O2 sign five year deal to sponsor Academy venues

The name of the eleven venues around the country are to change their names. The mobile phone operator O2, which is part of Telefónica Europe plc, have sealed a £22.5m five year deal with music promoters Live Nation to sponsor 11 music venues across the UK, including venues like Brixton Academy. The deal will see O2 able offer a number of benefits for its music loving customers.

The eleven venues in Brixton, Islington, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield, Leeds, and Shepherd's Bush are majority owned by Live Nation alongside fellow shareholders Metropolis Music and SJM Concerts.

From the 1st January 2009, the venues, many of which are currently sponsored by Carling, will be renamed O2 Academy. O2 will also expand its priority tickets service for customers attending events at The O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome) to venues across the UK. Their service already offers priority bookings to Live Nation events, now O2 customers will get the chance to priority book as many as 4,000 Live Nation produced shows a year in the UK up to 48 hours before they go on general sale.

As part of the deal, O2 will also have first option to exclusive live content from O2 Academy gigs and will work closely with the artists to make this content available for download to mobile handsets. Through its Napster and MyPlay music services, O2 has a variety of platforms available for artists to distribute their music directly to fans.

Ronan Dunne, Chief Executive at Telefónica O2 UK said, "Our customers tell us that they really value having priority access to tickets at The O2, so we want to bring this benefit to even more customers. The O2 Academy venues are a hugely important part of the UK's music scene and we admire their role in musical heritage. Through this partnership we are not only looking to benefit O2 customers, but to also enhance the live experience for all artists and music fans."

As part of the relationship with Live Nation, O2 plans to reinforce the Academy venues as key outlets for grassroots music in the UK, ensuring that new musical talent is recognised and supported. Over the past four years, O2 has supported up-and-coming artists with its 'O2 Undiscovered' music programme which endeavours to boost support for future music talent.

Simon Lewis, President of Music Marketing Partnerships International, added, "O2's credentials in supporting live music are unparalleled and we are very enthusiastic about working with a partner with such integrity and understanding of the fan/artist relationship. We intend this partnership to take O2's position in live music to new heights and it will also allow us to market our concerts and artist-related products to millions of O2 customers and drive incremental ticket sales."

O2 will be working to enhance the concert going experience for music fans. This will include fast track entry, creating areas for O2 customers, and opportunities to text ahead for special benefits. The deal will also see the expansion of developing technologies like mobile ticketing.