Weak Ticket Sales Contribute to Large Loss for Live Nation

Live Nation Entertainment, the music and ticketing giant created in 2010 by the merger of Ticket Master and Live Nation, reported a loss of $228.4 million for 2010, due to a low touring season. According to Ben Sisario, "ticket sales for concerts were down by 10 percent. Live Nation has gone on to report a revenue of $5.06 billion for the year, a 9 percent drop for the year before and $63.7 million in terms of operating losses". The merger between the two giants (Live Nation and Ticketmaster) took place in January 2010. Live Nation stated that "it lost $1.39 a share last year, compared to a loss of 73 cents a share a year earlier". 

For the annual year, analysts at Live Nation Entertainment expected revenue of $4.95 billion. Chief executive Michael Rapino, said their losses were caused due to high ticket prices and therefore customers were un-willing to spend money for concerts last year. At concerts in the summer of last year, hawkers stood outside Live Nation's amphitheaters selling tickets for "fire-sale" prices. Most of the money from ticket sales is given to the artist, while Live Nation profits from parking, concessions, merchandise and other related sales. 

Live Nation's fourth quater results that ended December 31st, were also down. It showed that the company an operating loss of $86.1 million, compared to the year before, where operating losses were $29.7 million for the same period. Live Nation's revenue was down by 2 percent, to $1.24 billion. Chief Executive, Michael Rapino has assured that the concert business will start to pick up in 2011. Front Line Management, which is a part of Live Nation, is the largest artist management, representing over 200 artist, such as the Eagles, Christina Aguilera, Neil Diamond and Jimmy Buffet. Rapino stated that, "half his clients waited out the dry season in 2010, but that 75 percent of its artist would be on the road this year".

JK Rowling - The Fringe Benefits of Failure

JK Rowling is the well-known British author of the famous Harry Potter series. In 2008 she was given the chance to speak at a Harvard graduation about the benefits of failure. As the speech goes into depth, she discusses her life story with the graduates and her want to study English Literature, but unfortunately came from poverty-stricken family. According to Rowling, "poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something on, which to pride yourself". It was never poverty that affected JK, but failure, and she was unfortunate to experience it seven years after she finished university, when her marriage broke up, lost her job, and was left to raise her child alone. The fact that she had to go through all this hardship, she started to question herself and wonder if the light at the end of the tunnel was hope or reality. The press called her life somewhat of a fairytale.


"Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I built my life". JK goes on to describe what failure meant to her. It meant the stripping of the inessential. She goes on to say that failure is a gift and it taught her well. Self-discipline and will power were just some of the things she gained out of it and it also made her appreciate the smaller things in life such as the friends that surrounded her. "The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks, means that you are, ever after secure in your ability to survive".


What makes this speech important to me is the fact that we all fail. Life is full of ups and downs and we, as humans are the roller coasters on those tracks. I've learnt that you can't live life too cautiously, because then you haven't lived life at all and fail by default. Rowling learnt to face failure and it taught her many things, and this in-turn gives me the confidence and motivation I need to face the fear that torments everyone.