Madonna Joins Forces With Live Nation in Revolutionary Global Music Partnership

Madonna Joins Forces With Live Nation in Revolutionary Global Music Partnership

October 17, 2007

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Live Nation's President and Chief Executive Officer,
Michael Rapino officially confirmed today that Madonna has
entered into an unprecedented global partnership with Live
Nation and will become the founding artist in its Artist
Nation division.

    (Logo: 
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    "The paradigm in the music business has shifted
and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with
that shift," commented Madonna.  "For the first
time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans
is unlimited. I've never wanted to think in a limited way
and with this new partnership, the possibilities are
endless. Who knows how my albums will be distributed in the
future?  That's what's exciting about this deal --
everything is possible.  Live Nation has offered me a true
partnership and after 25 years in the business, I feel that
I deserve that."

    "Madonna is a true icon and maverick as an artist
and in business," stated Mr. Rapino.  "Our
partnership is a defining moment in music history.  I am
thrilled that Madonna, who is also now a shareholder in our
company, has joined with us to create a new business model
for our industry. Bringing all the varied elements of
Madonna's stunning music career into the Artist Nation and
Live Nation family, moves her future and the future of our
company into a unique and extraordinary place."

    The first-of-its-kind partnership between Madonna and
Live Nation encompasses all of Madonna's future music and
music-related businesses, including the exploitation of the
Madonna brand, new studio albums, touring, merchandising,
fan club/web site, DVD's, music-related television and film
projects and associated sponsorship agreements.  This unique
new business model will address all of Madonna's music
ventures as a total entity for the first time in her
career.

    Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Live Nation's Global Music
Division and Chief Executive Officer of Global Touring, who
has produced the artist's last three worldwide tours with
the company which generated close to $500 million in the
last six years commented, "Madonna is without a doubt
one of the most fiercely original artists in history.  It
is a great opportunity for Live Nation and Artist Nation to
build upon our years of success with Madonna as a touring
artist."

    Artist Nation was created to partner with artists to
manage their diverse rights, grow their fan bases and
provide a direct connection to fans through the global
distribution platform and marketing proficiencies that have
made Live Nation the world's largest live music company. 
Headed by the division's Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, Michael Cohl, Artist Nation has significant
infrastructure in place to execute additional revenue
streams including recorded music, merchandise, studios,
media rights, digital rights, fan club/website and
sponsorship divisions.  

    Joining with Artist Nation to work with Madonna will be
Live Nation's unmatched global distribution platform and
artist-to-fan-reach, including over 80 offices in l8
countries, over 200 national and local sponsorship
personnel, over l60 venues, access to over 35 million fans
that attend well over l0,000 shows that Live Nation
produces, promotes and/or hosts each year for over l,000
artists including fan access via Live Nation's growing
database of over 25 million fans.

    "I've been fortunate enough to work with Madonna
for half my life.  She has always encouraged me and set a
great example for me to push the boundaries to reach our
full potential.  This partnership exemplifies just
that," commented Madonna's co-manager Guy Oseary.

    Angela Becker, Madonna's co-manager added, "The
partnership and vision for the future that Artist Nation
along with Live Nation presented to us assured me that this
is the ideal home for Madonna.  It is with great trust and
optimism that we collectively move ahead together."

    In regard to Madonna's relationship with her current
label, the artist commented, "My time with Warner
Bros. Records has been great.  I appreciate their hard work
and value the many relationships I have developed over the
years with the label in the U.S. and around the world.  I
have an album coming out with them next year and I'm
excited about it.  We still have work to do
together."

    ABOUT MADONNA:

    The multi-Grammy Award winning artist, songwriter,
children's book author, producer and video visionary with
an unrivaled reputation for astonishing stage spectacles,
has made music history many times over, logging an
incredible 12 number one pop singles and 35 number one
dance singles in the U.S. alone.  Her 2006
"Confessions" tour generated almost $200 million,
making it the highest grossing concert tour of all time by a
female artist.  Over the last 25 years, Madonna's collective
record sales number over 200 million albums worldwide.  Her
last album, Confessions On A Dance Floor debuted at number
one in 29 countries and sold almost 8 million copies
worldwide.  Her last concert DVD The Confessions Tour --
Live from London, sold more than 1.2 million copies
worldwide.  
 

    ABOUT LIVE NATION:  

    Live Nation is the future of the music business.  With
the most live concerts, music venues and festivals in the
world and the most comprehensive concert search engine on
the web, Live Nation is revolutionizing the music industry:
onstage and online.  

    Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation
is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the
symbol "LYV."  Additional information about the
company can be found at http://www.livenation.com under the
"About Us" section.


    For more information, please contact:

     John Vlautin
     Live Nation
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]