She may be edging towards 50, but Madame Madonna still knows how to shake things up on the music scene:

Pop star Madonna is close to leaving her long-time Warner Bros. Records label for a wide-ranging $120 million deal with concert promotion firm Live Nation Inc., a source familiar with the talks said on Wednesday.

The story was first reported on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site, which said Madonna would receive a mix of cash and stock in exchange for allowing Live Nation to distribute three studio albums, promote concert tours, sell merchandise and license her name.

Such a deal is virtually unprecedented, but may become more common as struggling record labels and other players in the music industry seek to shore up revenues by going into business with musical acts, rather than just taking fees for selling their albums or concert tickets. source