Van Halen To Save Music Industry?
Live Nation believe Eddie and Diamond Dave could be the key to turning flagging industry around
Van Halen have been named the saviours of the live music industry by the largest concert promoter in the world.
Blabbermouth reports that the claim was made by Live Nation Executive Chairman Irving Azoff in a statement to analysts on Monday.
Azoff was speaking about the current and future state of the live music industry, with much of the world suffering from a serious dip in concert ticket sales. He said that while the industry is "still not seeing a consumer recovery" he has high hopes that 2011 tours by acts such as Van Halen and Fleetwood Mac (neither of whom have actually announced tours as yet) will help lift live music out of the doldrums.
In 2009 huge rock acts such as Aerosmith and Eagles have seen plummeting ticket sales in North America, with several high profile artists postponing or cancelling tours due to general lack of interest.
Azoff also said that Live Nation hopes to earn money by selling more items like CDs and DVDs of that night's concert, T-shirts, posters and other memorabilia.
The UK is bucking the general worldwide trend for sliding ticket sales, with record revenues and a plethora of sold out tours.
Van Halen’s 2008 tour raked in a massive $95m.