AEG & Live Nation Recommend Halting All Tours

The guidance was backed by a global task force of concert industry leaders, including top officers at Live Nation, AEG, CAA, WME, Paradigm and UTA.

AEG is joining competitor Live Nation in recommending U.S. concerts be postponed through the end of the month. Earlier Thursday (March 12), Live Nation officials told employees they were pausing arena tours through the end of the month. The announcement excludes U.K. tours and concerts which are continuing as scheduled.

"At this time, we collectively recommend large scale events through the end of March be postponed," the statement reads. "We continue to support that small scale events follow guidance set by their local government officials. We feel fortunate to have the flexibility to reschedule concerts, festivals, and live events as needed, and look forward to connecting fans with all their favorite artists and live entertainment soon."

The statement was signed by a global task force of concert industry leaders that included Live Nation chief executive and president Michael Rapino, AEG president and chief executive Dan Beckerman, AEG Presents chairman and chief executive Jay Marciano, CAA managing partner and head of the music division Rob Light, WME partner and head of music Marc Geiger, Paradigm chairman Sam Gores and head of global music Marty Diamond, and UTA partner and global head of music David Zedeck.

The task force was formed last week as the Coronavirus crisis began to unfold. Besides a daily conference call, the task force members meet to "share information, discuss overall live touring strategy and review trends," according to an email from one of the task force members to their staff. "Even given the competitive nature of who is on the call, the circumstances surrounding our business has allowed honesty and respect to take hold, and work to the common good of our industry."

This group is communicating daily, the email explained, with "the goal being for us to be consistent in our message, to create protocols that will make best efforts to protect our artists, crews, associates and as importantly, the fans."

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