Chad Kroeger’s Nickelback are the latest big-name band to sign on with Live Nation. According to reports, it sounds like the band have entered into a 360 degree deal that encompasses albums, tours and merchandise.

The new deal is thought to be worth $50-70 million for the band, which should keep them in ripped jeans and t-shirts well into their retirement.

There’s a small spanner in the works though – Nickelback are still contracted to produce 2 more studio albums and a greatest hits package to Roadrunner Records before they can finally jump ship.

There’s no doubt this news will spark a wave of “death to the record companies” posts, but when you look at the Live Nation client list – Madonna, U2, Jay-Z – these are all established artists who arguably got to their current status via the benefits of being a major label act. Promotion, distribution and everything else that comes with a major label deal made them what they are today.

Are Live Nation scooping up unheard-of acts for their roster? Are they helping to bring new bands to the public and develop those bands into career acts like Madonna, etc?

Play Devil’s Advocate for a moment and it seems Live Nation is really only catering to the established players. You still need a major label deal to get there in the first place.

Madonna has just announced her summer tour, the dubiously titled “Sticky & Sweet” tour. The tour will begin in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on 23 August 2008 and will travel across the UK and Europe through to the end of September.

The will be further dates in North America in October and November, finishing up in South America and Mexico toward the end of the year.

In case you’re interested, the Sticky & Sweet tour marks the first official fruit of Madonna’s new contract with Live Nation. Hard Candy is the last album under her contract with Warner Bros, and everything she produces from now on is part of the 360 deal with Live Nation.

Word is that the ticket prices will be much the same as on previous tours, around £55.00. Is Madonna looking out for our wallets by not applying inflation to her ticket prices? Good for her!

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Live Nation’s signing of U2 isn’t nearly as far reaching as their arrangement with Madonna – they’ll merely be looking after “merchandising, digital and branding rights” for the band. So, no ‘tipping the music industry on it’s head’ stories here then…

In reality, this is just a formalising of an ongoing business relationship between U2 and Live Nation – which will see the company manage U2’s online affairs and branding for the next 12 years. In a typically dumb soundbyte, Mr Bono said:

We’ve been dating for over 20 years now. It’s about time we tied the knot.

When you’ve stopped laughing at the hilarity of the statement, pick yourself up off the ground and remind Mr Bono that the success rate of marriage isn’t wonderful and maybe 12 years is a bit ambitious.

Not to be outdone, the chairman of Live Nation, Michael Cohl chimed in with a fawning:

U2 has created some of the greatest rock music of all time. It has long been our intention to consolidate and extend our relationship.

I love cosy press release type news, don’t you? Nice to know that Bono and the lads are planning to be kicking around for a few more years yet. Although now that we’ve had the rubbish press release, can they just get back to the studio and finish the new album…please?