It’s official: the world is ending! Live Nation and Ticketmaster merge!
As first rumored last week, Live Nation and Ticketmaster officially announced their plans for a merger earlier today. Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation, INC, which is currently the world’s largest concert promoter, has agreed to purchase Ticketmaster, the country’s top ticket outlet, for the sum of $400 million. According to Reuters, the new company, now called Live Nation Entertainment, will sell more than 150 million concert tickets a year, promote 22,000 concerts annually, own more than 140 venues globally, and represent over 200 artists, including Madonna and Jay-Z.
New York Senator Charles Schumer blasted the deal, declaring it the creation of a new monopoly: “This merger would give a giant, new entity unrivaled power over concert-goers and the prices they pay to see their favorite artists and bands.”
The deal is still pending approval, and according to regulatory experts, it is not a given it will pass. Any proposal will be reviewed and likely delayed by an antitrust review.
Under the current deal, the two companies would save nearly $40 million, Live Nation Chief Executive Officer Michael Rapino explained in a statement: “Too many tickets go unsold and too many fans are frustrated with their ticket-buying experiences…the new company will work to simplify the ticketing process and increase attendance at events.”
Senator Schumer does not believe that’s necessarily the case. In an email to Bloomberg.com, the New York politican noted the agreement would “send ticket prices through the roof.” “I will take a very close look at this merger before anything moves forward,” said Schumer, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee and called on the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to view the deal skeptically.
I think we’re going to side with the latter opinion on this one…
Of course, we’ll update you as more information becomes available.
EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW EW this pains me
It will be interesting to see how, if at all, “convenience” charges change.
As far as actual ticket prices go, that could be interesting. With the economy and certain acts not drawing like they usually would, you might actually get some deals because they want to get some extra folks in the seats. That makes business sense for them.
But for the biggie shows that will always sell out quickly, with no real competition, I think you’re going to see a guaranteed hike in prices. For these acts, there is always more than enough demand to go around, so why would they sell you a $50 or $75 ticket when they can sell out the venue selling a $150 ticket? It could get ugly for big shows at big venues, and the secondary market should go up accordingly, as well.
mm
well at least live nation could ensure that all events get sold out, if there are any left over at the end they could just dump the remaining tix off for little profit to ensure highest gross profit.
Even though this seems to be really horrible, its possible that it could end up being a good thing. The merging of an extremely diabolical company (Ticketmaster) to a significantly less diabolical company that some would describe as actually being forward-thinking (Live Nation) could make things better for concert-goers. Especially since Live Nation seems to be wearing the pants in this relationship from what I can see. We’ll see how it goes. Things can’t get much worse than they already are, anyway.
yeah this doesnt seem good for concert goers. the two biggest ticket saling empires merging, doesnt sound good…i wrote a letter to my senator complaining…do the same. let them no it is unjust and see what they do…maybe nothing, but hopefully something. peace
I hate all the fuckin’ additional charges that Ticketmaster tries to add-on already — I don’t want concert tickets to cost even more! Come on, lower prices would obviously be better!
eew no.
fuck that
Dave Matthews Band has a fan club, The Warehouse, that distributes tickets with minimal fees and additional charges. There are no $15 convience fee per ticket. The only thing that costs alot is shipping but that is insured and tracked 2-day mail via Fed-Ex.
Every band that is run by Music Today (Phish, DMB, Bruce Springsteen, etc.) us this practice. Too bad other bands don’t do this.
So now that these two companies have merged, I guess I can assume that I will no longer have to pay the additional Ticketmaster (Live Nation) service charge when I buy a ticket for a concert promoted by Live Nation (such as the Sasquatch! festival). I can safely assume that all the costs will be included in the ticket. Whew! maybe it will save me some money!
Okay, so I guess I can dream on…
where i live it doesn’t matter if you go to the venues because they are all just there own ticketmaster outlet except for a few locations so even then you don’t bypass any of these ticket criminals.
Like nick, I go to the venue if at all possible - just out a principle. The only time I can’t is for festivals and shows that you know are going to sell out quickly. You usually have a better chance of getting decent tixs online. Like I’ve said before, I have no idea why the arena-size bands don’t just distribute the tickets themselves. I’m sure they could offer the same level of service and at about half the cost…
Nah, like I said on my own blog, Ticketmaster and Live Nation merging would be like The Democrats and Republicans merging. On the surface, earthshattering! In practice, we were this fucked already. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
i buy tickets from venues all the time, but ticketmaster is extremely convenient, especially if you are buying tickets for some concert that is in another state, or across the country (coachella)
“Fuck”
Because the venues are too lazy to sell the tickets themselves. Thats how the whole Ticketmaster thing started, fucking laziness.
only one word for this: fuck
Given this economy, it’ll probably pass. I just wish they’d both crumble. Why can’t we just buy tickets from the venues?
Feb 20th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
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