Report: Live Nation Comes Alive

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LIVE NATION makes plenty of headlines signing multi-million dollar contracts with MADONNA, JAY-Z and SHAKIRAwrites FORBES. But it's a host of smaller deals that could make the company the dominant player in the music industry -- and earn it some serious money to boot.

In 2007, LIVE NATION rolled up eight companies, including music-merchandising outfits SIGNATURES NETWORK, ANTHILL TRADING and TRUNK. This year, the company signed exclusive deals with two of the world's largest venues operators, CIE and SMG.

These are on top of the 1,500 contracts the company has signed with musicians, including distribution pacts with WAL-MART and APPLE's ITUNES for their top acts. Then there are the 155 venues it manages in 18 countries around the world. Next up: A knockdown fight with TICKETMASTER in the offing this winter.

"We saw our position in the industry starting to shift from being a spoke in the wheel with the label being the hub to us being the hub that was driving out these spokes," says LIVE NATION CEO/Global Music JASON GARNER. "We saw this shift coming and decided to branch out into each of these ancillary businesses."

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