TOPLINE
SANDERS: COURTESY OF KOBALT. TRAINOR: DANIEL ACKER/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES. LYNCH: ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES.The New CEOs On The Block
SoundCloud, TIDAL and Pandora announced new chief executives within a seven-day span this month. How will
each fare in the digital music race? Says one record-label exec: “They’re all dressing themselves up for a sale”globally (up 11 percent over the prior
year), delivering 480 million tickets
in 28 countries through an intricate
web of exclusive deals with venues
and artists it manages and promotes.
The companies also have
different needs. Amazon wants to
shop tickets to top shows, while
Live Nation wants help moving
the estimated 40-50 percent of
inventory that goes otherwise
unsold. But sources tell Billboard that
Amazon is reluctant to share
purchasing data and contact infor-
mation about its estimated 85 million
Prime subscribers, who outnumberthe 71 million fans that attended Live
Nation events worldwide in 2016.
Withholding such data could
be a deal-breaker for Live Nation,
say sources, and talks between
the two companies have stalled
recently. Meanwhile, top executives
Geraldine Wilson, Amazon UK’s
GM of tickets, and Jason Carter,
Amazon Prime live events director,
both left the company within the
last three months.
“If Amazon thinks it can go
directly to venues and divert
tickets [from Ticketmaster] to a
Live Nation show, they’re goingto quickly learn that’s not going to
happen,” says a source familiar with
the talks. “Live Nation will just take
its toys and go somewhere else.”
“There is a movement that
questions why a venue would
want its tickets to be sold via one
exclusive channel,” says Dan
DeMato, president of industry
consulting firm FutureTix.
“Amazon has the following and
data to be a perfect tool to sell live-
entertainment admissions.”
Live Nation has pushed Amazon
to simply sponsor concerts for Prime
members, or unload tickets likediscounters Costco or Groupon do.
But so far, Amazon isn’t interested.
“There’s a bit of technology
arrogance,” says one concert industry
source. “The attitude is, ‘You should
sell your tickets on Amazon because
we’re really good at selling things.’ ”
Macquarie analyst Amy Yong
says if Amazon is going to make
headway, it needs to demonstrate an
advantage beyond its user numbers.
“To enter the market, Amazon
will have to negotiate directly with
artists, venues and sports teams,”
she says. “Beyond that, I’m not sure
what they could add.”Richard Sanders
PREVIOUSLY Kobalt Music Group president
REPLACED Jeff Toig
SUCCESSES Helped launch Kobalt’s label
services division; bold catalog additions
ASSETS Sprint’s $200 million investment;
artist-owners like JAY-Z and Beyoncé
CHALLENGES TIDAL struggled to gain and keep
subscribers amid top-level turnover that
sees Sanders as its fourth CEO in two years.
ANALYSIS “Almost the only thing that’s been
constant has been change,” says Carey.
“They need the right person in the job but
also need to give them time to implement
what you want from them.” Still, with
Sprint’s 45 million customers, one label
executive says, “We haven’t begun to see
the opportunities there with bundles.”Kerry Trainor
PREVIOUSLY Vimeo CEO
REPLACED Alexander Ljung
SUCCESSES Increased Vimeo staff from 40 to
200; added 500,000 new paying creators
ASSETS New $170 million investment;
88 million active users, per SimilarWeb
CHALLENGES Closed San Francisco and London
offices and laid off 40 percent of its
workforce in July
ANALYSIS “SoundCloud is a beloved service,”
says Media Insight Consulting CEO Chris
Carey. But to survive, it will have to
adjust. “It’s not, ‘Can SoundCloud become
a more professional service?’ ” says MIDiA
Research founder Mark Mulligan. “Yes,
it can. It just has do it in a way that’s
authentic and honest to its user base.”Roger Lynch
PREVIOUSLY Sling TV founding CEO
REPLACED Tim Westergren
SUCCESSES Turned Sling into a 300-channel
over-the-top TV leader in just two years
ASSETS $480 million SiriusXM investment;
76 million monthly users; genome project
CHALLENGES Declining radio user numbers;
$275 million net loss in Q2 2017; expensive
entry into on-demand streaming
ANALYSIS “I don’t think Pandora is that far
off from returning to its former glory,”
says Mulligan. “Its ad-revenue business is
incredibly robust; it’s just embarking on
a subscription business. It needs to focus
more on markets beyond the U.S., but it has
the potential to turn things around.” But a
possible Liberty Media acquisition looms.18 BILLBOARD | SEPTEMBER 2, 2017
BY ANDY GENSLER