Inescapable Canadian nu-heshers Nickelback have
signed a long-rumored 360 deal with Live Nation, which gives the concert-promotion behemoth the rights to produce and profit from the band's tours, recordings, merchandise, and other ventures. (The deal is for three albums, according to Reuters, and worth somewhere between $50 million and $70 million.) While there were rumors that the company was going to hold off on signing many more 360 deals, president and CEO Michael Rapino told
Variety that his company will sign "up to six" artists in the inaugural year of Live Nation Artists; Nickelback is fourth, behind Madonna, Jay-Z, and Shakira. Last week, when the Shakira deal was signed, a major label executive told the
New York Post that Live Nation was trying to "establish itself in a big way in each genre no matter what the loss leader is going to be on it," and the company now has pop, hip-hop, Latin music, and rock all covered. So what's next?
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Idolator
The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that Live Nation is cutting prices for 40 shows in southern California to $10 during a 14-hour window tomorrow, although anyone who buys those $10 tickets will still be forced to pony up for the various surcharges and "convenience fees" that are always tacked on to ducats purchased online. Trying to put a happy face on the whole thing Live Nation Southern California president Nick Masters told the U-T that the experiment "would be a fun thing to do for our fans"—you know, all the people who are really into everything the pink-and-white concert behemoth does—and not just a way to respond to a sagging economy and a growing wariness about throwing every frivolous expense on a credit card. The U-T-compiled full list of the 11 San Diego-area shows that are involved in this "fun" fire sale after the jump.
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