U2 'ties the knot' with promoters Live Nation

Increasingly prominent concert promoter and venue operator Live Nation has signed a 12-year deal with Irish rockers U2, the firm announced on Monday.

The new contract covers touring, merchandising, branding and the website for the award-winning rock band, which will continue to record and release albums with Universal Music Group.

Arthur Fogel and other Live Nation executives have long produced live events for the band.

"We've been dating for over 20 years now, it's about time we tied the knot," U2's lead singer Bono said in a statement.

The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

Last year, Live Nation scored a major coup by signing a groundbreaking "360-degree deal"with pop icon Madonna, who decided to leave her longtime label Warner.

Live Nation's 10-yearcontractwith Madonna covers a wide swath of her output: from her music recording and touring to her endeavours in film and television.

The company has made a name for itself by developing a large base of concertgoers through its production of prominent live events, ranging fromconcerts by the likes of Jay-Z and Coldplayto producing Super Bowl half-time shows to running tours of Broadway shows. It alsoowns and operatesthe House of Blues performance venues.

In recent years, Live Nation has aggressively expanded into merchandising, strengthening and taking advantage of its web presence to introduce more direct methods of building its artists' relationships with their fans.