Sold Out wins 10m Live Nation account

Live Nation, the concert promoter behind Madonna and Jay-Z, has reappointed Sold Out Advertising to handle its £10m UK media planning and buying account.

The agency pitched with OMD Group to win the business in a pitch against Carat, Starcom and MindShare. Sold Out, a full-service agency working across arts and entertainment industry, has an informal arrangement with OMD on international and large-scale clients.

Live Nation, which also manages venues and events including Wembley Arena, T in the Park and the Reading and Leeds Festivals, called a review of its media planning and buying arrangements in June.

The review was called as Live Nation looked to expand the media brief. It spent £4m on paid-for media in the UK during the 12 months to April, but is understood to be more than doubling its budget.

It follows a series of high profile deals as Live Nation, formerly part of Clear Channel, attempts to expand its offering. In October 2007 it announced a new contract with Madonna, replacing Warner Music as her record label as well as handling her tours and concerts.

Live Nation has also signed deals with U2, Shakira and Nickelback.

The music company is also understood to be launching a ticketing service in 2009. The speculation comes as its deal to sell tickets through Ticketmaster expires next year.

At the time of calling the pitch, a spokesman for the company said the account would cover the UK, but could potentially be expanded to other European markets at a later date.