Hello My Friends:

Hopefully I got to see many of you on my Sticky & Sweet travels. While I’m happy to have more time to breathe and sleep, I miss my touring family. Sometimes I have to remember that I won’t be seeing them for afternoon rehearsal and the big show. It was great visiting countries that I’d never been to before and of course returning to lots of my favorite places.

I’ve just finished a script for a film that I hope to make next year. Its working title is W.E. It’s two love stories intertwined together. One is about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and the other is a fictional story of a woman searching for love. That’s all I am going to reveal at the moment. Stay tuned for further info on this.

I am just back from Malawi and Brazil. Was so exciting to see the results of many of the projects that are underway in Malawi and to see first hand the improvement in the lives of the children that we have all grown to love like family. I’m especially looking forward to watching the building of the Girls Academy which hopefully will give a new meaning to girl power and produce the future leaders of Malawi. Thanks to all of you who contributed n the matching donation program, and feel free to keep helping in any way you can. You will be hearing more about the programs in Brazil in the near future, I look forward to sharing that endeavor with you all.

Earlier this month I got to work with one of my favorite photographers, Steven Klein. We did a photo shoot for the next Dolce & Gabbana women’s campaign – it’s always an adventure when I work with Steven.

Lastly, thanks to everyone for helping CELEBRATION reach No. 1 in so many countries. It’s a wonderful reminder that my fans continue to celebrate music – old and new – and I can continue to inspire people to dance and dream. To quote the great Stevie Wonder from “Sir Duke”, “Music is a world within itself. It’s a language we all understand. You can feel it all over.”

Blessings to all of you

Love Madonna. [SOURCE]

Aww, I miss Madonna as well, I’m still listening to her greatest hits CD, while I wait for the tour DVD and a new album  to come out

Hurry and Justify My Love Madge 

By Phil Turnbull

Tickets for rock legends Kiss’ upcoming Glasgow show sold out within ten minutes of going on sale today.

A spokesman for the SECC this morning confirmed: “Standing tickets have all sold out and the seating tickets are definitely on course to sell out within the next few days.”

The May 2010 concert at the SECC is the first time the American outfit have played in Scotland for 18 years, but it appears their popularity has not waned.

Kiss diehard fan Kenny Simpson, 22 of Polwarth, secured tickets this morning, and is eagerly anticipating the gig, saying: “I’ve seen Kiss before but never in an arena, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

The rock lords’ European arena and stadium tour, dubbed the ‘Sonic Boom Over Europe: From The Beginning To The Boom’ tour, was announced on Monday 23rd of this month by promoters Live Nation.

On the same day Kiss themselves made this announcement to fans via their website, kissonline.com;

The 27 date tour lasts for two months and takes the band from Ireland to Belgium, with Italian, German and Slovakian dates, amongst others, in-between.

Rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley is promising a performance of the band’s back catalogue, telling kissonline.com; “We’re covering the whole musical history of the band on a stage that takes KISS one giant step further in our eight inch heels. We’re stoked. You wanted the best? You GOT the best!”

Bassist and icon Gene Simmons is keen to promote the group’s latest album ‘Sonic Boom’, which hit number two in the American Billboard Top 200, and reached number 24 in the UK Album Chart.

Simmons told kissonline.com; “Now. More than ever. KISS is a four wheel drive monster truck. Our mission? To rock Planet Earth. To spread the gospel of Sonic Boom.” 

While Kiss last played a Scottish date in 1992, incidentally at the SECC in Glasgow, they have indeed rocked Edinburgh before.

The rock heroes’ brought their Crazy Nights Tour to the capital’s Playhouse Theatre for two nights back in November 1988.

Kiss have cemented their place at the top table of Rock n’ Roll by selling over 80 million albums worldwide, and on 23rd September of this year were nominated for a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Glasgow concert takes place on 9th May 2010 at the SECC, with remaining seating tickets priced at £40 plus standard booking fee.

It’s such an obvious idea it’s amazing it didn’t happen sooner. Wired reports that Apple (s aapl) has teamed up with promoter Live Nation to bring Live music to its iTunes Store.

The reason for the delay is the tremendous difficulty getting all the required signatures on all the dotted lines. For each live performance to be made available to consumers, the performers, their management companies, record labels, venue management, promoters and countless others must have forged some sort of agreement deemed of value to them all. That’s far from easy, but it helps if you happen to own the venues; Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk says that Apple and Live Nation are the owners of the more than 80 venues featured in the collection of live shows.

While Apple has made live performances available in the iTunes Store in the past, they was never marshaled together into one single place and made so easily searchable. As you’d expect, it’s possible to search the Live music by genre and artist, but it’s also possible to search by venue. Flagship Apple Stores are often the venues for intimate live shows and they’re now just a click away; Montreal, Sydney, London and New York’s SOHO stores are just a few of the locations in the list. (The mind boggles at the legal wrangling that must have taken place to clear the worldwide rights for those performances…)

A section is also reserved for highlighting iPhone apps that also deliver, or are connected with, Live music.

The content isn’t just reserved for music, either. Videos of Live performances are also available, and as you probably guessed already, do cost a bit more than music alone. Concert videos start at $8 and go as high as $13 while straight audio shows are usually in the $8 range.

I’d have thought this universally good news for music fans, though John Paczkowski, in his Digital Daily column for The Wall Street Journal, writes (somewhat sarcastically);

This year, Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, will put on some 22,000 live shows – each one attended by carping about the asinine “convenience” and “courtesy” charges the company likes to tack on to ticket purchases. Funny, isn’t it, how quickly a $28 show can become a $50 one?

So, in light of the news of Live Nation’s content partnership with Apple, and with tongue firmly in cheek, Paczkowski asks, “Does this mean we can expect a Live Nation ‘iTunes Convenience Fee’?”

I haven’t had a lot of luck with “Live” recordings of my favorite artists. The occasional missed note, a bit of microphone feedback or occasional volume dropouts are to be expected in a live setting and if I’m standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other fans, y’know, there in person, I’ll forgive every imperfection.

Having those imperfections reproduced on my iPod or desktop speakers, though…it just doesn’t seem right. I barely listen to the few live albums I own. I can’t imagine wanting to spend real money on any more.

What do you think? Am I in a minority? Should I just shut up and go back to my gramophone? Is iTunes Live Music gonna be claiming your hard-earned green?

Live Nation ha realizzato una partnership con la Apple per i concerti video. In poche parole da oggi troveremo, oltre agli mp3, in vendita anche i video dei concerti dei nostri artisti preferiti (acquistabili nel modo classico di iTunes).

Tra i live di lancio quelli di Duffy,OK Go (diventati famosi grazie a Youtube), Jesse McCartney e Ziggy Marley

Depending on how you look at it, live music was either the first or the last wave of music to hit the Internet. Live music trading groups have existed since the early days of USENET, and tape-friendly bands have allowed their live shows to be stored on archive.org, but with few exceptions, live concerts have not been made readily available for purchase unless it was specifically recorded as a commercial concert.

Earlier this month, EMI discussed plans to potentially offer concert goers digital recordings of the show on CD, DVD, or digital device as they leave the venue. Today, concert promoter Live Nation and iTunes debuted an exclusive partnership with iTunes, pairing the largest events promoter with the largest music retailer.

(Mashable.com)

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Came across a cool bit of ‘industry’ news that I thought may interest some readers of this blog:

iTunes and Live Nation Team Up for Concert Downloads

Apple and Live Nation debut iTunes live music program

My friend Donny Goines will be headlining at Gramercy Theatre once again. His last performance in August was a success and Live Nation, 2DopeBoyz and DigiWaxx have backed him for an encore. November 30th is the date, Doors open at 8:30, Tickets are still avaialable and I will be shadowing him throughout the day taking candid photos so be sure to check out the photos after the concert.

Currently listening to: Straylight Run – Hands In the Sky

Not too long ago I had a conversation with the owner of a small venue in the East Lansing area. While this man was able to promote three other venues (located elsewhere) with no problem, he was now faced with a nearly empty venue with an internationally recognized band on stage. Confused with the turnout, we began discussing what his marketing team could be doing differently to battle this business owner’s nightmare.

• Social networking sites. It is important to connect with potential customers on a personal level. Using Twitter, Facebook , Flickr, and even MySpace (a couple people still use that, right?) will allow you to reach a potential market while they are in their element: wasting time on the internet. Keep in mind that use of these mediums must be consistent, informative and most importantly: entertaining.
• Hit the local market, hard. This means take advantage of newspapers (make sure you do your circulation research!), high school publications, radio (if there is an effective station near you) and sponsorships. Though you may not see immediate turnout, branding yourself in the area will pay off in the long run.
• Seek out promoters. Though not every venue has the luxury of residing in a college town, there are always inspiring artists to be found. Do some research and see if you can offer a photographer a backstage pass in exchange for concert photography. Maybe a graphic artist needs work for their portfolio and would be happy to design a flyer? Soon you’ll find this artwork spread throughout the net, word-of-mouth will take action, and you will have created a supporter of your business. If nothing else, people will promote themselves. Might as well let them promote your business while they’re at it.
• SWAG. Stuff we all get. Everybody likes getting free things, so it may not be a bad idea to occasionally give it to them– at a reasonable expense. This may be a key opportunity to team up with another local company. If swag isn’t in your budget, consider contests, giveaways and drink specials (assuming you have a bar) to hold the show-goers interest.
• Allow the headliner to bring their own bands. While supporting local music is almost always a good idea, if the headliner requests to bring along their friends, ABandThatIsBetterThanTheLocalAct, let them. Not only will they have a bigger following, but they will allow the headliner to get into their comfort zone and put on a better show. A less-than-desirable lineup (regardless of the headliner) makes all the difference in packing a venue.
• Target your audience. Take the time to find the fans of musical acts that will play your venue, and you will have found the key to a full house. Flyer the coffee shops and restaurants they frequent. Contact the band’s street team and offer a local member free admission for promoting the show. Use Google AdWords to cover the Web sites they often visit. Facebook Ads are a great way to target fans of specific bands geographically. Post acts on any site that will allow you to: your own (update often), Live Nation, Yelp, MySpace, Facebook (create an event!),  the band’s Web site. Use local publications and sites to your advantage. Knowing the bands’ music and understanding their audience is an important and enjoyable venture!
• Continue to target your audience. Chances are, the fans of the bands playing at your show are between the ages of 13 and 18. The bad news is: teenagers get older and move. This means that your target demographic is ever-changing and thus, you need to be ever-promoting.

Can you think of any other effective ways to promote venues?

By John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud

Consumers and artists would be the likely losers if the proposed merger of ticketing giant Ticketmaster and concert management behemoth Live Nation were allowed to proceed. The reported entry of cable company Comcast into the merger negotiations does nothing to alleviate the very serious concerns that consumer groups like NCL have conveyed to legislators and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

That was the message that NCL sent to policymakers on Thursday when we released a joint statement opposing the merger in coordination with the National Association of Ticket Brokers, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America (CFA), and Knowledge Ecology International. Noted the groups:

“There seems to be little dispute after extensive Congressional hearings that the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation raises very profound competitive concerns. That is why fifty Members of Congress – an unprecedented number – have written to the DOJ with concerns about the merger. The Department of Justice has a unique opportunity to protect consumers by preventing this anticompetitive merger and preserving competition and choice in the marketplace.”

Thursday’s action came on the heels of a September 11 letter NCL, Consumer Action, and CFA sent to Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division expressing our concern about the merger. Then, as now, we remain extremely concerned that the merger would result in higher ticket prices for consumers, who have been paying Ticketmaster’s exorbitant “convenience fees” for years. All the while, company has busily gobbled up smaller competitors (remember Ticketron?) in the ticketing industry. Live Nation attempted to become a competitor in the ticketing business, a move which many believe prompted the bid by Ticketmaster. This move is one of the big reasons why we are calling on the DOJ to strongly consider blocking this merger.

As an organization strongly dedicated to advocating on behalf of workers as well as consumers, we are also concerned about the impact the proposed merger will have on artists. It is already difficult for artists to put on a show without using Ticketmaster’s ticketing services or performing in a Live Nation venue. Should the merger be approved, we fear that artists’ choices for who manages their ticket sales and their concerts would diminish even further.

We look forward to working with the DOJ and our partners in the consumers and industry communities to make sure consumers and artists are not the ultimate losers from this merger.

So, I guess now is the time to find out what all the fuss is about. The night I met Lady Gaga, approximately one year ago, it was in a dingy London nightclub called Punk. But I left early because my friend was in a miserable mood. If I had known better I probably should have stayed.

Ms. Gaga is going to be in Toronto. Screw the small venues. She’s headlining her own show at the ACC as a matter of fact, she’s got guys under her (no pun intended) with emerging acts Kid Cudi and Semi Precious Weapons as opening acts. And his royal fartness – Kanye West – has been dropped from the catalogue.

I keep hearing what an amazing performer this woman is, we’ll let’s confirm. I’ll probably see it for myself when she comes around this part of town. In the mean time, check out a sample of what she can do in Beyoncé ’s “Video Phone” video.

Tickets prices are (incl. GST) $49.50 & $57.50 and available at Ticketmaster and LiveNation.

Who: Lady Gaga featuring Kid Cudi and Semi Precious Weapons

What: Flamboyant Concert

When: Sat, November 28, 2009, 7:30PM

Where: Air Canada Centre, 50 Bay St., Suite 500, Toronto, ON, M5J 2L2

For more info, visit: LiveNation.

by Scott Hirst, for The Harvard Law School Forum at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2009.

Recently, in the Mergers and Acquisitions course at Harvard Law School, three preeminent M&A practitioners discussed the Merger Agreement as a Contract with Vice Chancellor Leo Strine, Jr., who teaches the class. The panelists were Rick Climan, a partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP; Faiza Saeed, a partner in the Corporate Department of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP; and Kim Rucker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Avon Products, Inc.

The panel went through the main parts of an acquisition agreement, including:

• Representations and warranties;
• Disclosure schedules (”The power is in the disclosure schedules”, remarked Kim);
• Pre-closing covenants that apply between signing and closing, including the strength of covenants and the difference between covenants and closing conditions;
• Closing conditions, the standards to which they must be met, and the risk of a deal failing to close.  Faiza gave the example of the breakdown of the General Electric-Honeywell transaction, which led to a discussion of regulatory risks and their effect on the transaction, and the consequent standards of covenants to obtain necessary consents, such as “hell-or-high-water” provisions…(continue reading)

Live Nation’s mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 22,000 concerts for 1,600 artists in 33 countries. During 2008, the company sold over 50 million concert tickets and drove over 70 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry’s first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.” Live Nation’s Premium Seat Sales Department at Shoreline Amphitheatre offers premium and box seats where both clients and employees will enjoy the opportunity to view the top entertainers in the world at one of the best outdoor concert facilities in the country. Ranging from the classics to popular music, each performance can be viewed from the most prestigious seats in the amphitheatre. Clients enjoy premier box and seat locations, priority access to tickets, special VIP entrance, private Terrace/Bar privileges, VIP parking and more. The Premium Seat Sales internship at Live Nation provides college, university or trade school students with on-the-job, experience in Sales, Hospitality and the Entertainment field; education in a fun and enjoyable concert atmosphere. The student will work at our Live Nation office at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA.

Responsibilities

This intern reports to the Premium Seat Sales Team and the Executive Director at Shoreline Amphitheater.

• • Work with VIP Web site
  • Develop “Day of Show” information and other communication materials for the VIPs
  • Coordinate ticket orders & tracking
  • Create and help manage informational media kits for potential clientele
  • Assist in the coordination of VIP events throughout the season
  • Assist in various aspects of the planning for “Day of Show” activities
  • Assist in mailings to existing and potential clientele
  • Making initial calls to prospective clients
  • Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• • An interest in the music/entertainment business is strongly preferred
  • Currently enrolled in an accredited college, university or trade school; major in Economics, Marketing, Public Relations, Hospitality or related Business field preferred
  • Internship must be for school credit
  • Must be at least 18 years of age
  • Good work ethic and the ability to multi-task
  • Positive attitude
  • Dependable
  • Excellent attention to detail
  • Ability to work well in stressful situations
  • Ability to work within time restraints
  • Professional attitude in dealing with all types of situations and personalities
  • Basic computer skills (Word, Excel and Outlook preferred) and strong organizational skills
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills as well as an eagerness to learn

Time Commitment

• • 8-20 Hours per week
  • 2010 Shoreline Amphitheatre Show Days
  • 2010 Summer (June-August) Minimum

Send resumes to Jeannette Minster:  E-mail JeannetteMinster@livenation.com Fax: (650) 967-4994

In the past I have been accused of always picking on Ticketmaster when it comes to ticketing issues.  This is not true at all.  I am an equal opportunity offender.  If an issue rears its ugly head, I believe we as an industry should bring it up and discuss it.  Today’s blog post is not about Ticketmaster.  Today I am picking on a ticket broker. 

Unless you live in the Boston market, you may not have heard about the ticket fiasco between Ace Tickets and New Kids on the Block.  The New Kids are doing a fundraiser at the Boston House of Blues for Toys for Tots.  Proceeds from ticket sales are going to the charity.  Somehow Ace has lots of tickets selling on their website for as much as $300 per ticket.  The actual cost of the tickets is $60 each. Donnie Wahlberg from the band announced his disgust that ticket brokers were scooping up all the tickets for a fundraiser.  Ace released an apology and said they would give their profits from the sale of tickets to the charity.  Ace claimed they didn’t know it was a fundraiser.

Here are my questions:

1. How did Ace not know this was a fundraiser?  If you are going to be in the ticket selling business, don’t you need to know what you are selling?
2. How did Ace get the tickets in the first place?  I thought Live Nation and Ticketmaster (not picking on TM) have technology in place to prevent this from happening? If so, who gave Ace the tickets? Was it the venue, band, promoter, etc…?
3. Once Ace realized their mistake, why didn’t they give back all the unsold seats?

As an industry, we need to stop all this crap and start marketing and selling tickets in a correct way so that our customers will want to buy our seats. The blame is industry wide.  This goes from the agents & managers, to the acts, promoters, venues, and ticket agencies. Our customers are starting to look at us as not a legit business. We are better then all this. We are not the Wild Wild West.

Las Vegas rock band, The Killers, will be performing in Singapore on January 24 (Sunday). The Grammy-nominated band who brought us “Mr. Brightside” and “Human” (2 of my favourite songs!) is the second rock act to perform at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2010! For the uninitiated, Green Day will be performing on January 14.

Don’t miss this exciting one night only concert!

What a great start to 2010! More concerts in the new year! Wooohoo!

Date: January 24, 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 8pm
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium
Ticket prices: S$88, $128, $148, $168

Tickets available from SISTIC from November 23.

Για τα εισιτήρια των U2 έχουμε μιλήσει. Είναι γνωστό ότι το show που θα παρουσιάσουν είναι ιδιαίτερα φαντασμαγορικό με αποτέλεσμα το κόστος για την διοργανώτρια εταιρεία να είναι μεγάλο (μόνο το stage, κοστίζει πάνω από 500 χιλιάδες € κάθε ημέρα που είναι στημένο, είτε παίζουν, είτε όχι, το ίδιο βράδυ οι U2). Ακολουθώντας διαδικασία ντόμινο, την οικονομική επιβάρυνση θα νιώσουμε και εμείς, το φιλοθεάμον κοινό που επιθυμεί να παρακολουθήσει τους U2 επί το έργο. Εν καιρούς οικονομικών δυσχερειών, με συνανθρώπους μας να κόβουν το κάπνισμα για λόγους οικονομίας (να και ένα καλό που βγαίνει από την οικονομική κρίση), οι διοργανωτές συναυλιών μας εμπαίζουν.

Είναι δυνατόν τα εισιτήρια που θα αγοράσεις από το internet, να κοστίζουν πιο πολύ από το τα εισιτήρια που θα αγοράσεις πηγαίνοντας σε ένα εκδοτήριο; Για την αγορά μέσω internet η εταιρεία δεν χρειάζεται να πληρώνει υπαλλήλους οι οποίοι θα υπομένουν καρτερικά το οκτάωρο τους σε κάποιο εκδοτήριο. Δεν ξέρω ακριβώς τα νούμερα, μα φαντάζομαι ότι η Tickethouse και η κάθε Tickethouse που αναλαμβάνει την πώληση ζητάει κάποια χρήματα ή κάποιο ποσοστό. Θέλετε να μου πείτε ότι το παρακλάδι της Tickethouse στο internet και το ticketpro.gr, που κάνουνει την online προπώληση για την συναυλία των U2, ζητούνάει 10% περισσότερα χρήματα για να πραγματοποιήσουνει την συναλλαγή online; Η προμήθεια της τράπεζας πόσο είναι; Υπάρχει περίπτωση να είναι αυτό το 10% από εκεί; Ή έχει να κάνει με το ρεύμα που θα δαπανήσουν για να δουλεύουν οι servers ώστε να γίνει η συναλλαγή;

Για το τελευταίο ας μην το συζητήσουμε καλύτερα καθώς το αν θα μπορούν οι servers να εξυπηρετήσουν το κοινό, τουλάχιστον τις πρώτες μέρες, είναι αμφίβολο. Πάντως, η εμπειρία μας έχει δείξει ότι δεν μπορούν. Κάθε φορά που ξεκινάει η προπώληση για μια μεγαλύτερη συναυλία, “οι servers πέφτουν”. Ελπίζω να έχουμε προνοήσει και απόψε, μετά τα μεσάνυχτα που ουσιαστικά θα ξεκινήσει η online προπώληση, να με διαψεύσουν.

Δεν τα βάζω με την Didi (αυτή τη φορά!), τα βάζω με την ποιότητα των παρεχόμενων υπηρεσιών γενικότερα σε επίπεδο συναυλιών.

De acordo com o portal MuuMuse, a cantora Utada Hikaru realmente entrará em turnê no início de 2010 pelo Estados Unidos e também na Europa!

A turnê terá início em janeiro e contará com a ajuda da Live Nation, que promove concertos e a venda de ingressos de shows ao vivo.

A confirmação foi devida a um e-mail por Mike Rizzo, que participará na turnê com Utada como DJ. Ele disse que a turnê começará no meio de janeiro no Havaí e passará por 10 cidades americanas, terminando em Londres, no dia 12 de fevereiro.

O último show acontecerá em Londres e será na casa de shows O2 Academy Islington e os ingressos para o show começarão a ser vendidos em 13 de Novembro às 9 da manhã e terão preço inicial de 20 euros (cerca de 51 reais).

Fonte: UtadaBrasil.com

Créditos: Jstation