Despite beating their previous quarter’s sales by more than 1 million tickets, Live Nation saw a reported loss of $27.2 million, or 33 cents per share, in Q2:

During a conference call with investors, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino remained upbeat, saying that the artists contracted with 360 deals had performed well beyond their expectations and noting that the live music sector had remained surprisingly strong despite the recession.

Rapino was less upbeat on the notion of festivals and cited significant losses in last year’s Pemberton festival. “We are not robust on the idea of festivals as a growth opportunity in North America.” Rapino said.

Little mention was made during the call of the proposed merger with Ticketmaster Entertainment. When asked by a caller when they expected the merger to complete, Rapino noted that they were still undergoing review by the Department of Justice and that they expected to “finalize out within 45-60 days.”

[Via Hypebot]