LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) and Creativeman Productions in Tokyo, Japan today announced the formation of Live Nation Japan, a joint venture between the two companies.
“We are very pleased to announce Live Nation’s entry into Japan and to have such a credible partner as Creativeman, which has a long and proven track record of promoting major artists as well as developing highly successful festivals,” stated Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation Entertainment. “Expanding our presence in Asia reflects our commitment to growing our business internationally in a region that is becoming increasingly important for touring artists.”
“We are very excited to be a part of Live Nation Japan and for Creativeman this is an important milestone that opens up many exciting opportunities to leverage our capabilities,” says Naoki Shimizu, CEO Creativeman. “Creativeman and Live Nation Japan will together be able to bring more concerts to Japan, develop existing and new festivals and also leverage Live Nation’s vast experience of promoting some of the best tours globally. This will lead to very exciting times ahead for all Japanese music fans.”
Creativeman is the leading promoter of international artists in Japan, the 2nd largest live music market in the world, presenting 290 concerts in 2011 for both international and Japanese artists. They are also the producers of the iconic Summer Sonic festival, which reached an all time high in 2011, its 12th year, with an attendance of 200,000 in Tokyo and Osaka.
Live Nation Japan, which will be based in Tokyo and led by Frank Takeshita of Creativeman, will promote both international and Japanese artists. The company will be the promoter for all Live Nation tours coming through Japan and work with Creativeman to develop and expand the highly successful Summer Sonic, Springroove, Punkspring and Loud Park Festivals. The launch of Live Nation Japan means that Live Nation is now present in six markets across Asia Pacific, including the four largest markets in the region: China, Japan, Australia and South Korea. As well as promoting international and Japanese artists, Live Nation Japan also expects to promote artists from other parts of the region, in particular K-pop which is extremely popular across Japan.
The first concert for Live Nation Japan will be Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball on 10 May in Tokyo.
About Live Nation Entertainment:
Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five eCommerce sites, with over 26 million monthly unique visitors. Live Nation Concerts produces over 20,000 shows annually for more than 2,000 artists globally. Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists. These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling over 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.
About Creativeman:
Creativeman was established in 1990 and has been promoting international artists in Japan since then. Some of the artists that have been promoted by Creativeman are: Radiohead, Green Day, The Offspring, Beastie Boys, Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Linkin Park, Daft Punk, Radiohead, Coldplay, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Arctic Monkeys, Ne-Yo, Beyonce, Green Day, Nickelback, Muse, Back Street Boys, Whitney Houston, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and many others.
Creativeman further operates Summer Sonic that started in 2000 and has gained a global recognition and attraction. Creativeman also organizes Punkspring, Springroove and Loud Park festivals which together attracts 50,000 visitors annually.