The Marketing Millennials’ Post

New Post: AEG CEO Jay Marciano Calls Live Nation A Monopoly, Predicts DOJ Victory in Lawsuit - https://lnkd.in/gHEViaWZ - AEG chairman/CEO Jay Marciano says Live Nation acts like a monopoly and agrees with the U.S. Department of Justice’s effort to break the concert giant and Ticketmaster up, according to an email Marciano sent out to employees on Friday (May 31). In the memo, the executive accuses the company of “preventing other businesses from competing” and “leaving consumers to suffer the consequences.” In the two-page email, Marciano said the lawsuit was an important milestone for addressing alleged monopolistic behavior in the concert business, noting “the entire ecosystem of our industry” is at stake as the case winds its way through the U.S. legal system. Related To Understand Live Nation's Real Antitrust Issue, Look to Microsoft 05/31/2024 “Notwithstanding its claims about its profit margins or its market share, it is a monopoly, and it uses its monopoly power to impose its will on the live entertainment business,” wrote Marciano of Live Nation, later writing, “We strongly believe that DOJ’s lawsuit will succeed and ultimately bring sweeping changes.” Billboard obtained a copy of the email, which can be read in full below. An AEG spokesman did not respond to a request for comment regarding the letter. Live Nation had not responded to a request for comment at press time. From: Office of Jay Marciano No doubt all of you are closely following the ongoing media coverage in the wake of the Department of Justice lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. As I mentioned in my note from last week, we spent the last few days carefully reviewing the DOJ filing, as well as Live Nation’s subsequent response to the complaint. AEG has long maintained that Ticketmaster has a monopoly in the U.S. ticketing marketplace and uses that monopoly power to subsidize Live Nation’s content businesses, preventing other businesses from competing in those areas and leaving consumers to suffer the consequences. This lawsuit is not simply DOJ suing to break up a monopoly; at stake is the entire ecosystem of our industry, one that has long suffered from a badly broken ticketing model. As you know, the cornerstone of Live Nation’s monopoly is Ticketmaster’s exclusive ticketing contracts with the vast majority of major concert venues in the United States. These agreements block competition and innovation and result in higher ticketing fees, denying artists the ability to choose who will ticket their shows and how much their fans should pay. Following the DOJ filing, Live Nation issued several public com

New Post: 10 U.S. States Join DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit Against Live Nation - https://lnkd.in/gqeQpjNm - The U.S. Department of Justice has refiled its historic anti-trust lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation, with 10 additional states joining the effort to break up the company more than a decade after its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster. The Attorneys General for Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont were added to an amended complaint filed in New York’s Southern District on Monday (Aug. 19), bringing the total number of states participating in the lawsuit to 40 total, along with the District of Columbia. Related In the Live Nation Antitrust Case, Who Will Win & Who Will Lose? 06/26/2024 “There is nothing new in the Amended Complaint,” a statement from Live Nation reads. “The lawsuit still won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. We look forward to sharing more facts as the case progresses.” The amended lawsuit re-alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster acted like a monopoly and violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by using illegal tactics to expand its concert promotion business and management of amphitheaters. The new complaint also includes new details about how Live Nation allegedly expanded its ticketing business after it merged with Ticketmaster in 2009, including information about the company’s controversial relationship with arena developer and operator Oak View Group (OVG). Founded in 2015 by Tim Leiweke and music manager Irving Azoff, Oak View Group manages nearly 200 venues and relies on Live Nation to bring major tours to its concert facilities, which includes such top U.S. venues as Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, the Moody Center in Austin and UBS Arena in Belmont, N.Y. As the building manager’s main representative, OVG is supposed to manage the competitive process for selecting a venue’s ticketing contract, but the complaint alleges that OVG is obligated to “advocate for exclusive agreements with Ticketmaster for more than 100 venues Oak View Group manages” — which the lawsuit claims essentially “locks those venues into long-term exclusive Ticketmaster agreements.” The agreement, the government argues, unfairly prevents third-party competitors from entering the ticketing space while compensating OVG with a substantial “incentive payment” from Live Nation plus significant annual payments. In fairness, OVG’s competitor AEG — which also competes with Live Nation for concert promotion and ticketing — also accepted payments for the buildings i

As a pioneer in the online music industry, Ellissound's impact on social media has been substantial. Their commitment to providing free marketing and promotion for all artists has fostered a thriving online community of musicians and fans, leading to increased visibility and engagement across various platforms. Here's how Ellissound has influenced social media: - Amplified Artist Voices: Providing free marketing has empowered artists to reach wider audiences, democratizing the industry and giving independent artists a platform to compete with major labels. - Fostered Community Building: Ellissound's focus on community has enabled artists to connect, collaborate, and share their work, resulting in a vibrant online music scene and increased fan engagement. - Increased Music Discovery: By promoting artists, Ellissound has facilitated music lovers in discovering new talent, broadening genre appeal, and creating recognition opportunities for niche artists. - Influenced Industry Trends: Ellissound's innovative marketing approach has inspired companies to adopt similar strategies, emphasizing social media for artist promotion and fan engagement. Ellissound's transformative impact on social media has shaped the modern music industry by championing artists and fostering a thriving online community. Their dedication to free marketing has not only benefited individual artists but has also contributed to the broader growth and development of the music landscape. #pen_spark

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One of the digital marketing mantras that we can take from Taylor Swift’s example is hyperpersonalisation. To be successful, you have to tailor your content to consumer preference like Taylor does through putting little clues for her fans here and there in her concerts. This makes the fan feel more connected to her thereby leading to a long-lasting relationship.” - Kanika Mittal - Taboola #adtechIN #adtech2024

New Post: Beyoncé’s TikTok Takeover Proves the Platform’s Power Persists - https://lnkd.in/gzCQ6Crh - If you don’t live under a rock, you are likely aware that Beyoncé released a pair of new songs earlier this month. One of them, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” has blanketed TikTok in recent days: Around 74,000 users had made videos incorporating the sound on February 18; this more-than-tripled over the course of a week, pushing the total number of clips using the track past 224,000 on February 25.  TikTok’s ability to drive this kind of ubiquity has diminished in recent years — much to the chagrin of the music industry. “In 2019, you could catch a trend and go top five on Apple Music in like a day,” says Harrison Golding, vice president of strategic marketing at EMPIRE. “Now the platform is so mature that even if you get trends and user-generated content, the numbers may not correlate to streams.” Related Beyoncé's 'Texas Hold 'Em' Stampedes to No. 1 In U.K. 02/26/2024 And yet: “The virality of this Beyoncé record shows you the power of the platform,” says Nima Nasseri, a former vp of A&R strategy for Universal Music Group, where he worked on a team that ran TikTok campaigns for resurgent catalog hits like Trinidad Cardona’s “Dinero” and Phantogram’s “Black Out Days.” “It’s still there. You can’t discount it.” (Not that anyone was discounting it — more like lamenting the good old days when outcomes on TikTok were far easier to influence.) The TikTok takeover of “Texas Hold ‘Em” carries extra weight because it feels like a potent reminder of the platform’s impact at a time when the music industry is eager to look for alternatives. Licensing negotiations between Universal Music Group and TikTok fell apart in January, which means that no official sounds from UMG artists have been available on the platform during February. And whenever TikTok faces a potential obstacle — U.S. politicians threaten to ban it, for example, or a massive song catalog is removed — music industry attention turns to Instagram and YouTube, which also have their own short-form video delivery systems (Reels and Shorts, respectively).  It’s possible that more music will come down from TikTok soon — not just tracks by UMG’s artists, but also any songs that include contributions from Universal Music Publishing Group’s songwriters. It makes sense, then, that “artists and their teams are putting more strategy into all three platforms now,” according to Jen Darmafall, director of marketing for ATG Group. “Before, they would just make content that works for TikTok and then post it on the other platforms.” Related

New Post: Live Nation Antitrust Lawsuit Expected to Be Filed by DOJ on Thursday - https://lnkd.in/gByjDDdP - A Department of Justice lawsuit against Live Nation for violating U.S. antitrust laws is imminent and could be filed as soon as Thursday (May 23), a source with knowledge of the DOJ’s plans tells Billboard. The lawsuit is rumored to charge that Live Nation has a monopoly on event ticketing through Ticketmaster and that it illegally uses its monopoly power to grow its business and stifle competition. The DOJ has been investigating Live Nation for more than two years. With that investigation now wrapped, company president Joe Berchtold recently said he was that he was hopeful his company would avoid a legal showdown with the DOJ’s top antitrust lawyer, Jonathan Kanter. “These are always serious discussions. We wouldn’t get to this point if they didn’t have concerns, but the good news is we’re still talking and they’ve said they have an open mind,” Berchtold told attendees at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston on Tuesday (May 21). “Without getting into the real details of the conversation, I think it’s fair to say I continue to believe that we fundamentally have business practices that are fully defensible,” Berchtold added, before continuing: “We’re also open to figuring out common ground in order to get this settled and moved on. But we don’t know exactly what they want at this point still.” Live Nation declined to comment for this story. The Department of Justice’s case is believed to be centered around Ticketmaster’s use of exclusive ticketing contracts when signing up venues for its ticketing services. Typically, Ticketmaster pays venues an advance on the revenue that it generates from the fees it charges consumers as part of the ticket-buying process. The longer the contract, the larger the advance Ticketmaster can pay out. DOJ officials don’t like the practice, arguing that it locks out new companies from competing in the ticketing space. Ticketmaster officials, however, argue that they are open to working with non-exclusive contracts — both the Greek Theatre in Hollywood and Red Rocks in Denver are open facilities where promoters use the ticketing provider of their choice — but that venues often rely on exclusive deals to meet their capital needs. While Ticketmaster holds more exclusive ticketing contracts than any other company, it isn’t the only one to make use of them: Every major competitor pays upfront advances in exchange for exclusive ticketing agreements with venues and sports teams. That includes SeatGeek, which reportedly paid $10 million in 2021 for exclusive rights to ticket events at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a seven-year term. Two years into the agreement, Billboard reported at the time, Barclays Center and BSE Global chief executive Sam Zuss

🏆🏆Didn’t win, but still won… Earlier this year we delivered a comprehensive year long culture-led global strategy including detailed creative and multichannel comms comms guidelines and plans for the 10 year anniversary of the Jadon Boot and incoming platformed innovation products for Dr. Martens plc 🔋A short overview here: https://lnkd.in/e9wSu6ME Part of this wider go-to-market strategy was a dedicated TikTok activation which was shortlisted for the Greatest Creative category in the TikTok for Business Europe Awards 2023. The activation was a talent search via the TikTok community to uncover and vote for today's boundary-breaking music artists for the chance to play in a series of live gigs. Although we didn’t do the production it was good to hear that the project delivered over 6K entries - shout out to the DM’s social team for the trust 💚 This is the type of work we are focused on through our new P13InsideTrack dept. More info - https://lnkd.in/eF8qWHjw #platform13_ #tiktokawards #drmartens #culturalrelevance #gotomarketstrategy #culturalintelligence #socialemediamarketing #consumerinsights

Click the link below to read my very first blog! The overarching topic for this post was 'Media Audiences'. You're welcome to check out the rest of my professional and personal digital portfolio. (10th March 2024) https://lnkd.in/gHwdvXhv

New Post: Warner Music Warns AI Companies: Don’t Scrape Our Data - https://lnkd.in/gWH65fWg - Warner Music Group (WMG) sent letters to tech companies this week instructing them not to use the label’s music to train artificial intelligence technology without permission. Sony Music sent out similar letters to over 700 companies in May. “It is imperative that all uses and implementations of machine learning and AI technologies respect the rights of all those involved in the creation, marketing, promotion, and distribution of music,” Warner’s notice reads. Related Major Labels Sue AI Firms Suno and Udio for Alleged Copyright Infringement 06/24/2024 It continues, “all parties must obtain an express license from WMG to use… any creative works owned or controlled by WMG or to link to or ingest such creative works in connection with the creation of datasets, as inputs for any machine learning or AI technologies, or to train or develop any machine learning or AI technologies.”  The notices from Sony and Warner come in the wake of the AI Act, legislation that was passed in the European Union in May. “Any use of copyright protected content requires the authorization of the rightsholder concerned unless relevant copyright exceptions and limitations apply,” the act notes. “Rightsholders may choose to reserve their rights over their works or other subject matter to prevent text and data mining, unless this is done for the purposes of scientific research.” If companies take this action, then “providers of general-purpose AI models need to obtain an authorization from rightsholders if they want to carry out text and data mining over such works.” Related AI Firms Udio and Suno React to Major Labels' Lawsuit: 'We Stand Behind Our Technology' 06/25/2024 The Cold War between the music industry and much of the AI world has been heating up in recent months. Labels are adamant that AI companies should license their music if they want to use those massive catalogs of recordings  to develop song generation technology. Most AI companies, however, aren’t interested in paying. They often argue that their activities fall under “fair use” — the U.S. legal doctrine that allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted works in certain situations. In June, the three major labels sued two AI music companies, Suno and Udio, accusing them both of “willful copyright infringement on an almost unimaginabl