James Barton, the head exec of dance music at Live Nation, has reportedly opted out and chosen to stay with the music and live events company. Around the rumor mill, it has been said that SFX couldn’t afford Barton’s salary while others have suggested that he was just too weary of SFX’s financial situation. Sources in the music industry have lead us to believe that James is a lame duck, having joined Live Nation in 2012 after selling his company to the them.
While Reuters is reporting that SFX bondholders are remaining positive that Live Nation will pick up the assests, however, with the termination of the Spotify/Beatport partnership which allowed Spotify access to all of Beatport’s material as well as streaming events from Beatport Live. SFX, in turn, now has to pay back a $10 million advance, in which $2.5 million had already been accounted for in repayment. In the event that Beatport is sold or goes into default, there will be an accelerated payment plan with July 1, 2016 being the deadline if everything stay as is. That’s not the only bad news as this comes shortly. On top of the debilitating separation from Spotify, TMWRK, the company that manages Diplo, Dillon Francis, and more is buying itself back from SFX to the tune of $3.6 million after SFX acquired them in April of 2014.
