ARTISTdirect Inc. signed a ticketing services and promotional deal with
Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch Inc. (TMCS) for real-time online ticketing for
the ARTISTdirect Network.
As part of the three year agreement, ticketmaster.com will provide the
ARTISTdirect Network with a co-branded ticketing site for all live music
events and integrate real-time ticketing into each of ARTISTdirect’s
artist-specific sites.
In addition, the companies have agreed to work together to facilitate
Internet-only ticket presales for artists participating in the ARTISTdirect
Network. Financial arrangements were not disclosed.
ARTISTdirect will integrate placements and advertising on TMCS’
ticketmaster.com and LiveDaily.com sites, giving visitors
access to contextual links to official artist sites, official artist stores
and artist content.
ARTISTdirect and TMCS also will cooperate on direct
marketing initiatives designed to provide concert-going fans with access to
unique ARTISTdirect tour content and e-commerce opportunities.
“ARTISTdirect is a comprehensive destination for music fans, and music fans
want tickets,” said Marc Geiger, chief executive officer and chairman of ARTISTdirect. “The
agreement with Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch allows us to implement a
program that will not only bring value to our users, but will also underline
our corporate mission to create a vertically integrated online network that
connects fans directly to artists.”
The ARTISTdirect Network of Web sites offers multi-media entertainment
content, music news and information, community around shared music interests,
and music-related commerce.
The network consists of ARTISTdirect.com, home of the official
channels that the company operates on behalf of artists; UBL.com, a music search engine on the Web; iMusic, an
online community site where fans exchange music interests and commentary;
DOWNLOADSdirect; Artist TV, the
network’s hub for broadband programming; and the ARTISTdirect Superstore, a retail site offering recorded music and artist merchandise.
