There is much speculation of tensions in the Live Nation boardroom where Michael Cohl, the live music conglom's biggest shareholder, chairman of the board and top executive officer of the firm's newish Live Nation Artists division, is reportedly at odds with CEO Michael Rapino.
Cohl, who has had a place on the Live Nation board ever since the live music major bought his company CPI in 2006, was put in charge of Live Nation Artists (briefly called Artist Nation) at its inception last year. The division is responsible for managing the multi-million dollar 360-degree deals Live Nation has done with the likes of Madonna and Jay-Z. Cohl, an accomplished world tour promoter, was a seemingly wise choice for that role because, while his background is primarily in touring, he has had a reputation for finding and exploiting new and different revenue streams around the artists he works with, which is kind of the point of Live Nation Artists. He's also used to working with some of the world's biggest artists (and egos).
But given Cohl's reputation, influence and power in the Live Nation boardroom, there was always potential for tensions between him and Rapino who is, after all, Cohl's line manager in his Live Nation Artists job. Word has it the two disagree on what further Madonna-style deals should be done, on what artists the company should look to work with, and on how artist relationships should be developed. Gossipers say tensions between the two are now making their working relationship untenable, with some predicting Cohl will walk sometime soon.
What that would mean for Live Nation shareholder Cohl, who, according to Billboard, is stuck to a non-compete agreement stemming from the CPI purchase, and which still has eight years to run, and, equally, what it would mean for CEO Rapino, well, only time will tell. Nevertheless, negotiations between the live music conglom and some of the world's biggest artists with a view to Live Nation buying a stake in those artists' recording, merchandising, endorsement and possibly publishing activities, as well as a long term involvement in their touring, reportedly continue – with Shakira reportedly the favourite to be next to confirm a wide-ranging Live Nation deal.