Jessica Northey

November 5, 2011

Assignment 2 – IMK

Company

Live Nation Entertainment has entertainment conglomerates that reside at the

prestigious address 9348 Civic Center Drive Beverly Hills, California 90210. Their

parent company is Clear Channel, which makes for a great story about the history of

how Live Nation Entertainment was born. In 2005, shares were listed on the New York

Stock Exchange, almost seven years ago today. Clear channel created a tax-free spin-

off for their shareholders, and called it CCE Spinco, Inc. It was renamed Live Nation

Entertainment, Inc. and Michael Rapino was named the company’s CEO in September

2004. Rapino previously headed the European music operations for Clear Channel.

“The company's aim in the United States was to return to a more

traditional way of developing bands, Rapino said in Amusement

Business.”

Rapino has made it a priority to bring back the brand identities of a dozen

different United States promoters and apply them to regional divisions. In 2005, Live

Nation Entertainment cut 300 jobs and closed many regional offices in efforts to balance

their budget and pay off their debts.

“While valued at more than $1 billion, the company had a total debt of

about $367 million, noted Billboard.”

Rapino decided to research ticket sales because Ticketmaster.com had a

contract that was coming up for renewal in 2008. Live Nation Entertainment was set to

become an entertainment portal while increasing its stadium management business

through venue rental and ownership. (“Live nation, inc.,” )

Business

Live Nation Entertainment’s revenue generating units include operations of

venues for live entertainment in the world by promoting or staging events. The types of

venues Live Nation Entertainment owns are stadiums, amphitheaters, arenas, music

theaters, clubs, House of Blues clubs, festival sites, and theatrical theaters. Live Nation

Entertainment also has several other business units such as promoting music concerts,

ticket servicing, artist management and services, as well as sponsorships. ("Live nation

entertainment," 2010)

Target Market

Live Nation Entertainment has a variety of business units, which are all

entertainment related; therefore, each business unit shares a target market. Their main

targeted core segments are people who love music.

“Music touches women, teens, African-Americans, Hispanics, every

demographic, every psychographic, every geographic market anywhere in

the country. Anywhere in the world, music has an influence.” (Bhasin,

2011).

The geographic target market is in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The

estimated data for demographic data calculated from LiveNation.com traffic:

“Male: 46%, Female 54%, Under 18: 17%, 18-34: 36%, 35-49: 32%, 50+:

15%, Caucasian: 81%, No Kids: 56%, Has Kids: 44%, Household Income:

$0-13k: 13%, $30-60k: 26%, $60-100k: 32%, $100k+: 29%, Education

Level: No College: 44%, College: 43%, Graduate School: 12%.”

(“Quantcast - audience,” )

To break down Live Nation Entertainment’s core segments, starting with their

service of promoting music concerts. The target markets are people who attend a

concert on average of twice a year. Their benefits sought are about creating an

experience aimed at people who are tech-savvy. For example, through use of the

company’s iPhone app, people can buy music and videos while at the concert. The

psychographic description are people who have the lifestyle of having a smart phone,

they are young and single and attend concerts more frequently than those with families.

“The beauty about music is that it's truly is universal. Everyone loves

music. They listen to music for hours, many hours every day. And that's

whether you're a teenager or you're a senior -- music is a part of your life.”

(Bhasin, 2011)

Live Nation Entertainment also operates venues. The targeted core segments for

venue operations is achieved through ownership. The idea is to buy a successful name

brand and attach Live Nation Entertainment to the brand. For example, the House of

Blues chain of clubs is a well-known establishment that Live Nation Entertainment now

owns. Through the ownership of venues the company can streamline their event

promotions business.

A third service Live Nation Entertainment offers is ticket servicing. The targeted

core segments are people who have a heavy usage rate of going to entertainment

events. Ticket sales are for many events from music concerts to monster truck shows.

Competition

Live Nation Entertainment’s main competitors are Anschutz Entertainment

Group, SMG, Veritix, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, and major sports leagues

that sell sponsorships, combined with significant national media packages.

Anschutz Entertainment Group’s similar services are promoting music concerts;

they have similar customers of concertgoers, and are the same type of company that is

in the live music industry. Another main competition’s company name is SMG. Their

similar services are operating venues, similar customers are music lovers, and they are

the same type of company who own and/or operate venues to serve artists to perform.

A final example of comparing the competition is a company called Veritix. Similar

services are ticketing servicing, similar customers are ticket buyers, and they are also a

ticketing service provider. (“Live nation entertainment,” 2010)

Live Nation Entertainment’s strength is their ability to stay focused on the

entertainment industry while maintaining many different revenues; therefore, their

competition is very dynamic.

“Competition in the live entertainment industry is intense. We believe that

we compete primarily on the basis of our ability to deliver quality music

products, sell tickets and provide enhanced fan and artist experiences. We

believe that our primary strengths include: the quality of service delivered

to our artists, fans and corporate sponsors. Our track record in promoting

and producing live music events and tours both domestically and

internationally; artist relationships; ticketing software and services;

distribution platform (venues); the scope and effectiveness in our expertise

of marketing and sponsorship programs; and our financial stability. ("Live

nation entertainment," 2010)

Live Nation Entertainment’s competitors are successful and have a variety of

competitors in different industries, and some that have more financial backing and

larger brand awareness.

“Touring artists have significant alternatives to our venues in scheduling

tours. Our main competitors in venue management include SMG and

Anschutz Entertainment Group, in addition to numerous smaller regional

companies in North America and Europe. Some of our competitors in

venue management have a greater number of venues in certain markets

as well as greater financial resources in those markets.”

Live Nation Entertainment’s challenges are dealing with the accessibility the

competition has in the Internet arena concerning ticket sales. There are venues that are

integrating self-ticketing systems. Another threat of loss of revenue is primary ticketing

service providers who lock a client into their contracts. Services directly competing with

Live Nation Entertainment are in the live music industry promoting music concerts. The

competition’s additional product and services lines are local and national sports teams

who offer state of the art venues and strong media packages for sponsorships.

Summary

Live Nation Entertainment’s company structure is made up of Officers and

Directors. The Board of Directors are as follows: Irving Azoff is Chairman of the Board,

Live Nation Entertainment. Mark Carleton is Senior Vice President, Liberty Media

Corporation. Jonathan Dolgen is Principal, Wood River Ventures, LLC. Ariel Emanuel is

Chief Executive Officer, WME Entertainment. Robert Ted Enloe, III is Managing General

Partner, Balquita Partners, Ltd. Jeffrey T. Hinson is President, YouPlus Media, LLC is

James S. Kahan is AT&T Senior Executive Vice President – Corporate Development,

Retired. Gregory B. Maffei is President and Chief Executive Officer, Liberty Media

Corporation. Randall T. Mays is Vice Chairman, Clear Channel Communications, Inc.

Michael Rapino is President and Chief Executive Officer, Live Nation Entertainment.

Mark S. Shapiro is Chief Executive Officer, Dick Clark Productions. ("Live nation

entertainment," 2010)

Live Nation Entertainment’s current position is to continue to increase ownership

in well-established brands within the entertainment industry. They aim to create an

experience at their concerts in order to build their brand and bring value to their

audiences around the globe. Their main focus is to give the fans what they want.

References

Bhasin, K. (2011, September 07). Q&a: Live nation exec on how social media and mobile tech are completely changing live music read more [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-09-07/strategy/30126733_1_live-music-artist-brands

(n.d.). Live nation, inc. - company profile, information, business description, history, background information on live nation, inc. Reference For Business - Encyclopedia of Small Business, Business Biographies, Business Plans, and Encyclopedia of American Industries, Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/54/Live-Nation-Inc.html

Quantcast - audience measurement, lookalike modeling, audience buying. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.quantcast.com/livenation.com

(2010). Live nation entertainment inc. annual report. Retrieved from website: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=194146&p=irol-irhome