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Saturday, November 21, 
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Live Nation chairman out following strategic dispute

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LiveNation_logo.jpegLive Nation Inc. [LYV] chairman Michael Cohl has resigned from the company's board of directors and his post as CEO of its Live Nation Artists division following a protracted dispute concerning the company's contracts with major artists. Cohl, who favored giving artists so-called "360" deals in which the company received a cut of the artist's sales of albums, concert tickets, t-shirts and other merchandise, will serve in a consulting role, according to Live Nation's statement about the matter.

Live Nation was spun out of radio and outdoor advertising giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. [CCU] in 2005 and owns the Fillmore and House of Blues brand names, having acquired the latter for $350 million in mid-2006. While much of the music industry is suffering due to CD duplication, piracy and a fitful transition to digital delivery methods, the live music business is prospering.

For Live Nation, signing artists such as Madonna and Jay-Z to 360 deals represented either an update of the label/artist relationship or a needless move away from the company's core competency of live music and into selling CDs, a weaker part of the industry. A debate over whether to accelerate the 360 deal strategy was reportedly the source of friction between Cohl and Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, apparently resulting in Cohl's departure.

Live Nation shares were down 27 cents, or 2.3%, in morning trading Monday, but have lost more than 20% of their value since the beginning of June. -- Paul Bonanos

See press release from Live Nation announcing Cohl's departure
See June 20 post from Tech Confidential about Live Nation execs' feud
See previous Deal stories about live music's resurgence and Live Nation's acquisition of House of Blues
For more see June 12 Wall Street Journal story


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