It's not a 360-degree deal, but maybe 315 degrees?
U2 has signed a deal with Live Nation, partnering with the company on its touring, merchandising and its website -- pretty much everything except album sales, which will continue to be handled by Universal. In other words, Live Nation gets a share of all the mega-profitable parts of the U2 brand and Universal, you know, won't.
"We've been dating for over 20 years now, it's about time we tied the knot," said Bono, in a statement. "With regards to U2.com, we feel we've got a great website, but we want to make it a lot better. We want a closer, more direct relationship between the band and its audience and Live Nation has pledged to help us with that."
The deal is similar to the $120 million one Live Nation signed with Madonna last year, though that included rights to her future recordings. No word on the dollar-figure for U2's deal, though analyst David Joyce at Miller Tabak told Reuters that the deal would "likely be in the $100 million range."PHOTO: U2 by Anton Corbijn for Interscope.