Sign O' The Times: LiveNation 360 Deals

NYTimes.com announced in this article that concert promoter Live Nation is close to completing a deal with Jay-Z worth $150 million over 10 years and is broken down as follows:

Length of Jay-Z deal: 10 years
$25 million upfront payment
$25 million general advance, including fees from current Heart of the City tour w/ Mary J. Blige
$25 million to cover five years' worth of overhead
$25 million to finance acquisitions or investments
$30 million total album advance (3 album minimum over 10 years)
$20 million for certain publishing, licensing and other rights
(source: NYTimes.com)


(Guess money *is* a thing...)

Compare this with U2's deal struck on Monday and Madonna's deal struck late last year:

Length of U2 deal: 12 years
Financial windfall for U2: undisclosed
Terms: Live Nation will manage touring, merchandising, U2's website. Publishing and music distribution not included.
(source: Billboard.com)


(Hopefully, the money helps some..)

Length of Madonna deal: 10 years
Financial windfall for Madonna: $120 million
Terms: Live Nation's deal "encompasses Madonna's future music and music-related businesses, including the exploitation of the Madonna brand, new studio albums, touring, merchandising, fan clubs/Web sites, DVDs, music-related television and film projects and associated sponsorship agreements."
(source: Billboard.com)


(Well, at least she's upfront about it...)

While there has been criticism on such seemingly extravagant payouts, these established artists have a solid fan base who will pay $$$$ for concert tix, and extra $$$ for the merch. Additionally, album sales for Madonna and Jay-Z have already peaked (U2 may still be holding out for relevancy in an increasingly irrelevant music label distribution paradigm), so the hedging their bets on these previously ancillary revenue streams makes some cents.

Do you think Live Nation is off its rocker? Sound off...