LN Stonewalls On Germany

Live Nation international chief exec Alan Ridgeway remains tight-lipped about his company’s plans for Germany, but newly merged partner Ticketmaster is pressing ahead and has lured another top exec from its main rival.

It’s brought in Bernard Laufer, who has been ramping up the pop and rock business for Ticket Online Software GmbH. CTS Eventim’s purchase of Ticket Online Software, along with See Tickets Germany, is still vexing Germany’s monopoly authority.

Laufer started Oct. 1 and will focus on increasing TM’s ticketing volumes from promoters around Germany, hoping to win over any clients from market-leading Eventim.

His title is senior manager for business development and sales. He’ll report to Ticketmaster Germany chief exec Klaus Zemke, a former colleague at Ticket Online and Eventim.

If Live Nation Entertainment is going to challenge Eventim’s dominance in the market, as Ridgeway promised when he brought in Zemke in March, it has to find a stream of talent to match that provided by the German company’s Medusa Group promoters that includes Dirk Becker, Folkert Koopmans, Marek Lieberberg, Peter Rieger and Dieter Semmelmann.

In the first six months of this year they produced revenues of $235 million, earning $23.4 million before interest and tax. During the same period Eventim’s European ticket-selling operation sold 74 million tickets online.

LN’s latest bid to create its own talent stream in Germany fouled up, when Johannes Wessels departed six months after his appointment. It coincided with a period when Live Nation wasn’t delivering major tours to Germany and Wessels was having a quiet time in the medium-sized and smaller venues.

Ridgeway says his lips are sealed when it comes to what he intends to do to replace Wessels, although senior LN and DEAG execs in Germany have passed up on several opportunities to deny Peter Schwenkow is in some way involved.

The DEAG chief, who owns 10 percent of Ticketmaster Germany, has promoted major LN touring acts including Rolling Stones, and looks to be a natural strategic partner.