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

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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