The topic of 360 deals has risen in importance recently due to reports of Live Nation Chairman Michael Cohl possibly resigning over conflicts over how to deal with the new system. According to Reuters, Cohl is already making preparations to leave the touring giant, and “could be gone as soon as next week” (which was actually about two weeks ago, and I haven’t heard any new developments since then).As the story goes, CEO Michael Rapino wanted to slow down and see how the original 360 deals develop over time, and Cohl wanted to snap up fifteen more artists right away. The argument escalated until the men were no longer talking and Cohl began making preparations to leave. The board stepped in and told them to play nice, but it’s too early yet to see how that turned out. Cohl petulantly threatened to take his friends (granted, those friends were Bono and the Rolling Stones) with him if he leaves, only to be reminded that he is not allowed to.
As far as I can tell, Rapino is being the intelligent one here. Live Nation’s stock has plummeted since the Madonna deal last year, and waiting to see how the deals pan out seems like a good idea. Cohl’s risky, entrepreneurial thinking is probably a good thing to have in some situations, but this is way too much money to be leaving so much to chance.
I only hope Live Nation’s next tea party goes well; maybe then the boys will unbunch their panties and start speaking to each other.
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