Shakira to Sign $60 Million Deal With Live Nation and Sony

Concert giant Live Nation is close to a multimillion-dollar deal with Sony to release Latin pop diva Shakira’s new albums, The Post has learned.

Shakira was among a handful of superstars, including Madonna and Jay-Z, to ditch their traditional record backers and sign huge rights deals with Live Nation in recent years. The broad contracts gave Live Nation a cut of the revenue from merchandise, sponsorships and even recorded music, in addition to concerts.


However, Live Nation never developed the ability to record and distribute albums so it has had to team up with traditional record companies to make its mega-money “360 deals” work.
Live Nation’s three-album Shakira deal with Sony could be worth as much as $60 million with the two partners agreeing to split sales, according to sources close to the talks, although some Sony insiders say the deal is worth less than that amount.

The agreement also marks a sort of homecoming for Shakira. In July 2008, the Colombian songstress behind hits such as “Hips Don’t Lie,” and “Whenever, Wherever,” bolted Sony’s Epic label for a 10-year deal with Live Nation valued between $70 million and $100 million.

Meanwhile, Live Nation, backed by John Malone’s Liberty Media, is going back to its roots in concerts and ticketing after recognizing that it can’t match the labels’ prowess in the recorded music realm, according to sources.

In December, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino signed an estimated $30 million deal that had Universal Music Group distribute Madonna’s latest album, “MDNA.”

Live Nation is expected to report first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The summer concert season is shaping up to be a bit better than in 2011, which followed a disastrous 2010 amid the recession and high ticket prices.

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