Rumor Mill: Ticketmaster to Lose Live Nation

For the true concert aficionados, competition in the ticket world is good.

The second crack in the Ticketmaster regime may be materializing, as talks with their top client, Live Nation, have ceased. Variety has published an internal memo from the Ticketmaster corporation which reads, "We believe we've taken every reasonable step possible to facilitate a renewal, but they seem intent on a direction for their business that leaves us no viable way to work together." This will be a huge loss for Barry Diller (who never did anything nice for us), whose company also lost MLB two years ago. The Washington Post/AP reported a negative effect on TM's parent's stock. The current deal expires in 2008 (2009 with House of Blues).

Live Nation owns, operates, or has a major interest in over 160 venues worldwide, including the House of Blues and the Gorge at George in Eastern Washington. Last year, Live Nation booked more than 26,000 events in 18 countries and sold 60 million tickets. Gander On!

Beatles may be coming to iTunes Soon...

If you happened to visit the iTunes music store today, you found an ad for the solo works of John Lennon. EMI and Apple recently inked a deal (AP), leaving George as the only Beatle without a digital deal. The question now? How long till I can DL Abbey Road?

Right now if you search "The Beatles" in iTunes, the only album you will see by the boys from Liverpool is their Pete Best work. That could all soon change. "John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners," Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said in a statement released by Apple. Download a Lennon product in the next 30 days and iTunes will give you free video content as well, courtesy of Gooseninja.com (really, it was our idea). Gander On!