Live Nation, Vice Video Venture

The platform, which hasn’t yet been named, will feature original artist-driven content, live digital music experience, in-depth documentaries and daily editorial content, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Today the content world is in upheaval, with new brands being cred in real time, and mainstream media seeing its audience migrate in record number,” Vice founder and CEO Shane Smith said. “It’s this de-stratification of the status quo that we find so exciting, because that, combined with the lack of any real quality music programming out there, equals one hell of an opportunity.”
Vice, which began as an underground culture magazine in Montreal in 1994, has recently been the recipient of a couple of hefty investments, according to the Times — $250 million each from Technology Crossover Ventures and cable giant A+E Networks.
Last year, 21st Century Fox, a Rupert Murdoch company, paid $70 for a 5 percent stake in Vice.
Now, Vice is said to be valued at about $2.5 billion.
The partnership started after Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino “bumped in to” Smith about a year ago and the pair decided to develop the property together, according to Advertising Age.
“Original programs are the secret sauce that differentiate the offering,” Rapino reportedly said at a Beverly Hills, Calif., briefing. The project will stream “a bunch of tentpole events like festivals or certain [concert] shows.”
Among planned programming are “Earthworks,” bringing performers to places like Jamaica; “Hometown Heroes,” about artists’ roots by performers such as A$AP Rocky, a music variety show and another that will film music videos as live events, according to Advertising Age.
And, of course, there are plans to produce tour-related content such as feature films.
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