• March 24, 2010

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Live Nation are expanding their sponsorship alliance beyond North America to include Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The two companies joined in 2009 to deliver live music experiences to members of Starwood's loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest. The expanded relationship will give SPG members in Europe, Asia and the Middle East similar benefits including premium ticket access and priority seating, music-inspired promotions, exclusive access to top artists for select Live Nation concerts and retail discounts for artist merchandise.

Live Nation helps Starwood drive room stays through multiplatform media placement at Live Nation venues and seamless hotel booking integration on all "Where to Stay" Web pages on LiveNation.com. The site is the gateway for Live Nation event, venue and artist information and ticket sales, through which Starwood communicates directly with millions of targeted consumers. This expanded alliance is expected to drive incremental ticket sales for Live Nation via multiple media channels both online, and in-room, reaching millions of guests worldwide, according to the companies.--Tanya Irwin