The bad news just keeps on coming for SFX Entertainment. The heaving dance music behemoth thought they had found their man in head of electronic music at Live Nation James Barton to join the executive team at SFX in what would have been a coup for the firm, but that deal has reportedly fallen through. In addition to the nullified deal, Spotify's deal with Beatport has been terminated and SFX's contract with TMWRK, the management group for artists like Jack Ü, Diplo and Dillon Francis, has been terminated as well.
It was reported earlier this month that SFX was coveting Live Nation's James Barton, who had joined the live events giant in 2012 after it bought his Cream clubbing franchise. Despite being close to a deal, the New York Post is now reporting that the deal was officially fallen through.
His salary demands were a major sticking point in addition to his concerns about SFX's current financial issues.
It isn't surprising they are having a difficult time attracting high-level talent with the state the company is in, but this is another bad sign for the struggling company.
To add insult to injury, SFX lost two key deals this past month. According to SEC Filings, SFX subsidiary Beatport and Spotify have terminated their deal, which was signed over the summer, which would have given Spotify exclusive content from Beatport and vise versa as well as live streaming of SFX events on Beatport's streaming platform.
SFX now has to pay Spotify back the remaining $10 million on a $12.5 million advance from the deal.
SFX and management team TMWRK have also parted ways. The management company will have to pay SFX to get out of this deal. They will pay $2.4 million back of the $3.6 million owed over two installments in September 2016 and September 2017. Check out the complete filing here.
