Live Nation Entertainment Establishes LN Labs Fund


LOS ANGELES, March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) announced today the establishment of the LN Labs Fund, a vehicle for strategic investment, partnership and mentoring of the world’s most innovative early stage technologies and entrepreneurs. 

The LN Labs Fund follows a series of strategic acquisitions by Live Nation Entertainment, including the rich data platform BigChampagne and the live music community site Setlist.fm.

“We’re interested in funding great new products that further engage fans and enrich the concert experience. There are a lot of little pieces on the board, and we’re developing a structure for putting the best pieces together,” said Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation Entertainment. “In the era of the social conversation, we’re a very focused platform. We’re specialists.”

Focusing on equity participation in early stage start-ups in the areas of consumer product development and technology infrastructure, LN Labs Fund will be managed by Eric Garland, executive vice president and general manager of Live Nation Labs; Ethan Kaplan, vice president of products, Live Nation Labs; and Michael Abrams, president of Digital Ventures. Portfolio companies will be supported and mentored by the entire Live Nation Entertainment executive team.

“It’s a renaissance for great product innovation,” said Kaplan. “Good work is falling off the trees. The challenge for these upstarts is finding their market fit. We bring that to the table. We insist on a very clear product market fit for everything we do.”

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 almost 27 million monthly unique visitors. Live Nation Concerts produces over 22,000 shows annually for more than 2,300 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 nearly 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.