Live Nation is reported to have instigated a further round of furloughs across its US venues and Ticketmaster North America divisions.
Pollstar estimates that hundreds of employees have been affected by the cost-reduction measures brought on by the continued strain of COVID-19, although the exact number of cuts are unclear.
The live entertainment giant furloughed and laid off hundreds of its North American workforce as a result of the pandemic in April. This was followed by a series of cuts in May that affected 2,100 of its 10,500 employees across multiple divisions at the company to reduce costs by $600m as live events remained dormant.
Live Nation cancelled or postponed its catalogue of 2020 tours and festivals in March and has since only held a few COVID-safe events, such as drive-in concerts.
US venues have been hit hard by the pandemic and for Live Nation, the Fillmore in San Francisco and the House of Blues in Anaheim saw more than 325 full-time and part-time employees furloughed or laid off, according to the California Employment Development Department. In addition, 71 positions were affected at the Observatory in Santa Ana and the Wiltern in L.A. let go of nearly 700 employees.
Last month, Live Nation reported a loss of $567.5m for Q2 of 2020 in its quarterly earnings report. The firm’s revenue was $74.1m, down 98 per cent from the same period in 2019 when it reached revenue of $3.15bn.
Meanwhile, Ticketmaster recently announced it is to combine its North America and International teams into one global entity, with Jared Smith to become chairman of the merged operation.
Smith, previously president of Ticketmaster, becomes global chairman. Mark Yovich, Ticketmaster’s president of International, has been elevated to become the Live Nation-owned company’s president of global business.
In addition, the firm’s president of North America, Amy Howe, has been appointed as the new global chief operating officer.
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