The Daily Swarm

Ethan Smith writes (sub. req.):

The world’s largest concert promoter, Live Nation Inc., has come to a sobering conclusion: Staging live music events isn’t enough to drive the growth it needs to thrive in the convulsing music business.

[...]

In an interview, Mr. Rapino said Live Nation needs to do more than simply run its concert operations better. “That would not be a strategy for long-term growth,” he said. Meanwhile, he saw other corners of the music business—including his own contractors—and coveted the margins generated by partners like Ticketmaster. “I have to be in that business,” Mr. Rapino said.

[...]

Mr. Rapino calls the drop in share price “frustrating,” but he says none of the company’s biggest shareholders, including Fidelity Management & Research, have sold shares. “Our bigger investors realize it took the promoters 20 years to get here,” Mr. Rapino says. “You’re not going to fix it by Q3.” A Fidelity spokesman said the company doesn’t comment on individual stocks.

[...]

When it comes to specifics about its move away from Ticketmaster, Live Nation remains coy. Ticketmaster now handles the vast majority of the tickets Live Nation sells. Though Live Nation has a call center and other infrastructure, the scale is much smaller than that of the ticketing giant. Mr. Rapino says the company does have experience in the field, noting, “It’s not a foreign concept.” The company expects to unveil its in-house ticketing strategy by the end of the year.