The challenge for Seth Matlins, he admits, goes something like this: "Get more people to more shows more often."

Appointed global CMO earlier this month at Los Angeles-based live concert producer and marketer Live Nation, he's already up and running. "Every single day we are working on supporting our artists and facilitating the relationship between fan and artist, and monetizing on that relationship," said Matlins.

In addition to selling more tickets to events and growing the performing artists' roster of fans, Matlins is looking to build marketing and media partnerships between Live Nation and corporate America. Live Nation stages 22,000 concerts a year globally, with 10,000 of those in the U.S. Attendance totals about 43 million live; further, millions more log on regularly to a large network of artist fan sites.

The busy global event schedule, for example, includes producing a Dave Matthews Band concert this week in New York, plus later this spring staging a sold-out "warm-up" show by Depeche Mode in Luxembourg and a U2 performance in Barcelona, Spain.

Matlins previously worked at Creative Artists Agency. At his new location, he plans on building Live Nation—a pioneer in developing a vertically integrated concert platform—into "a world-class marketing organization. Live Nation's place in the industry is all about connecting fans to the things and the people they love, which is a privileged place for us to be."

To support its endeavors, Live Nation spends more than $170 million annually in measured media worldwide, said Matlins.

Still, there are challenges. In tough economic times, "the consumer, and marketers as well, are always forced to make a wise choice about where they spend their time and money," said Matlins.

But, with optimism, he said the concert business is recession-proof due to the value that live concerts provide. "The concert experience is like no other form of entertainment. It starts with passion and community, which builds up to a moment in time, and that unique experience is never to be repeated again," said Matlins. "In a moment where people are looking for optimism, looking for hope, looking for escape, the value of the concert becomes more so."