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Strategy report
TO: Proximity music team FROM: Austin Cohen DATE: September 22, 2009 SUBJECT: Live Nation strategy analysis

Here is my Live Nation strategy analysis. Since the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in February 2009, numerous analysts believe it is the largest producer of live concerts in the world. Whether Gen Y users will continue to use Live Nation as an artist-to-fan integrated concert platform, however, depends on whether Live Nation can offer tickets at the most reasonable price that shuts out the use of other online ticket markets.


 * Profile**

Live Nation was formed as a concert promoter in 2005 through a merger with the industry dominating ticketing company Ticketmaster. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, CEO Michael Rapino signs artists but does not include copyright of the artists’ future recordings. Live Nation’s business core is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists worldwide.

Live Nations revenues come from:

· //Consumers and fans// who purchase tickets. · //Artists// who promote tours and shows. · //Sponsors and advertisers// who raise venue related deals.

Live Nation produces over 16,000 concerts for 1,500 artists in 57 countries. Live Nation owns three music festival sites, eight amphitheaters, one arena, seven music theaters, three clubs, two house of blues and seven theatrical theaters. For the quarter, Live Nation generated $1.06 billion, compared to $1.13 billion in 2008 (Ticket news 2009).


 * Competitive landscape**

The leading force driving the landscape in the live music industry is competition among suppliers of artists in the concert platform. Although Live Nation offers quality of service to artists, fans and corporate sponsors, Live Nation faces competition with companies such as Anschutz Entertainment Group, Jam Productions and Palace Sports & Entertainment (Live Nation Investor Site 2008). In the live music industry some competitors have access to up and coming indie bands and other sports and entertainment venues.

Live Nation faces competition in the online scene with other websites such as Tickets.com and secondary ticketing company StubHub.com. Other ticketing companies compete to provide other online services consisting of artist websites and fan clubs.


 * Live Nation’s strategy**

Live Nation’s approach to maintain dominance in the live ticketing industry involves the promotion and security provided to customers. Unlike other ticketing companies, Live Nation offers “no fee Wednesday,” which eliminates all service fees and often includes a free hot dog and soda with the purchase of a ticket. Many competitors such as TicketsNow, TicketsForLess, TicketStub, and TickCo always have a service fees with the purchase of a ticket. StubHub.com, is trying to counter using an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of all tickets, even for events that are sold out. This draws attention because it is illegal to resell event tickets in 38 states. Live Nation discloses and protects all transactions by governing respective privacy and data security policies due to the high volume of transactions involving personally identifiable information.

Live Nation attempts to expand business through acquisitions and promotions. With respect to domestic acquisitions, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice have the power to object acquisitions on antitrust grounds before or after the acquisition is completed. Failure to comply with antitrust laws will result in extreme limitations on Live Nation’s activities.


 * Gen-Y implications**

Although Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster and currently dominates its business, the lack of tickets for certain artists and sporting events leaves Gen-Y users open to other ticket marketplaces. Numerous touring artists do not play at Live Nation venues. Very few new indie rock musicians, such as Electric President, Raining Pleasure and Soltero are not featured on Live Nation.

The major implication is Live Nation's absence of relations with major sports teams. Competition with StubHub reveals the shortage of sporting events available at Live Nation. When Gen-Y users want to obtain tickets for sporting events, what ticket marketplace will they use? Live Nation acquire a partnership to obtain sporting tickets and tickets for events that are sold out.


 * References**

Branch, Alfred. "Ticket News TV looks at sports and concert ticket industries." //Ticket News//. Allison Reitz, 24 Sept. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. .

"About Us." //Live Nation//. Ed. Alan S. Gould. David C. Joyce, 9 Sept. 2009. Web. 20 Sept. 2009. . "StubHub is the fan's ticket marketplace." //Tickets at StubHub!// Ed. Julian Green. Ray Elias, 19 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. .

Blog proposal
TO: Proximity music team FROM: Austin Cohen SUBJECT: Blog post proposal DATE: Oct. 26

I propose that we do our Proximity blog post on the use of online ticketing companies a concert platform. This post can be used to attract a new group of clients to the safest and easiest producer of live concerts.


 * Rationale**

Online ticket market sites are being used to allure fans to a variety of live concerts and events all over the world. Certain ticketing companies offer service in special deal packages including parking, food, and hotel plans. Using online ticketing companies is a more attractive option for live concert experience. Many of these companies, however, lack particular artists of interests and can include additional fees.


 * Sources**

I recommend that we organize the post around [].

Report proposal
TO: Proximity Music Team FROM: Austin Cohen DATE: November 24, 2009 SUBJECT: Proposal for report of uTorrent

The free music program uTorrent, has received increasingly positive reviews for its embedded tracker, full proxy server support and peer-to-peer exchange with other users. It seeks dominance in file sharing for its small size and minimal computer resources it uses to create a single compressed file. I propose to write a report on how uTorrent is becoming the smallest and most efficient free music downloading program.


 * Need **

The previous few sources for obtaining music are being filled with a competitive landscape of computer music downloading programs. uTorrent provides users with easier and safer file sharing than any other free music program on the internet.


 * Music programs such as Lime Wire and Napster offer free music downloads for all genres of music.
 * Any computer with Microsoft windows can support almost any music downloading program.
 * The internet has available programs like Pandora which plays similar music selected by the user.
 * Digital media players such as iTunes not only play music, but serve in organizing digital music and video files.

The majority or music programs found on the internet cannot fulfill all these traits without charge or high risk of legal consequence. However, uTorrent makes it nearly impossible for a single user to face trouble through downloading files. Due to the increasing number of users, the program gathers minimal resources for all different users making uTorrent the safest and least costly program available. Furthermore, unlike all other programs, uTorrent simply allows users to download one file that can contain a whole discography of an artist which is even recognizable when transferred onto iTunes.

Gen-Y and clients interested in music downloading need this report to understand all the different capabilities of uTorrent and what makes it the best program for downloading music on the internet The proposed report, “uTorrent Downloading Causing Jitters,” will cover the following topics:
 * Topics **


 * Protocol support with uTorrent;
 * BitTorrent libraries available all of the internet;
 * Full proxy server support;
 * The need for uTorrent as the most convenient program for future generations;
 * Localized in 52 languages

The report will also include surveys and statistics on the growing use of uTorrent compared to other music programs.

The following items are key sources for the report. I still need to find comparative data for uTorrent and other music programs.
 * Sources **

Lai, Eric. "Study: LimeWire remains top p2p software; uTorrent fast-rising No.2." //Computer World//. Computer World Inc., 17 Apr. 2008. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .

Lai reports and looks over the popular rising choices for music downloading on the internet. He compares the usage of uTorrent and Lime Wire on the collaboration of digital music. He identifies the popularity of Lime Wire, but illustrates how uTorrent is the next-most popular client.

Pirillo, Chris. "UTorrent vs. Azureus for Torrents." //Chris Pirillo//. Chris Pirillo, 19 Oct. 2005. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. .

Pirillo posts on the benefits for using uTorrent and how it is better than another BitTorrent program called Azureus. He comments on the ultra fast speed, frequent updates, and light weight of uTorrent.

Mennecke, Thomas. "BitTorrent vs. Usenet." //Slyck News//. Thomas Mennecke, 9 Jan. 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. .

Mennecke reports one the varying downloading speeds of music programs. He also expresses the file availability between uTorrent and another program Usenet. Furthermore, he discusses the simplicity, privacy, technology, price and popularity of these music programs. .

Team conference presentation proposal
//paste team conference presentation here//

Sales letter and report prospectus
December 9, 2009 Mr. Michael Rapino, CEO Live Nation Beverley Hills, CA

Dear Michael:

I enjoyed talking with you yesterday at Proximity’s Next Generation Media seminar regarding Live Nation’s need to promote its brand to Gen Y customers. Enclosed you will find a prospectus for the report I mentioned describing the rising popularity of online ticketing services for live music.

As you noted yesterday, Live Nation feels that it must establish brand identity with Gen Y now in order to sell tickets to the increasing fans of live music. I believe Proximity can work with you to improvise a comprehensive campaign that uses on-demand media and social networking to achieve its goal.

We can also provide you with a customized survey and focus group results to help shape Live Nation’s image as the most efficient and safe resource of purchasing concert tickets. Our faculty consultants can advise your sales force on how to position new promotions, and our production teams can make multi-platform ads that appeal to Gen Y. In addition, we have trained student marketers who can promote Live Nation on social networks such as Facebook. Our research shows that using student representatives to friend social networkers is a far more effective strategy for reaching Gen Y than buying conventional banner ads.

I invite you and your staff to join us at Proximity’s Towson office for a special focus group session on Live Nation’s Gen Y brand image. Following that session, you can meet with members of our group to discuss how Proximity can help meet your marketing goals.

Sincerely, Austin Cohen Associate Media Analyst


 * About Proximity**

Proximity is a Gen Y on-demand media strategy group. Its analysts know how to connect with their generation using campaigns designed for the new media landscape. Because it is associated with Towson University, Proximity has immediate access to a large student population and the expertise of faculty who specialize in marketing and media research.

Proximity offers its clients a full range of services for developing and executing customized campaigns that can reach any segment of Gen Y. It regularly conducts on-line surveys and focus group sessions to keep marketers up to date on the social trends and emerging technologies that determine how this cohort communicates and what it purchases. Visit Proximity at [|www.proximity.edu] to sample its research and see examples of successful campaigns.

**// PROXIMITY reports //** || || // connecting with Gen Y using on-demand media // ||^  ||

** uTorrent: Downloading Music to the Fullest ** Austin Cohen // The Ultimate Downloading Network uTorrent Will Dominate in Personal Music Entertainment // ||

As music downloading continues to grow, Gen Y is migrating to uTorrent for the most efficient and least costly source for an abundance and variety of music. The growing freeware uses minimal computer resources while providing full, accurate, and reliable discographies gathered from over 28 million users. ||
 * //__ The problem __//**
 * //__ The problem __//**

Proximity focus group results show that Gen Y viewers still value the ability to obtain music for free and share with others. uTorrent serves its users with peer exchange and “trackerless” Bit Torrent support. Users can utilize this program with all versions of Windows. This report details how uTorrent enables users to gain access to more music than all other music databases at no cost. It serves as the most stable, largest music program and can support even older hardware. ||
 * //__ Proximity’s on-demand media solution __//**
 * //__ Proximity’s on-demand media solution __//**
 * Available now at www.proximity.edu **