U2 Signs Deal With LiveNation

In a move sure to have a huge ripple effect in the music industry, worldwide concert promoter LiveNation announced this morning that they have agreed to a twelve year deal with U2. Unlike their contract with Madonna, the U2 deal only includes concert promotion, merchandising and the band's website (U2 album distribution and publishing will still be handled by Universal Music Group, at least for the time being). The contract has not yet officially been signed and no dollar amount was named. Regarding the deal with the concert giant (who have handled most every U2 tour for the past two decades), Bono said "We've been dating for over twenty years now, it's about time we tied the knot."

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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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