Here an extract from an article taken from The Times on-line UK with Arthur Fogel talking about Madonna, the Live Nation deal and her Sticky & Sweet Tour

Mr Fogel brokered the ten-year, $120 million Madonna deal, which ended the star's association with Warner Music. He produced her three most recent world tours, which grossed almost $400 million. Ticket sales for her 42-date Sticky & Sweet tour, the first under the new deal, which begins in Cardiff in August, stand at 90 per cent, with one million sold.

Mr Fogel said: “We are pretty good at doing deals which work for the artists and ourselves. This time Madonna is getting to a lot of countries and cities she hasn't visited for 15 years and people are going to see a ground-breaking production.”

Madonna will receive about $120 million in cash and stock over ten years from the company. Live Nation expects to recoup about $50 million from ticket sales, merchandising and sponsorship over a cycle of three tours, plus a possible $20 million from a stake in Madonna's fashion businesses. However, expectations that the company could earn $80 million from new albums may be far too high, given the declining recorded-music market. And the deal assumes that the star will maintain the same intensive level of touring until she is 60 years old.

Mr Fogel said that it made financial sense because of her “unique position and stature as an artist. She is the ‘chairman of the board' but always at the cutting edge. Her audience demographic are also likely to spend more on merchandise at shows.”

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Source: The Times, Madonna Tribe