Michael Abrams Named President of Live Nation Studios

Michael Abrams Named President of Live Nation Studios

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Live Nation (NYSE:LYV), a leading live event and venue management company, announced today the appointment of Michael Abrams to the position of President of Live Nation Studios. Mr. Abrams will continue to report to Live Nation President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Venues and Alliances, Bruce Eskowitz.

Live Nation is already a world leader in live concert recording with its Instant Live division, where more than 250,000 CDs and digital downloads have been sold by over 150 artists performing at 500 shows since its inception in 2003. In addition, over the past 14 months, Mr. Abrams has pioneered the delivery of live concert programming to mobile phones in the U.S., producing nearly 400 shows for 3G mobile phones.

In his new role, Mr. Abrams will oversee the previously announced initiative to transform 120 Live Nation venues and festival sites throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe into next generation "wired" studios. He will also be responsible for developing additional distribution opportunities to deliver live entertainment content and programs for 3G Mobile, Broadband, IPTV, Television, HDTV, CD and DVD.

"The appointment of Michael to this position formalizes Live Nation Studios as a new division at Live Nation, building upon the strong live content initiatives he has so successfully built from the ground up since he joined our organization," said Mr. Eskowitz. "Michael is particularly well qualified to lead this new initiative. He brings a rare blend of creative energy and a proven track record building cutting edge technology-based businesses for Live Nation. Live Nation Studios is integral to our strategy of extending our relationship with the music fan beyond the live concert itself and will provide a new revenue stream and an important new service division for the artist to deliver his show to the fan in brand new ways."

"We are in the midst of a live entertainment revolution, and this revolution will be televised -- on your TV, computer, game console and mobile phone," said Mr. Abrams. "Live Nation Studios will be equipped to capture the essence of the live concert experience on a large scale worldwide, putting us in a position to re-imagine the live concert experience for millions of avid fans around the world."

Over the past three years, in his role as Executive Vice President, Product Development at Live Nation, Mr. Abrams worked to establish a nationwide in-venue interactive live entertainment network within Live Nation venues. This television network delivers targeted programming, focused advertising, and interactive entertainment including text and picture messaging from mobile telephones to millions of fans at Live Nation shows.

Prior to joining Live Nation, Mr. Abrams served as Managing Director of Lollapalooza in 2003, helping to re-establish the influential music lifestyle brand. In 1999, when Clear Channel acquired Enigma Digital, the company he co-founded with world-renowned record producer Bob Ezrin and Bill and Wes Hein (previously co-founders of Enigma Records), Mr. Abrams joined Clear Channel as COO of Clear Channel Interactive, where he managed day-to-day operations for over 1,200 of the division's radio and live entertainment interactive properties, propelling the company's internet radio properties into leadership positions, and launching new subscription services. Mr. Abrams has been at the forefront of the convergence of media, entertainment, and technology for years, as the COO of Cinebase Software/Emotion (owned by Corbis), now the global leader in hosted digital asset management, and as Vice President Operations for Physician's Online (now owned by WebMD), the first and largest vertical-market, sponsor-supported internet online service, in the mid 1990's, where his responsibilities included both operations and M&A. He began his career in 1988 when he founded Information Technologies Unlimited, pioneering the integration of multimedia and on-line services to create next-generation information portals, and selling it to Physician's Online in 1994.

Mr. Abrams will continue to be based in Live Nation's Los Angeles headquarters.

About Live Nation

Live Nation is a leading live event and venue management company focused on creating superior experiences for artists, performers, corporations and fans. Live Nation owns, operates and/or has booking rights for 153 venues worldwide and produced more than 29,500 events in 2005. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." For more information regarding Live Nation and its businesses, please visit the company's website at www.livenation.com.

Source: Live Nation

CONTACT: John Vlautin of Live Nation, +1-310-867-7127,
johnvlautin@livenation.com

Web site: http://www.livenation.com/

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