UK and US touring behemoth Live Nation is making its mark Down Under after quietly setting up shop earlier this year. After announcing on Sunday that it would be co-presenting the U2/Jay-Z tour with Michael Coppel Presents, it yesterday announced the appointment of Marcus Seal, one-time CEO of Shock Records as its Head of Marketing and Communications. He’ll join the Melbourne based operation’s joint VPs of International Promotions, Luke Hede and Roger Field.
Seal’s rap sheet includes Victorian State Manager at PolyGram Records, Marketing Manager at BMG Records and International Marketing Director for SonyBMG. Joining Shock in 2006, during which time he was also Chairman of the AIR Awards Committee, he quit as CEO in December last year.
Live Nation are attempting to muscle in on the Australia/New Zealand market with rumours of another blockbuster tour in January, although local promoters are already getting nervous with a crowded summer tour and festival schedule. Some tours are inevitably going to bomb as punters simply can’t afford to go to all the gigs they’d like to, a failing in business strategy that has seen Live Nation report plummeting revenue and cancel tours in the UK and US recently.
