Have A Little Faith (no?)

Why the hell is concert promotion giant Live Nation signing 10 year+ deals with veteran acts like Madonna, Jay-Z, U2, The Rolling Stones, etc who are all clearly past their artistic prime? Have they so little faith in the current crop of music stars that they figure, at least the veterans have the name and catalog to back 'em up, whereas the newbies will, in all likelihood, not even be around a decade from now? That tells you everything you need to know about the industry’s belief in today’s artists. And, for the most part, can’t say we blame ‘em.