There’s a brain drain going on at Live Nation.

And it’s a people business.

And you can’t teach someone the road/concert promotion overnight, it takes years to gain a sense of what sells and what does not, how to make a deal, where and how you can make money or get screwed.

AEG doesn’t seem to be in the artist development business, but they’ve certainly got a wealth of talent.  And I’m talking behind the scenes, not on stage.  Whereas Live Nation operates in seemingly all markets at all levels and the people doing the work are…amateurs?

It’s not only Mueller, obviously Brian Murphy left before him, and Danny Zelisko has left too.

Rapino says he realizes centralized buying was not the way to go, which is why Jason Garner was blown out and control was given back to the local entities.  But how many of those local promoters are staffed by people who truly know their markets?

Irving certainly knows management.  And he knows concert promotion too, which is why he can construct such heinous deals for the Eagles.

And Rapino’s been around the block too.

But neither of them can run the entire business.  You need a team.  At best, you need people who can go their own way and only occasionally need to be guided.

In other words, the devil is in the details.  And you only know the details from experience.

When you go down the ranks at Live Nation the company looks thinner and thinner.  They had a brain drain at Google and it’s affecting the company.  And Apple does more with fewer engineers, because it’s got the right engineers.

Does Live Nation have the right buyers?

I’m doubtful.