Live Nation Joins Korn And EMI In Partnership

Korn have signed a revenue-sharing deal with Live Nation, the newly named Clear Channel concert company headed by Michael Rapino, who co-founded the Core Audience Entertainment concert promotion and entertainment marketing company in Canada in the late '90s after overseeing entertainment marketing for Labatt. The lucky guy is also the husband of Star Trek actress Jolene Blalock. But enough about Rapino, this article's about his deal with Korn.

According to the New York Times, Live Nation is paying approximately $3 million U.S. for an estimated six per cent stake in Korn's box office, licensing, publishing, merchandise and CD revenue for the group's recently released Virgin album, See You On The Other Side, and its follow-up.

Korn's deal with Virgin was modeled on parent company EMI's arrangement with Robbie Williams, where both parties benefit from the revenue generated from such non-album-related sources as touring, music publishing, merchandising and sponsorship. Korn are reported to have been paid $15 million up front for a two-album deal. Live Nation's investment doesn't dilute EMI's stake in the joint venture.

"We've taken the biggest promoter and one of the biggest record labels and incentivized them to think long term and to think career about our band," Korn manager Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm told Times reporter Jeff Leeds.

"We believe long-term career planning is what's been lacking in the business. We believe that's part of the solution to the woes the music business is experiencing.

"Creating a fan-focused industry will require new approaches and unconventional deals," said Rapino on HitsDailyDouble.com. "In this new era, we're bringing our branding, concert industry expertise and resources and collaborating with the best partners for one clear objective — to foster long-term artist development."Korn's years of success in touring make them a natural partner for this kind of initiative."