As it continues to streamline operations and squeeze out more efficiency following its merger with Ticketmaster, Live Nation reportedly has laid off more employees.
The exact number of employees being let go was not disclosed, but the total could reach the low hundreds, according to Pollstar Pro which first reported about the staff cuts. Live Nation boasts a workforce of a little over 4,000 employees, and the layoffs began earlier this month.
Among the departments believed to have been affected include marketing and production, which may have been partly the result of the company’s disappointing concert season in 2010.
These layoffs mark the latest round of job cuts at the ticketing and live entertainment giant, following at least one other round of layoffs earlier this year.
In addition, some of Live Nation’s senior executives were shuffled into new positions recently as the company looked to inject new blood into some of its concert operations.
Also, earlier in the fall, Chairman Barry Diller resigned his post, reportedly due to disagreements over the company’s direction.
Though Live Nation far and away remains the world’s largest ticketing and live entertainment company, it has had to work hard this year to keep investors happy, and some analysts have pointed to various obstacles that may lie ahead.
For example, the company’s upfront payments to artists for tours the company promotes had grown to high levels over the years, and now Live Nation hopes to negotiate better financial terms for those tours, according to President and CEO Michael Rapino.
In addition, though the company already has some of the world’s most visited e-commerce Web sites — Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com — the field for ticket sales is becoming increasingly crowded. So, the company hopes to make improvements to its e-commerce Web sites to better bundle additional merchandise with orders and simplify the purchasing process.
