Live Nation acquires Lytham Festival owner Cuffe & Taylor

Live Nation has purchased a controlling interest in Cuffe & Taylor, one of the UK’s fastest-growing promoters.

The business, which was founded in 2009 by Daniel Cuffe and Peter Taylor, is focused on festivals and promoting artists in novel and non-traditional outdoor venues.

Michael Rapino, Live Nation Entertainment President and CEO, said: “Our mission at Live Nation has never been clearer. We want to connect fans with the artists they love, and through this deal with Cuffe & Taylor we are able to offer fans in the UK more choices than ever before.”

Denis Desmond, Chairman of Live Nation UK, said: “We look forward to welcoming Cuffe & Taylor to the Live Nation team to expand our overall presence across the UK regional markets. Both Daniel and Peter will jointly head up the new venture with Live Nation and the existing Cuffe & Taylor team and continue to deliver exceptional experiences for artists and fans.”

In a joint statement Daniel Cuffe and Peter Taylor said: “After an incredible seven years operating as an independent promoter in the UK we are now looking forward to our new life as part of the Live Nation family.

“It’s very much business as usual at Cuffe & Taylor as we continue to grow and develop our core brands of Lytham Festival, Greenwich Music Time and Scarborough Open Air Theatre while also developing our touring operation, taking established artists into new and exciting regional venues.”

“Our mission at Live Nation has never been clearer: We want to connect fans with the artists they love, and through this deal with Cuffe & Taylor we are able to offer fans in the UK more choices than ever before.”

Michael Rapino, Live Nation

After acquiring no less than seven live music businesses in 2016, Live Nation has begun 2017 with a bang – the Cuffe & Taylor deal is its fourth major deal in January alone.

Over the past three weeks, LN has announced the effective acquisition of UK independent promoter Metropolis Music, in addition to buyouts of the BottleRock Napa Valley festival plus US-based business CT Touring.

With offices in London and the North West, Cuffe & Taylor are behind the UK’s Lytham Festival and Greenwich Music Time event, while also having an exclusive deal to programme all live events at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.

The past year has seen the firm present sell-out shows and tours with acts including Dame Joan Collins, Bryan Adams, Noel Gallagher, Ramin Karimloo and Collabro.

It also presented all the outdoor dates on Rod Stewart’s record-selling UK Hits Tour.

Upcoming tours for Cuffe & Taylor include Cliff Richard, Remembering Fred, Shakin Stevens, Olly Murs, Bryan Adams and The Beach Boys.

[Pictured L-R: Daniel Cuffe & Peter Taylor]Music Business Worldwide

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