There’s still no official word from Ticketmaster on the future of its relationship with Live Nation, but being involved in a Warner Music Group counter-offer to woo Madonna back from the promotion giant is far from laying out an olive branch.

As IQ went to press, Live Nation’s $120million (€84m) deal with Madonna looked set to be announced. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal will see Madonna receive a mix of cash and shares while Live Nation bags three studio albums, tours, merchandise and the right to license her name.

There’s still no official word from Ticketmaster on the future of its relationship with Live Nation, but being involved in a Warner Music Group counter-offer to woo Madonna back from the promotion giant is far from laying out an olive branch.

As IQ went to press, Live Nation’s $120million (€84m) deal with Madonna looked set to be announced. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal will see Madonna receive a mix of cash and shares while Live Nation bags three studio albums, tours, merchandise and the right to license her name.

Long-term label Warner Bros countered the Live Nation offer with a similar deal involving Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, the parent company of Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster has been silent about whether renegotiations of its 10-year deal with Live Nation (which ends in late 2008) have indeed faltered as many believe, but an internal memo leaked to the press in August called the situation “doubtful”.

Live Nation is Ticketmaster’s largest client, and accounted for around 10% of its $1.1billion (€773m) revenues in 2006. But last year, Live Nation acquired a 51% interest in Musictoday – the leading US direct-to-fan service which incorporates fulfilment and ticketing – and 2007 has seen it dramatically ramp up its web portal, LiveNation.com, with unique visitors now close to 3milllion per month.

It’s still a long way from Ticketmaster’s 21m visitors, but with the ticketing giant’s parent company IAC having purchased a large stake in Front Line Management and developing its secondary platform, the ticketing landscape looks set for a radical revamp.