It's Clear who's in control

Over the last few weeks, the biggest Irish music story this year has taken shape behind closed doors. Lawyers and bean counters are currently running the rule over the joint bid from MCD Concerts and Clear Channel for the Mean Fiddler group. It's a story with long-term implications, especially for Irish and British music fans, writes Jim Carroll.

Clear Channel is the world's largest live entertainment group, with nearly $3 billion in sales from over 30,000 events a year, not to mention its 1,400 radio stations and 700,000 billboard sites. MCD is the largest live music player in Ireland, and MCD boss Denis Desmond has added to his record label, publishing company and fast food interests here by becoming an influential player in the UK industry through investments in various venues and festivals.

What is up for grabs is the Mean Fiddler, a company whose portfolio includes 15 live venues in London and a number of festivals, including a stake in Glastonbury. MCD already owns a chunk of the company; now it and Clear Channel want the rest.

To date, this story has been confined to the business pages, largely because it's about bid prices, joint ventures, stock holdings and investment vehicles, items of little interest or relevance to readers of The Ticket. However, should the sale go through (and when you're dealing with Mean Fiddler boss Vince Power, you can expect the unexpected right up until the last moment), it will cause significant changes in how the live music industry operates.

Much has been written about Clear Channel. There's lots to write about because you don't get to be the biggest dog in the pack without picking up some bad habits. Indeed, Clear Channel has been a favourite whipping boy for entertainment professionals, consumer groups and US politicians on account of its aggressive policy of consolidation and acquisitions. Clear Channel is a multinational corporation, and multinational corporations with links to George W Bush always attract bad press.

But if talk of campaign contributions and anti-trust legal suits are abstract, the sight of Clear Channel getting its hands on a festival like Glastonbury may be a lot more tangible. In 2002, Mean Fiddler signed an initial five-year deal with farmer and festival host Michael Eavis for a 20 percent stake in the festival. Naturally, this will form part of the Clear Channel/MCD buyout. Suddenly, the notion of Glastonbury 2007 brought to you by Vodafone, Red Bull and Ford doesn't seem so farfetched.

The rise of Clear Channel raises questions about rock willingness to cosy up to corporate culture. As far as most artists are concerned (and that includes alleged good guys U2, whose new tour is a Clear Channel promotion), biggest is best when it comes to doing business.

We can expect changes in Ireland as well. The standard Clear Channel play in a new territory is to get into bed with and then push aside local promoters. Perhaps there are more MCD/Clear Channel collaborations on the cards, even a buyout at some future juncture. While MCD may not require any investment or involvement from Clear Channel on their home patch, the joint venture to take over Mean Fiddler may well include other agreements in terms of the Irish market.

Clear Channel isn't the only big gun out there: there's also AEG Live, a LA-based company which had five of the top 10 grossing US tours in 2004. AEG recently appointed ex-Mean Fiddler executive Rob Hallet as its international chief. You could even speculate that Clear Channel and MCD are moving in on the Mean Fiddler before AEG Live does.

The battle for your ticket money has just been turned up a few notches. No matter what else happens, the show will go on.

jimcarroll@irish-times.ie