Live Nation Prepares for Ticketing Venture with New Hire

Live Nation moved a step closer to becoming its own ticketing entity when their contract ends with Ticketmaster at year's end by hiring a chief executive to oversee the ticketing unit. Nathan Hubbard was hired as CEO of the new division after serving in the same position at Musictoday, another ticketing company Live Nation purchased in 2006. Hubbard is expected to build a platform that will enable Live Nation to handle the expected 20 million tickets it intends on selling. The launch of the ticketing unit would be the final phase Live Nation plotted out when signing artists like Madonna and Jay-Z to all-encompassing 360 deals, as well as give Ticketmaster its first true competitor.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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