AEG Opens Swedish Shop With Ex-Live Nation Staff

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — In an effort to shore up their European operations, concert-promotion titan AEG has opened shop in Stockholm, Sweden.

Billboard is reporting that the new unit, AEG Live Sweden will be helmed by David Maloney. Maloney, who had until very recently, been the lead promoter at AEG rival Live Nation's Swedish subsidiary EMA Telstar, until both he and his assistant Mikael Tillman abruptly took their leave. No mention has been made of Tillman's current disposition but it seems like that he would join his old boss at AEG as well.

"Sweden is a very important piece of our European strategy as a full service concert company and we feel that the entire industry will benefit from an AEG Live presence in Scandinavia." said a statement issued by Rob Hallet, AEG Live's managing director of European operations.

"Our launch in a great music nation like Sweden will provide increased choice to artists and audiences alike," Maloney added.

AEG's move would seem to continue the trend towards the vertical integration of the live music industry, shifting away from locally-controled promoters towards regional outposts of global promoters like Live Nation and AEG. If this trend will, as Maloney states, increase the choices available to local consumers or serve to erase regional and cultural distinctions, remains to be seen. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers