Madonna Leaves Record Label For New Concert Deal

The FT is reporting that Madonna is close to an agreement with Live Nation, the concert promoter, that would pay her more than $100m in exchange for three albums and the exclusive rights to promote her concerts and to market her merchandise in a wide-ranging partnership. The FT sheds some light on the new deal:

Instead of sharing in only one piece of the income — say, CD sales — companies are angling to share in all of an artist’s business lines, like publishing, merchandise sales and endorsement fees.

The deal, which includes cash and stock, would pay her about half the total upfront, said these people, who requested anonymity because the agreement had not been completed.

…Madonna’s “Confessions” tour last year ranked as the highest-grossing tour ever by a female artist, according to Billboard magazine. The tour generated roughly $195m from 60 shows and drew more than 1.2m fans. Her last album, “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” sold an estimated 1.6m copies in the United States.

Hmmm… can you remember that theory we talked a while back that the only content people will pay for these days is live content? More here.

FT.com / Companies / Media & internet – Madonna set to leave record label