Protean pop icon Madonna is close to signing a $120-million, 10-year, cash-and-stock deal with Live Nation, of Beverly Hills, Calif. in exchange for the rights to sell three studio albums, promote
concert tours, sell merchandise and license her name.
Madonna, 49, is currently signed with Warner Bros. Records, which would retain the rights to sell her catalog of albums dating back 20
years. Her last album for the label will likely arrive next year.
The fact that a concert promoter such as Live Nation is set to land the deal rather than a traditional record label is a
sign of how quickly the landscape is shifting in the cratering music industry. A range of players--labels, concert promoters and even managers and ticketing companies--are eager to make broad deals
that give them a larger piece of the pie by participating in revenue streams such as endorsement deals between artists and advertisers, as well as the sales of concert tickets and merchandise.
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