The Daily Swarm

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/—Live Nation’s President
and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Rapino officially confirmed today that
Madonna has entered into an unprecedented global partnership with Live
Nation and will become the founding artist in its Artist Nation division.

“The paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a
business woman, I have to move with that shift,” commented Madonna. “For
the first time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans is
unlimited. I’ve never wanted to think in a limited way and with this new
partnership, the possibilities are endless. Who knows how my albums will be
distributed in the future? That’s what’s exciting about this deal—
everything is possible. Live Nation has offered me a true partnership and
after 25 years in the business, I feel that I deserve that.”

“Madonna is a true icon and maverick as an artist and in business,”
stated Mr. Rapino. “Our partnership is a defining moment in music history.
I am thrilled that Madonna, who is also now a shareholder in our company,
has joined with us to create a new business model for our industry.
Bringing all the varied elements of Madonna’s stunning music career into
the Artist Nation and Live Nation family, moves her future and the future
of our company into a unique and extraordinary place.”

The first-of-its-kind partnership between Madonna and Live Nation
encompasses all of Madonna’s future music and music-related businesses,
including the exploitation of the Madonna brand, new studio albums,
touring, merchandising, fan club/web site, DVD‘s, music-related television
and film projects and associated sponsorship agreements. This unique new
business model will address all of Madonna’s music ventures as a total
entity for the first time in her career.

Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Live Nation’s Global Music Division and Chief
Executive Officer of Global Touring, who has produced the artist’s last
three worldwide tours with the company which generated close to $500
million in the last six years commented, “Madonna is without a doubt one of
the most fiercely original artists in history. It is a great opportunity
for Live Nation and Artist Nation to build upon our years of success with
Madonna as a touring artist.”

Artist Nation was created to partner with artists to manage their
diverse rights, grow their fan bases and provide a direct connection to
fans through the global distribution platform and marketing proficiencies
that have made Live Nation the world’s largest live music company. Headed
by the division’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Michael Cohl,
Artist Nation has significant infrastructure in place to execute additional
revenue streams including recorded music, merchandise, studios, media
rights, digital rights, fan club/website and sponsorship divisions.

Joining with Artist Nation to work with Madonna will be Live Nation’s
unmatched global distribution platform and artist-to-fan-reach, including
over 80 offices in l8 countries, over 200 national and local sponsorship
personnel, over l60 venues, access to over 35 million fans that attend well
over l0,000 shows that Live Nation produces, promotes and/or hosts each
year for over l,000 artists including fan access via Live Nation’s growing
database of over 25 million fans.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Madonna for half my life. She
has always encouraged me and set a great example for me to push the
boundaries to reach our full potential. This partnership exemplifies just
that,” commented Madonna’s co-manager Guy Oseary.

Angela Becker, Madonna’s co-manager added, “The partnership and vision
for the future that Artist Nation along with Live Nation presented to us
assured me that this is the ideal home for Madonna. It is with great trust
and optimism that we collectively move ahead together.”

In regard to Madonna’s relationship with her current label, the artist
commented, “My time with Warner Bros. Records has been great. I appreciate
their hard work and value the many relationships I have developed over the
years with the label in the U.S. and around the world. I have an album
coming out with them next year and I’m excited about it. We still have work
to do together.”