U2 have joined the promotional leagues of Madonna. Bono and Co. have signed a 12-year deal with music conglomerate Live Nation, the company who last year "inked a groundbreaking $120 million, ten year, three album deal with Madonna.":http://mog.com/Mackenzie_P/blog_post/117447U2 will however continue to release its records and publishing commitments with Universal Music Group. The deal covers touring, merchandise and licensing rights, sponsorship, digital rights, fan club/Web sites and other marketing mumbo-jumbo. The pretty penny that the Irish rockers will get for the deal remains undisclosed, but its gotta be up there in the triple digit millions. U2's 2005-2007 Elevation tour brought in $389 million alone, and was the second-highest grossing tour of all time. (The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour takes the top spot there.)"It's not a do or die situation that we have to be involved in the recordings," Live Nation Chairman Michael Cohl told
Reuters. "We'd prefer to, but it's not always available."
"U2 has created some of the greatest rock music of all time," Cohl said. "It has long been our intention to consolidate and extend our relationship.""We've been dating for over 20 years now," singer Bono told
BBC News. "It's about time we tied the knot."Is this good news or bad news?
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