Live Nation Beefs Up Global Division

Live Nation announced a major shuffling of its global deck March 2, naming four executives to head up the company’s Global Music Division hours before releasing its fourth quarter 2008 financial results.

Global Music CEO Jason Garner announced that John Rostas takes on the newly created position of president of global venues; Robert Peters, chief strategic officer; Seth Matlins, chief marketing officer; and Brian Yost, president of onsite products.

“For the last three years we have been focused on fixing our core global concert promotion business,” Garner said in a statement. “Our mission going forward is simple – to drive more fans to our concerts while decreasing the operational expense per capita and significantly improving revenue per fan via the maximization of onsite products.

“These executives are the perfect complement to the unparalleled network of concert promoters and assets we have around the world.”

Rostas comes to Live Nation from General Electric. As president of global venues, he will develop best practices and drive operational efficiencies across LN’s global portfolio of venues in order to improve margins, according to a company statement.

Peters “will continue in his role of working to identify key trends and growth opportunities and drive strategy formulation and execution through every level of the organization,” according to LN.

Matlins, also taking on a new position, is tasked with increasing concert attendance through marketing and media partnerships and getting the most bang from Live Nation’s $150 million in media spending. He comes to Live Nation from Creative Artists Agency, where LN said he played a similar role.

Yost comes to Live Nation after serving in similar positions with Walt Disney Work, Marriott International and Harrah’s Entertainment. In another newly created position, he’s charged with “developing new products that maximize the monetization of the onsite concert experience.”

Live Nation’s Global Music Division operates in 33 countries, overseeing worldwide concert promotion, touring, sponsorships and venues.