Madonna to ditch Warner for concert company as Radiohead booms

Oct 11, 2007, 20:31 GMT

Reflecting deep structural changes that are revolutionizing the music industry, pop star Madonna is set to walk away from her long-time record company Warner Music and sign a 120- million-dollar contract with concert promoter Live Nation, according to US media reports Thursday. © Solarpix / PR Photos

Los Angeles - Reflecting deep structural changes that are revolutionizing the music industry, pop star Madonna is set to walk away from her long-time record company Warner Music and sign a 120- million-dollar contract with concert promoter Live Nation, according to US media reports Thursday.

Live Nation will release her next three albums and gain the exclusive rights to promote her concerts and to market her merchandise.

The massive deal, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, reflects the growing difficulty of selling albums in a world where most music is easily available through free but illegal downloading over the internet. At the same time concert sales are booming.

Madonna has proved to be an exceptionally strong draw on the concert circuit, having grossed 194 million dollars during her 2006 'Confessions' tour.

News of the Madonna move came just a day after Radiohead, widely regarded as the best rock band in the world, released their new album through their website, allowing fans to pay what they wanted for the eagerly anticipated work In Rainbows.

The band were being tight lipped Thursday about how many albums had been downloaded and for what average price. But the music website Gigwise quoted sources close to the band as saying that In Rainbows had been downloaded 1.2 million times on its first day of release.