Reply With QuoteI am just glad that i am in to his music only and not his homes, cars, etc.
KEV.
Some hyperbole? from the NY Post.....
ROCK 'N' ROLLER COASTER ON WAY WITH $100M ELVIS DEAL
December 17, 2004
Elvis Presley is ready to conquer the world again.
Bankrolled by the deep pockets of entertainment mogul Bob Sillerman, the estate of the late King is planning a global rollout of Presley-mania - from Elvis theme parks in Germany to lavish casinos in Asia where the singer's hologram will perform around the clock.
Sillerman, who made a fortune building the world's biggest entertainment touring outfit, bought all the rights to Presley's name and likeness, as well as his music, for more than $100 million.
The late entertainer's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, said she sold the assets to give her family a secure future and expand her father's legacy to the entire world.
She'll keep the family's Graceland estate, where 600,000 visitors tour annually, and retain other real estate and her father's personal possessions, as well as 15 percent of Sillerman's venture.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of millions, maybe billions, around the world who haven't been reached yet by Elvis Presley," Sillerman told The Post.
"The first thing we'll do is a reality show modeled after 'American Idol,' called 'Elvis Idol,' with contestants vying to become the best Elvis," he said.
Other ventures on the drawing boards are casino-entertainment emporiums in Asia, and destination theme parks built around Elvis and his rock 'n' roll legacies.
New technology would be included throughout the ventures, such as holograms of the singer giving life-like performances. Sillerman will own all of the filmed and recording assets of Presley
I am just glad that i am in to his music only and not his homes, cars, etc.
KEV.
HELLO,I MUST BE GOING.
SAM...it"s been a privilege to be called your best mate.17.03.55 - 24.01.08
http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/HankGarlandBio.html
commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN
New power guy Sillerman is long on green and ready to rock and roll
By David Williams
December 17, 2004
Robert F.X. Sillerman, the new power behind the throne of the King of Rock and Roll, was first an Elvis Presley fan.
But he's foremost a businessman, one with a knack for building billion-dollar entertainment empires, with radio stations and then concert promotions. Now, with Thursday's announced $100 million purchase of an 85 percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, Sillerman aims to take the late singer's career to new levels.
"It's no disrespect to what they've done so far," the 56-year-old native New Yorker said in a telephone interview. "But obviously it was run as a family business -- first and foremost, protect the family and ensure its long-term viability. In addition, of course, to protecting his legacy.
"Now that that future is permanently guaranteed based on the significant amount of money that we paid for this, now the estate can be run with a somewhat more risk-oriented and expansive approach. One doesn't have to protect today's income. One can invest in tomorrow."
The Presley estate reportedly had revenues of nearly $45 million last year. With a Broadway musical featuring the King's music and a CBS-TV bio miniseries on the way, "Elvis has a great career going," as Todd Morgan, EPE director of media and creative development, said recently.
But Sillerman -- who plans to take his new company public, creating capital to further Elvis's reach -- believes more is possible.
Plans are for Graceland, with its 600,000 or so annual visitors, to continue as it has. But Sillerman would like to take the Elvis experience international.
"Elvis was not just a recording artist, was not just a performer," he said. "He really was a cultural icon. And the only way to experience him outside the United States is to listen to his music. ... How you can create that Elvis contact experience outside the United States, I don't know. But I do know there's a broad and deep market that wants it. We, with the family, will try and figure out ways to do that."
Sillerman also views the King as a sort of kingpin -- the first of several major artists who would join his company in a new, if undefined, entertainment business model.
"With no disrespect to the major record labels or the studios or the networks," he said, "it's time the old economic models are thrown out the window and the entertainers get their fair share."
He said he hopes to align with "performers and creators and people who are making the entertainment industry what it is. ... What form that's going to take, it's hard to speculate on. Certainly we are in conversations with some people. None that have risen to the level of being disclosable."
If he's successful, it wouldn't be the first time Sillerman changed the entertainment industry.
Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief for national concert industry trade publication Pollstar, said Sillerman was the first to realize the value of something Presley, for all his career staying power, can't produce -- live music.
Before Sillerman established SFX Entertainment as the premier national concert promoter, Bongiovanni said, the industry "was broken down geographically, pretty much. There were a few players who had a presence in a pretty large geographical area, but by and large there was a promoter for Philadelphia, there was one for Chicago, there was one for Atlanta, and Bill Graham in San Francisco. Sillerman basically started buying them one by one to the point where he had a national footprint.
"And he bought most of the outdoor amphitheaters. So he controlled the outdoor concert market."
In 1999, shows promoted by SFX grossed a reported $310 million. The next year, the company was sold to radio giant Clear Channel for more than $4 billion.
Previously, Sillerman had sold his SFX Broadcasting company of radio stations for $2.1 billion.
"Smart businessman," Bongiovanni said.
Sillerman described himself as "someone who has been willing to challenge the existing paradigms."
He also describes himself, in kingly detail, as an Elvis fan.
"My favorite Elvis song is 'Can't Help Falling in Love with You,' my favorite movie is 'Viva Las Vegas,' and I dressed up as Elvis in 2003 at Halloween."
--------------------
Robert F.X. Sillerman
Date of birth: April 12, 1948, in New York City
Education: B.A. in political science, Brandeis University
Business: Sillerman is best known for building national powerhouses in both the radio and concert promotion industries. He sold his SFX Broadcasting company of radio stations for $2.1 billion in 1997. Then he built SFX Entertainment into the premier concert promoter, selling that company for $4 billion in 2000. He also produced "The Producers," the 2001 Tony Award winner for best musical.
Copyright 2004, commercialappeal.com - Memphis, TN. All Rights Reserved.
Presley Business Is Purchased by Entrepreneur
By JEFF LEEDS
Published: December 17, 2004
A New York media entrepreneur whose previous spending sprees rocked the radio and concert industries said on Thursday that he had reached a deal to acquire 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises, the business that controls Presley's name and likeness, a music publishing catalog and the operation of Graceland in Memphis.
The entrepreneur, Robert Sillerman, and his partners are buying control of the Presley business from the singer's heir, Lisa Marie Presley, for $53 million in cash, about $22 million in stock in Mr. Sillerman's new venture and the assumption of about $25 million in debt, the company announced. Ms. Presley retains a 15 percent interest in the business, the title to Graceland and its 13.6-acre grounds and most of her father's personal effects. (The deal does not include royalties on Presley's best-selling recordings. He agreed to forgo future royalties on those albums in exchange for a lump sum payment in the early 1970's.) Mr. Sillerman said in an interview on Thursday that he had started a new company with an eye toward buying "content" that can be exploited in new ways as the traditional entertainment businesses see their audiences fracture. Mr. Sillerman predicted that as broadcast networks lose viewers and major record companies sell fewer albums, performers would increasingly seek business partners with whom "they can make the most money in the long term." Mr. Sillerman said he expected music to account for about one-third of his new business, called CKX, with the rest coming from television, film and other sources.
For its part, the Elvis business appears to be thriving. Figures released by Mr. Sillerman show that Presley Enterprises generated $12 million in operating profit on $44.9 million in revenue last year, and $9.4 million in operating profit on $37.9 million for the first nine months of this year. Still, "there are jurisdictions that have been under-Elvised," he said, citing a number of international markets and even Las Vegas. He said he and his partners were working out details of how to increase the business.
In the 1990's Mr. Sillerman built and sold a radio empire and then bought a series of concert promotion companies to form a new conglomerate, SFX Entertainment, which he sold to Clear Channel Communications for about $4.4 billion. Mr. Sillerman's business has been bound by a noncompetition agreement with Clear Channel, but he said it would effectively end in February.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
What a rat! She's earning millions and millions through her father's work, and now she soldout to 'secure her future'????The late entertainer's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, said she sold the assets to give her family a secure future and expand her father's legacy to the entire world
On the brighter side: Silverman is right when he said that "EPE was run as a family business'. With a 100 million investment we should be seeing a more active approach to the selling of Elvis. I keep my fingers crossed that it will be in a respectfull way.
"A year from now, you'll wish you had started today"
Follow TCB-World on Twitter for website updates and Elvisnews: http://twitter.com/tcbworldcom
Hasn't anyone else noticed the quote by Sillerman.....a reality show like American Idol called Elvis Idol......OMG....tell me this isn't happening.....wake me up, please this is getting worse..............
Carolyn
"Walk A Block In My Socks"
Yep, enter the world of the "Elvis Circus". I think Colonel Parker is having a party in his grave right now.
As I said on the other board, I'm hoping the Post piece is crap.... hoping. It'll probably be copied 'round the world regardless.Originally Posted by carolynlm
Eileen
Maybe it's beginning to dawn on her that her "singing talent" won't butter her bread
i.e., she's not bringing home the bacon?
...you won't forget me when I go.
I was shocked when I heard the news, and I don't have a good feeling about it all. I cant understand why she sold the rights to an outsider, we are talking about her dad here. I could never sell my fathers name.
without a song, a man ain't got a friend,
without a song, the road would never bend,
without a song, so I'll keep singing the song.
http://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/10_64.gifhttp://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/12_64.gifhttp://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/30_64.gifhttp://www.elvisfun.com/fun/htm/avat...s/64/98_64.gif
this is a perfect example of how to undo years of history with the stroke of a pen (and a big cash offer!!!!). i agree with some people here that i dont trust this deal to be honest enough to protect the presley legacy. let's see what happens when he discovers a few things could do with a major upgrade. i'm talking about things like minor repairs to the 'lisa marie' and basically doing up the 'heartbreak hotel'. some of these places/items are just going to rot unless something is done. he says he's a presley fan, being a fan is one thing but being a business man is something else, these kind of people do not do these things unless they see a quick buck or two in it. as for lisa i honestly think she's a bit f***ed up anyway, it was obvious that her career as a singer was never going to happen, plus all this hard nosed ***** approach does her no good, still we shall see what happens but i think it's doomed to end in tears and lawsuits.
As some people say on this island:"trouble at mill"
Can"t get over her selling her old mans music right"s (74 - 77)
KEV.
HELLO,I MUST BE GOING.
SAM...it"s been a privilege to be called your best mate.17.03.55 - 24.01.08
http://www.gould68.freeserve.co.uk/HankGarlandBio.html
im in shock!!!! what is she thinking???? this guy is going to treat elvis presleys legacy like a *****!!! money, money, money!!!!
I think it's sad, because it does put the final underline to the fact that Elvis as a person has fully disappeared and can indeed be bought and sold on the open market along with Mickey Mouse.
Other than this, I'm a little bemused by all "the sky is falling" comments. How much worse can his legacy be treated? His face is plastered on beer cans and shower curtains, an Elvis-shaped loaf of bread is being released, you can buy a vinyl half-mask of his hair, pieces of his wardrobe have been reproduced for dogs, he became a cartoon elf to sell cookies, his movies are digitized with less care than if I ran off tv-to-vhs copies in my basement, and his recordings are generally managed with grievous disregard to both quality and context and repackaged like soft soap.
And SILLERMAN might treat him like "a *****"?
Eileen
I HAVE ALSO HEARD THIS, NOT ONLY FROM SILLERMAN, BUT FROM A COUPLE OF OTHER SOURCES AS WELL!!!
I'm with you Carolynlm....PLEASE TELL ME this is some sort of sick joke. NOT that I have any problems with Elvis impersonators or tribute artists in the least!!! Regardless of how good or bad they are, in my opinion, Elvis impersonators and tribute artists do what they do out of love and respect for Elvis! But, by creating a TV show in the same vein as AMERICAN IDOL in order to pick the next "ELVIS IDOL", I truly think that this would be a very cheap form of commercialism and quite honestly a major degradation of Elvis' name!!! Where is the love and respect for Elvis in an idea like this????
If this idea comes to fruition, then in my mind, it is a sure sign that this "partnership" was created solely for profit making purposes...REGARDLESS of how Elvis' name or image may suffer!!!
TCB!
Mike
R.I.P. Tommy
We will miss you dearest friend
I have already heard in an interview with Sillerman that one of his plans is to find the best "Elvis" in an "American Idol" like TV show. God, I hope this isn't the shape of things to come. Can you imagine the damage to his image if this comes on your TV set!
Makes me shudder to think what other great idea's he has.
A Man Is Never Dead, Until He Is Forgotten.... (h)
Please be specific. WHERE exactly did you see Sillerman himself discuss the "Elvis Idol" concept (that did not come from the New York Post tabloid article)? What tv show? What channel or who was he speaking with? You saw him say this yourself?
This vagueness does a disservice to all of us who want accurate information on what is taking place.
Eileen
I think it's sad, because it does put the final underline to the fact that Elvis as a person has fully disappeared and can indeed be bought and sold on the open market along with Mickey Mouse.
Other than this, I'm a little bemused by all "the sky is falling" comments. How much worse can his legacy be treated? His face is plastered on beer cans and shower curtains, an Elvis-shaped loaf of bread is being released, you can buy a vinyl half-mask of his hair, pieces of his wardrobe have been reproduced for dogs, he became a cartoon elf to sell cookies, his movies are digitized with less care than if I ran off tv-to-vhs copies in my basement, and his recordings are generally managed with grievous disregard to both quality and context and repackaged like soft soap.
And SILLERMAN might treat him like "a *****"?
Eileen
Good point! Im still rather uneasy about this though.
Oh I agree with you P.S. Annie. Absolutely.
I'm in shock....
Feel so upset so sad so bed after all thses news...
I've known that it would happen someday but didnt thought so soon. And I thought is much better about Lisa and thought that she never do it with her father name. But alas.... Now I know she is a doughter of her mother. And I'm so angry
And I thought that Pris did enough evil things to Elvis. But not....
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