Insomniac Events forms partnership with Live Nation
Insomniac Events, the Los Angeles concert producer that puts on the popular Electric Daisy Carnival show, has entered into a partnership with concert and ticketing giant Live Nation Entertainment Inc.
Insomniac Chief Executive Pasquale Rotella confirmed in a statement on the company’s website that it had “formed a creative partnership” with Live Nation. Rotella’s statement did not reveal financial details of the arrangement, though he said Insomniac would retain creative control of the events it puts on and that Live Nation does not own Insomniac.
“We are still a stand-alone company,” he wrote.
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The Los Angeles Times reported in early May that Beverly Hills-based Live Nation would purchase a roughly 50% interest in Insomniac. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported news of the pending deal, said Live Nation was paying $50 million for the stake in Insomniac.
A representative for Live Nation did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. An Insomniac representative said the company would have no further comment beyond Rotella’s statement.
Insomniac puts on electronic dance music concerts at venues across Southern California and elsewhere. A 2010 iteration of the Electric Daisy rave drew as many as 200,000 to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
However, Insomniac and Rotella have been plagued by troubles in recent years. The Times reported in February that since 2006, at least 14 people have died from overdoses or in other incidents related to drugs at concerts produced by Rotella and Reza Gerami of Go Ventures.
Rotella and Gerami and others were indicted in March 2012 on bribery charges related to raves at the Los Angeles Coliseum and the Sports Arena. They are alleged to have made payments to a stadium manager but have pleaded not guilty.
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