driving me nuts...

I'm not going to lie -- I've been avoiding Blogger because for the past month or so the linking tool has been malfunctioning. Usually things like this are fixed within a day or so because people let the administrator know about it -- other people, not me. Apparently that is not the case this time, hence my lack of citations and links and photos. It's truly driving me nuts.

bk

Bye Bye Coolfer : (

I can't say that I blame him, but I also won't say that I'm happy; one of my favorite music / entertainment industry blogs has officially gone off-air in pursuit of greater endeavors: Billboard Magazine. Yuck.

Glenn Peoples of 'Coolfer: Music and the Industry', has taken the position of Senior Editorial Analyst at Billboard Magazine. I'm choosing to remain ignorant as to what that actually entails because it means when I open my reader every morning, 'Coolfer' will not pop up among my unread postings and I'm not all that happy about it.

Peoples started the blog in 2003 while working in the industry in NY. He has since moved to Nashville and received a MBA.

I wish Peoples the best of luck at Billboard, though I'm not unsubscribing to Coolfer, just in case things don't work out at Billboard.

:)
bk

AEG / LN / Ticketmaster / TicketExchange et al

The creation of Live Nation Entertainment (Live Nation + Ticketmaster) is like the worst train wreck off the largest interstate; it's messy and political and fantastically difficult to pull away from. To me though, the best part is that while Azoff and Rapino try to convince the DOJ, Senate, existing clients, and the rest of the world that 'Live Nation Entertainment' is a necessary bridge for the sustenance of both powerhouses, they've managed to make themselves look like blabbering idiots. Not to mention that they've opened up a can of worms called the secondary ticketing market in a way that will forever change the significant [illegitimate] ancillary revenue stream that currently accounts for about $3B / year directly into artists, tour management, and executives' pockets.

Meanwhile, AEG, though severely affected by the situation and the ultimate ruling, manages to keeps its name out of the mud; the primary blame for the secondary ticketing market seems to be on Ticketmaster and the artists, though I'm sure both LN and AEG have a healthy knowledge of the SOP better known as scalping. Being an AEG fan more so than LN, I hope Ticketmaster and the inevitable Live Nation Entertainment take the brunt.

Good article in the WSJ (title linked).

Women with a MBA

Nic Patton, a contributor to the blog "Management-Issues" posts some research results conducted at Chicago Booth School of Business as well as at Harvard. The subject is the lack of continuity between genders when it comes to the career growth of MBA-holders.

So much for that MBA.

http://www.management-issues.com/2009/2/27/research/an-mba-no-use-for-women.asp