Live Nation, Vice Media Team For Multi-Channel Music Platform

Live Nation Entertainment and VICE Media have joined forces to develop and launch a new digital content platform delivering what Live Nation describes as artist driven content. Included in the content offerings from the new partnership are brand new long and short form video series, premium editorial franchises, new live digital music performances created collaboratively with artists, in depth documentaries, as well as daily editorial content, and ecommerce and ticketing offerings.

The platform will roll out across multiple outlets, including mobile, web and TV in 2015.

Founded in 1994 as magazine Voice of Montreal, Vice has grown into a hugely popular social media driven content platform with offerings that include news and investigative journalism, as well as entertainment. A&E Networks —a joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company – are a minority owner in Vice; and in October, the company announced a new joint venture with Canadian telecom giant Rogers over new production facilities in Toronto, and a new, Vice-branded television network.

"Shane [Smith, CEO of VICE] and the VICE organization have proven to be the voice of this generation. Together with Live Nation's platform, we are positioned to become the voice of live music by developing an artist-centric, 24/7 global music destination that enables artists to bring their creative vision to life in a new and rich online and mobile music ecosystem," said Rapino.

Smith added, "This partnership rethinks the live music experience, offering unprecedented access to the world's biggest stars and emerging artists, and groundbreaking content that will be distributed across the holy trinity of mobile, online and TV. Today the content world is in upheaval, with new brands being created in real time, and mainstream media seeing its audience migrate in record numbers. It's this destratification of the status quo that we find so exciting because that, combined with the lack of any real quality music programming out there, equals one hell of an opportunity. We think that this partnership will give VICE and Live Nation the unique ability to totally re-imagine music content on a global scale, and if that doesn't get your rocks off I don't know what will." -