It's been less than 48 hours since it was publicly announced that Irving Azoff is parting ways with Live Nation, the company he led after creating Front Line, the world's largest artist management company, selling it to Ticketmaster, and merging with Live Nation, and there is no shortage of coverage and commentary on why he left and what he'll do next. . Read More

Los Angeles - Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) announced on Monday that it will acquire the remaining stake in artist management firm Front Line Management it did not already own, from founder Irving Azoff and Madison Square Garden, in a deal valued at $116.2 million.

“Through this transaction we will further simplify and consolidate our operating structure,” said Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino.

“By acquiring full ownership of Front Line, we expect to benefit from substantial savings related to cash taxes, the elimination of the dividend and operating [...].

New York - Current Ticketmaster (NASD:  TKTM) CEO Irving Azoff met with a group of leading ticket brokers in 2007 in a bid to try to corner the market for secondary tickets, just as rival Live Nation (NYSE:  LYV) announced plans to develop its own ticketing service independent of Ticketmaster, The Wall Street Journal reported. Azoff was still heading his Front Line Entertainment management firm — in which Ticketmaster had a stake — when he met with six large ticket brokers, and an offer was made for [...].

Washington - Ticketmaster (NASD:  TKTM) has been subpoenaed or received requests for information from the Justice Dept., Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and New Jersey’s Attorney General over the resale of tickets on secondary ticketing websites, Reuters reported, citing TicketNews.com. Bruce Springsteen and many of his fans complained when they were recently directed to purchase tickets at greatly inflated prices on Ticketmaster’s TicketsNow secondary ticket sales website before all available tickets to the concerts on Ticketmaster.com were sold out.

A similar investigation into Ticketmaster’s secondary ticket sales is also underway [...].

Los Angeles - In letters to Congress expressing their support for the proposed merger of concert promoter Live Nation (NYSE:  LYV) and Ticketmaster (NASD:  TKTM), several high-profile artists neglected to mention that they are represented or co-managed by Irving Azoff, the founder of Front Line Management who also recently became CEO of Ticketmaster, Hypebot reported. Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins — who also testified before Congress this week on the Performance Rights Act — as well as Eddie Van Halen, Seal, and several members of Journey all [...].

New York - A number of top music artists, including Neil Diamond, Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Billy Joel and Elton John, are partnering with Ticketmaster (NASD:  TKTM) to sell some premium tickets to their concerts on a secondary ticket exchange for hundreds of dollars more than face value, The Wall Street Journal reported. Several managers of top artists and Ticketmaster executives told The Journal that the company "routinely offers to list hundreds of the best tickets per concert on one of its two resale Web [...].

Los Angeles - Ticketmaster (NASD: TKTM) announced on Thursday that it will acquire a controlling equity interest in Front Line Management, the large artist management firm run by Irving Azoff, from Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) for about $123 million in cash. Ticketmaster said it will also change its name to Ticketmaster Entertainment, and name Azoff CEO of the company.

"While the Ticketmaster name has been synonymous with live entertainment for some time, today we took a significant step in solidifying our position in the music business. [...].