Features
2018 In Review: Live Nation, AEG Courting Clubs, Theaters
– The Met Philly
The year in acquisitions kicked right off in 2018 with the Jan. 11 announcement that Live Nation would enter a partnership with Frank Productions, which had been a staunchly independent concert promoter for years, based in Madison, Wisc., and mostly serving secondary Midwestern markets.
With the acquisition came rights to important venues in the region including the 600-capacity Majestic Theater, High Noon Saloon (400 cap) and The Sylvee (2,500) – nominated for a Pollstar Award as best new theater – all in Madison, and the Blue Note (900) and Rose Music Hall (300, plus 1,500 outdoors) in Columbia, Mo.
Frank Productions, now rebranded as FPC Live, is No. 26 on Pollstar’s Top Worldwide Promoters chart with 882,690 tickets reported sold in 2018. The deal sent ripples through the ranks of not just other independent promoters, but building managers, too.
Live Nation, the world’s largest promoter in 2018 with more than 49 million tickets sold, according to Pollstar data, was clearly looking past the major buildings and primary, big-city markets to the next level and planting its flag in towns where local promoters still compete and the largest venue may be a refurbished movie palace, not a 20,000-capacity shed or arena.
It’s not just Live Nation moving into the secondary concert and venue markets, either.
AEG, its chief rival and next-largest global promoter with 11.59 million tickets reported sold, is also making acquisitions and booking deals of its own, and often in the same markets.
In Cleveland, for example, AEG acquired the remodeled 2,000-capacity Agora Theatre and faces off with Live Nation, which took over booking and operations of the similarly sized Masonic Auditorium. Both transactions were announced in July.
In other markets, AEG has moved aggressively to acquire real estate or booking rights to venues in markets that Live Nation has also entered. Goldenvoice, for example, upped its game in 2018 in the Live Nation stronghold of San Francisco by making a deal to book and promote mid-level clubs Slim’s and Great American Music Hall. Goldenvoice, No. 35 among Top Worldwide Promoters, accounts for 585,122 tickets reported sold.
That deal filled a hole in a portfolio that includes the Warfield Theatre (2,450), Regency Ballroom (1,424), and Social Hall SF (600)while Live Nation maintains venues including the Fillmore (1,150) and the nearby Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord (13,708) and Shoreline Amphitheatre (22,000) in Mountain View.
In Denver, a historically competitive market, Live Nation announced it is expanding its local office after making a deal with Soda Jerk Presents that includes booking rights to the city’s Summit Music Hall (1,350) and Marquis Theater (500), in addition to the 3,600-seat Fillmore Auditorium that it already owns.
AEG Presents Rocky Mountains is constructing Mission Ballroom, scaleable to 3,950 capacity, to fill a gap between clubs and large theater spaces in Denver.
The competition goes all the way up the portfolio chain, as Live Nation acquired Emporium Presents (No. 96; 150,460 tickets sold) in October, giving it the right to book the 7,500-cap Levitt Pavilion Denver.
“Our amphitheater in Denver is having the best season it’s ever had,” Emporium’s Dan Steinberg says. “We’re definitely hoping to add to our next season as well.” Adds partner Jason Zink, “For this [Denver] market, having that amphitheater available to them is going to be a great thing. I think we’re going to do a lot more volume working with [Live Nation].”
In Philadelphia, Live Nation opened The Met Philly, a reclaimed historic hall with a capacity of 3,400 for fully-seated events and about 4,000 for general admission concerts.
AEG, on the other hand, acquired the 2,700-cap Electric Factory from legendary Philadelphia promoter Larry Magid.
“In the spirit of new beginnings, Adam and I wish AEG great success with our baby as well as Live Nation with their opening of The Met Philadelphia later this year,” Magid said in a statement announcing he and his partner Adam Spivak sold Electric Factory.
“There’s the Top 25 markets in the country, or the Top 50 markets, but there are hundreds more that are way underserved,” Frank Productions’ Fred Frank told Pollstar earlier this year. “We work those markets, we build those relationships, we do everything right and build upon those markets and those artists.”