LOS ANGELES, CA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Live Nation has announced that they have formed a five-year exclusive distribution deal with CIE, and T4F (Time For Fun), extending Live Nation’s global distribution platform into Brazil and Mexico, the 5th and 11th most populated countries in the world respectively, as well as other top countries across Latin America. CIE is the third largest concert promoter in the world, according to Billboard magazine.
Producing live concerts that drew over 6 million music fans in 2007, CIE generated more than $1 billion in revenue and margins approaching 21 percent. CIE, which is publicly traded on the Mexican stock exchange, operates top venues and regularly promotes major concerts and operates their own ticketing platform in many important music markets including Mexico City (population 20 million), Guadalajara (population 4 million), Monterrey (population 3.8 million) and many others. CIE produces more than 85% of all the live concerts by international talent in Mexico, a country with a population of more than 100 million people. T4F operates top venues in Sao Paolo (population 18.3 million), Buenos Aires (population 12.6 million), Lima (population 7.1 million), Rio de Janeiro (population 6 million), Santiago (population 5 million), and Porto Alegre (population 4.1 million) all of which are emerging as important new markets for international talent.
“This expansion provides us with a world class execution partner and a new revenue source to further monetize our global tours in a region where we currently have no market share,” said Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation. “Alejandro and Fernando have built a remarkable live music infrastructure in Latin America which will immediately allow us to expand our global distribution pipe into more than 25 new outlets and give us access to growing music markets with a total population of more than half a billion people.”
Alejandro Soberón Kuri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CIE commented: “It is very clear to us that Live Nation’s global platform is attracting the world’s most exciting and successful artists, cementing their position as the leading provider of talent on a global basis. By forming an exclusive alliance with Live Nation, we are ensuring that our distribution channels will be filled with a steady stream of live concerts from the greatest artists in the world.”
Fernando Alterio, President of T4F spoke to the alliance: "Access to Live Nation’s unparalleled global touring division will help solidify our position as the market leader in South American live entertainment." –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
