Live Nation acquires 51% share in Secret Sounds Group

Image: Falls Festival

Multi-national event promoters Live Nation Entertainment have bolstered their unparalleled global music festival lineup with the acquisition of Australian music company Secret Sounds Group. The takeover will see two of Australia’s iconic festivals, Splendour In The Grass and Falls Music & Arts Festival, join Live Nation.

With over 80 festivals making up Live Nation’s current slate, Splendour and Falls are the only Australian festivals that Live Nation currently operate. However, its partnership with Unified’s Unify Presents seesco-promote Unify Gathering.

The company’s portfolio of international music festivals makes up over half of the top 25 festivals in the world including New York’s Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Electric Daisy Carnival, Reading, Leeds and Rock Werchter.

“We started Secret Sounds with the sole mission of introducing Australians to the best artists, events and music possible, and Live Nation is the perfect partner to help us take this goal to the next level,” said Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco, Co-CEO’s of Secret Sounds. “With their support we can continue to curate the lineups that fans love, while also experimenting with new exciting ways for fans to experience live music.”

Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, said: “Jess and Paul have created events that attract the biggest artists in the world but still feel uniquely Australian. We look forward to partnering with them to find new ways to grow our live event footprint across Australia.”

Live Nation’s latest acquisition marks the seventh major takeover for the company in 2016, according to Music Business Worldwide.

While there are questions about the impact that Live Nation’s presence will have on the popular events, Piticco and Ducrou restored confidence to Australian festival-goers, declaring that the introduction of Live Nation will have no impact on the two festivals.

“To reassure our festival audience, nothing will change with Splendour in the Grass and Falls. It’s business as usual. Our ethos and concepts will remain as they always have – to bring the best artists and experiences from around Australia and overseas to our events. We’ve had multiple investors over the years and we are thrilled to welcome Live Nation on board who understand the music business completely. We’re really excited about the future.”

The 51% acquisition also includes Secret Sounds’ touring, sponsorship, PR, artist management and domestic agency businesses. In October, Piticco and Ducrou announced the consolidation of the Secret Sounds brand with their shared creative entities coming together under one parent company, Secret Sounds.

It is unclear whether the move to restructure was spurred on by prior knowledge of Live Nation’s impending acquisition. The cost of the stake has not been disclosed.