Live Nation Expands Global Concert Platform Into South Africa

Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, has entered into a strategic alliance with South Africa’s BIG Concerts. As part of the collaboration, BIG Concerts will serve as the exclusive promotion partner for all Live Nation tours in South Africa, where BIG Concerts currently sells more than 400,000 tickets annually.

“This alliance provides us with a world class partner to expand our global concert platform into South Africa as the region emerges as an increasingly important touring destination for artists,” Live Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “This partnership is an example of the progress we are making in identifying growth markets to strategically monetize our tours on a global scale.”

BIG Concerts, established in 1989 by Attie van Wyk, has been a pioneer of live concert promotion in South Africa, having sold more than 6 million tickets and produced concerts by over 300 international artists. The company promotes concerts in such major South African cities as Johannesburg (population 8 million), Durban (population 3 million) and Cape Town (population 2.9 million).

Attie van Wyk commented on the announcement:

“No other company in the world has both the global platform and touring expertise of Live Nation and we are extremely proud and excited to be joining the team. With the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup around the corner, South Africa is set to benefit from vast numbers of tourists, strong consumer demand and added investment in local infrastructure, all of which we expect to benefit our business as we continue to bring even more global superstars to our country.”

After the success with its “No service fee Wednesday” promotion, Live Nation recently said it will drop service fees on all tickets to its U.S. amphitheaters this summer, including for regular seats, and lift the cap on the number available. It will continue to charge $6 on every ticket for parking at some venues, while other venues still incur a $3 to $4 facility fee.

Live Nation launched its own ticketing platform in January.