5% as both reached all-time highs. The NYSE composite gained 1.9% but fell short of its all-time high.
Stocks associated with Trump also fared well, including Tesla, whose CEO, Elon Musk, campaigned heavily for Trump. The company’s shares rose 14.8% while its competitors Rivian and Lucid Group fell 8.3% and 5.3%, respectively. Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., owner of the Truth Social app used by Trump, rose 5.9%.
Bitcoin rose 9.4% to an all-time high of $76,012 on Wednesday. Trump has signaled a laissez-faire approach to cryptocurrency and said he would quickly fire Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, a critic who has punished numerous crypto companies and favors tighter regulations. Trump himself is involved with a new cryptocurrency through World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance startup that sells a token called WLFI.
In other music stocks news, music streamer LiveOne jumped 28.5% a day ahead of the company’s earnings release for the quarter ended Sept. 30 while iHeartMedia shares fell 12.6% following news that the radio broadcaster cut dozens of jobs at stations across the country this week.
Political spending among the major players in the live music industry has largely remained flat this election cycle, while contributions by individuals working at Live Nation were up slightly over past years and money spent on lobbying members of Congress dropped in 2024, according to election data reviewed by Billboard.
At Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), owner Phil Anschutz spent $1.9 million supporting this year’s Republican reelection efforts but opted not to throw any support behind presidential candidate Donald Trump. Anschutz has never supported the brash presidential candidate, but though AEG boss is sinking millions of dollars into efforts to flip the Senate for Republicans.
Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino, on the other hand, gave $25,000 in political donations to mostly Democratic Senate candidates and causes, records show, while the usually politically active James Dolan, chairman of Madison Square Garden Entertainment, made a single $25,000 donation this election cycle to Secure NYS PAC, a shadowy political action committee created to defeat House member Tom Suozzi (NY-D).
At Live Nation, executives donated about $387,000 to mostly Democratic candidates, a drop of about 6% compared to 2020, when executives donated $410,000.
The spending cycle comes during an unusually politically active year for the concert business, with a major ticketing reform package inching forward in Congress and the Department of Justice’s investigation of Live Nation on anti-trust grounds making its way through the courts.
Neither political cause has driven major spending by Rapino or his long-time rival Anschutz, who has once again sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into an effort to flip the Senate over to the Republicans. Anschutz, a Colorado billionaire who made large parts of his fortune in energy, railroads and communications, has long supported groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee. This year, Anschutz made more than 200 donations totaling $1.9 million to right-leaning political groups, the bulk of which went to political groups supporting Senate Republicans like John Cornyn, John Thune and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Anschutz also spent $1.9 million during the 2016 cycle and $836,000 during the 2020 cycle.
Rapino spent considerably less than Anschutz this election cycle, with his biggest political contribution being the $10,000 he donated to Live Nation’s political action committee, which gave $200,000 to candidates from both political parties this cycle. As an individual donor, Rapino cut about $4,600 in donations to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jacky Rosen in Nevada and supported Adam Schiff’s campaign for Senate in California, as well as the campaigns of high-profile California House members Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell.
Meanwhile, Gregg Maffei, president/CEO of Liberty Media and the chairman of Live Nation Entertainment, spent more than $112,000 on conservative politicians and political causes, mostly supporting the presidential candidacy of Trump and Senate Republicans. That’s significantly down from the 2020 election cycle when Maffei spent $420,000 on right-wing political causes and politicians, and the 2016 cycle when he spent $324,000.
One of sustainable touring’s pioneering acts, the Dave Matthews Band, is reporting several successes in that realm following its latest tour. The band’s summer tour, which wrapped in early September at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Quincy, Wash., unrolled the group’s “On the Road To Zero Waste” initiative, done in partnership with Live Nation. According to […]
A federal appeals court says Live Nation and Ticketmaster must face a class action claiming they charged “extraordinarily high” prices to thousands of ticket buyers, ruling that the concert giants cannot enforce “opaque and unfair” user agreements to scuttle the lawsuit.
Live Nation claimed fans had waived their right to sue in court when they bought their tickets, arguing they had signed agreements promising to litigate any legal disputes via private arbitration — a common requirement when purchasing event tickets and other services from many companies.
But in a ruling Monday (Oct. 28), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Live Nation’s agreements were “unconscionable and unenforceable” since they would make it “impossible” for fans to fairly pursue claims against the company.
Trending on Billboard
“Forced to accept terms that can be changed without notice, a plaintiff then must arbitrate under … opaque and unfair rules,” the appeals court wrote. “The rules and the terms are so overly harsh or one-sided as to unequivocally represent a systematic effort to impose arbitration as an inferior forum.”
The ruling described Live Nation’s agreements in scathing terms, calling them “so dense, convoluted and internally contradictory to be borderline unintelligible” and “poorly drafted and riddled with typos.” The terms were so confusing, the court said, that Live Nation’s own attorneys “struggled to explain the rules” during a court hearing.
A spokesperson for Live Nation did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday (Oct. 31).
The ruling came as Live Nation is facing a sweeping antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking to break up the company over allegations that it illegally maintained a monopoly in the live entertainment industry. That separate action, which could take years to resolve, remains pending.
The class action against Live Nation, filed in 2022, accuses the company of violating antitrust laws by monopolizing the market for concert tickets and engaging in “predatory” behavior. Filed on behalf of “hundreds of thousands if not millions” of ticket buyers, the case claims Live Nation and Ticketmaster abused their dominance to charge “extraordinarily high” prices to consumers.
The lawsuit was something of a sequel to an earlier class action, in which the same legal team (from the law firm Quinn Emanuel) made highly-similar claims against Live Nation. That earlier case was dismissed after a federal judge ruled that such accusations must be handled via private litigation because of agreements that the plaintiffs had signed when they purchased their tickets.
In Monday’s ruling, the Ninth Circuit said that earlier victory had been both a gift and a curse for Live Nation. Though it had allowed the company to avoid a class-action lawsuit, the ruling raised the troubling prospect of facing thousands of individual arbitration cases all at once.
“Defendants foresaw that if their motion to compel [arbitration] in that case were granted, they would be faced with a large number of parallel individual claims by ticket purchasers,” the appeals court wrote. “In anticipation of such claims, defendants sought to gain in arbitration some of the advantages of class-wide litigation while suffering few of its disadvantages.”
According to the ruling, doing so involved amending its terms of use to require fans to submit to “novel and unusual” procedures for “mass arbitration” offered by a new arbitration company called New Era ADR.
It was this new arbitration agreement that the appeals court declared unenforceable in Monday’s ruling. The court roundly criticized the rules, saying they had placed unfair terms on any consumers who wanted to litigate a dispute with Live Nation. And, citing the company’s market share, the court said fans had almost no choice but to sign the agreement.
“Because Ticketmaster is the exclusive ticket seller for almost all live concerts in large venues, prospective ticket buyers in most instances are faced with a choice,” the court wrote. “They can either use Ticketmaster’s website and accept its terms, or refuse to use the website and be entirely foreclosed from purchasing tickets on the primary market.”
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
The festival organized by Lil Wayne is getting a new platform for creators with Live Nation Urban in time for this year’s edition, entitled “LilWeezyCon”.
In a press release, Live Nation Urban announced that they’ve agreed to a partnership to provide a new space for creators and innovators working with the community at the annual Lil’ WeezyAna Fest organized by Lil Wayen, known as LilWeezyCon. The partnership is with the Cultural Creators Foundation, and the event will take place during the concert event weekend in Lil Wayne’s hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana.
LilWeezyCon will be an all-day event this coming Saturday (November 2) at the Fillmore New Orleans from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. The schedule includes an array of panel discussions, networking sessions, and workshops crafted to spark inspiration in attendees. Attendance at LilWeezyCon is free, with college students getting VIP access. Volunteers from LSU, Xavier University, and other local schools such as Dillard University will assist in putting on the events. Guest speakers include Head of Music Industry Cultural Collaborations at Amazon Music Phylicia Fant, Head of HipHop/R&B Rotation at Amazon Music Sierra Lever, Terriona “Tank” Bell of Tank & Tha Bangas, and other notable industry figures and artists.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Live Nation Urban to create Lil’ WeezyCon, where we can bring together the brightest minds and most influential voices from across the industry to inspire and uplift future generations,” said Joi Brown, Founder and CEO of Culture Creators Foundation in the press release. “This is an incredible opportunity for our community to connect, share knowledge, and build meaningful relationships while celebrating the culture that drives us all.”
“We knew we wanted to do something special with this year’s festival, and tapping the Culture Creators Foundation to help us create Lil’ WeezyCon felt like the perfect way to engage the community and bring college students into the mix,” said Brandon Pankey, Vice President of Live Nation Urban in the release. “This partnership allows us to expand beyond music and create an experience that leaves a lasting impact on young professionals and emerging creators.” For more information, visit www.lilweezyanafest.com.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino must be deposed in the ongoing litigation over the 2021 disaster at the Astroworld music festival, the Texas Supreme Court says.
In a ruling last week, the high court denied Live Nation’s petition seeking to stop the deposition, rejecting its arguments that victims were simply seeking to depose the executive in order to “harass Live Nation and to coerce settlements.”
The Oct. 15 ruling, which left in place a trial judge’s decision this summer forcing Rapino to testify, came nearly three years after the 2021 incident, in which a crowd crush during Travis Scott’s headlining set left 10 dead and hundreds injured.
The disaster spawned hundreds of lawsuits against Live Nation, Scott and others, collectively seeking billions of dollars in damages. Many of those cases have since settled on private terms, but some victims are still moving toward a jury trial. A so-called bellwether trial had been scheduled to start this week but was pushed back to February after more settlements were reached.
Trending on Billboard
In seeking to block Rapino’s deposition, Live Nation’s attorneys argued that he was the kind of top-level “apex” executive who can’t typically be dragged into court cases. They said he was far removed from actual decision-making and was “not involved in the festival”, meaning he didn’t have any unique information for the lawsuit that couldn’t be gleaned from other sources.
“Mr. Rapino’s only connection to the festival was as Live Nation’s ultimate executive,” the company’s lawyers wrote. “Any knowledge he may possess was obtained from others who have knowledge superior to his own.”
But attorneys for victims argued that Rapino had played a more direct role in the operations of Astroworld than Live Nation was letting on. Among other evidence, they cited an email Rapino sent on the night of the disaster, instructing Live Nation’s festival director to wait for more information about the death toll before canceling the rest of the festival. “If 5 died we would cancel,” he wrote in the message.
“Remarkably, Live Nation claims that Rapino was not the decisionmaker on whether to cancel the Festival,” the lawyers for the victims wrote. “This email proves otherwise, and plaintiffs want an opportunity to examine Rapino about it.”
Following last week’s ruling, it’s unclear when Rapino’s deposition will take place. A spokesperson for Live Nation did not immediately return a request for comment on the court’s order.
Sandbox Succession, the legacy division of Sandbox Entertainment, partnered with the Patsy Cline estate through Patsy Cline Enterprises. Under the agreement, Sandbox Succession will collaborate with Cline’s daughter and heir, Julie Fudge, to expand her legacy across film, TV, publishing, merchandising, hospitality and licensing. Gregory Hall, a key player in the management of Cline’s estate, will remain an instrumental member of the team. A new biography and documentary on Cline are both in development. Sandbox Succession also represents the estates of Johnny and June Carter Cash and Loretta Lynn.
Business-to-business digital music platform Tuned Global forged a partnership with streaming fraud detection company Beatdapp, through which Tuned Global will incorporate Beatdapp’s fraud detection capabilities into the Tuned Global platform. The deal will help Tuned Global ensure that client royalties are fairly distributed to rights holders. Beatdapp also has deals in place with Universal Music Group and the Mechanical Licensing Collective.
Trending on Billboard
Oak View Group (OVG) and Middle East event management and venue operator Ethara struck a joint venture to enable OVG’s entry into the Middle East market. Under the agreement, Ethara — which operates venues in the United Arab Emirates, including the Etihad Arena, Etihad Park, Yas Marina Circuit and Yas Conference Centre — will provide OVG with knowledge of local markets, with the two companies exploring growth opportunities together across the region. Ethara will also work closely with Rhubarb Hospitality Collection (RHC), a British venue caterer recently acquired by OVG, to improve the fan experience by providing food, beverage and hospitality services at venues across the Middle East.
Dreamliner, a provider of upscale travel coach buses for entertainers, acquired two events logistics companies: Denver-based Shomotion and Nashville-based Show Pro, with founders of each company joining Dreamliner’s executive team. Dreamliner will retain all Shomotion and Show Pro employees and expand its footprint by adding Shomotion’s Denver facility and Show Pro’s Nashville facility. The acquisition adds over 70 trucks and 220 trailers to Dreamliner’s offerings. – Jessica Nicholson
AtVenu, a leading provider of live event software and payment solutions, received a $130 million equity investment from Sixth Street Growth. The partnership will allow atVenu to expand and speed up the company’s growth into new live event markets, including sports and food and beverage. AtVenu helps ease the process of managing locations, inventory and the deployment of point-of-sale hardware while offering real-time data for organizers to optimize the event experience. According to a press release, the company processes more than $1.6 billion in merchandise and food and beverage volume every year and works on more than 125,000 events annually, from small clubs to stadiums. Raymond James served as atVenu’s financial advisor in the transaction.
Armada Music Group’s BEAT Music Fund acquired several new catalogs. They include the artist shares from a portion of techno pioneer and artist Kevin Saunderson‘s Inner City catalog; master and artist royalties for trance DJ and Coldharbour Recordings owner Markus Schulz; and the catalog of Robbie Rivera’s dance label Juicy Music. BEAT’s roster, through acquisitions, also includes Sultan + Shepard, Jax Jones, Amba Shepherd, VIVa MUSiC, Sola Records, King Street Sounds and Chocolate Puma.
Warner Music Group (WMG) Benelux acquired Netherlands-based record label Cloud 9 Recordings, which counts artists including Claude, Jaap Reesema, Kris Kross Amsterdam, Snelle and Turfy Gang on its roster. Under the deal, the Cloud 9 team will relocate to The Amsterdam Music Harbour, which serves as the creative hub of WMG Benelux in the Amsterdam Houthavens. Raymond van Vliet will retain his role as president of Cloud 9, which will remain a separate label, as well as his responsibilities at Blue Skies Publishing. Along with the acquisition, WMG Benelux entered an exclusive global administration agreement with the Cloud 9-affiliated Blue Skies Publishing, which represents songwriters including Claude, Davina Michelle, Edwin van Hoevelaak, Flemming, Frank van Etten, John Dirne, La Fuente and Snelle and owns several catalogs. Blue Skies Publishing will continue to manage the creative process with its current team, while its office in the Dutch town of Laren will serve as a satellite office for Cloud 9.
Moombix, described as a music education platform enabling adult hobbyists and aspiring music professionals to have one-on-one online classes with expert teachers, closed a seed funding round of over 1.9 million pounds ($2.47 million), led by Iceland’s Frumtak Ventures with participation from angel investors. The money will be used to scale the Moombix marketplace and improve the user experience, accelerate customer acquisition and prepare for a strategic launch into the U.K., where 200 teachers have already signed up to offer classes, according to a press release. Moombix offers classes on instrument learning, voice coaching, DJing, production and more.
Downtown-owned business-to-business distributor FUGA struck a new partnership with UNIFIED Music Group, a multi-service music company that operates across Melbourne, Syndey, L.A., New York, Nashville and Toronto. Under the deal, FUGA will support UNIFIED Recorded Music labels including UNFD and Domestic La La, which will leverage FUGA’s platform and suite of services, including strategic marketing and account management, social video management, YouTube channel partnerships, physical distribution, synch and licensing solutions via Downtown Music Publishing, and neighboring rights collection through Downtown Neighbouring Rights. Since 2022, UNIFIED has been a client of Downtown-owned royalty accounting platform Curve.
Live Nation signed a deal to manage Allas Live, a 2,500-capacity open-air venue within the Allas Sea Pool complex in Helsinki, Finland. Under the deal, Live Nation will also manage the Allas Live outdoor concert series in partnership with Allas Sea Pool.
ASM Global reached an agreement with the City of Worcester, Mass., to extend ASM’s management services of the city-owned DCU Center Arena and Convention Center. The five-member Civic Center Commission, which oversees ASM’s management contract on behalf of the city, voted unanimously to recommend the contract extension. As part of the 10-year extension, ASM has committed to a $3.5 million investment in the DCU Center that will focus on enhancing food and beverage operations, creating digital advertising opportunities and implementing further technology upgrades.
Acrisure Arena, located in Palm Springs, Calif., announced Silvercrest as the official sponsor of its exclusive outdoor VIP space, the Silvercrest Compound. The space includes a nine-hole mini golf course along with bocce ball, pickleball, half-court basketball, fire pits, and food and beverage offerings just steps away from the stage.