Ticketmaster & Live Nation: The Boss is skeptical. Should you be?

Read the Times story: Possible Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger draws boos from concert fans

So much for the belief that concert promotion behemoth Live Nation would launch a viable rival to Ticketmaster. News came this week from the Wall Street Journal that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are on the verge of merging. If it comes to pass, the combined company -- Live Nation-Ticketmaster Entertainment, according to the WSJ -- would essentially control the live music business.

Bruce Springsteen isn't happy about it. After reports that Ticketmaster was re-directing log-in requests for tickets to their secondary-seller site, TicketsNow, Springsteen posted a message to fans on his site blasting the company. He also warned fans to be wary of the reported merger:

The one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.

He isn't the only one worried. In this Times story from David Colker, Tiffany Hsu and Randy Lewis, antitrust attorney Timothy Mathews of Chimicles & Tikellis notes the merger could squeeze out all competition.

That could certainly be bad news for fans, especially those who were hoping that a heated Live Nation/Ticketmaster competition would lower the cost of tickets and service fees. Billboard's Ray Waddell writes the merger "would create a company in control of the majority of box office dollars, the myriad revenues that can come from ticketing and the unlimited e-commerce potential the fan/ticket connection brings to live music."

Additionally, with Tickmaster's recent alignment with Front Line Management, and Live Nation's much-ballyhooed 360-deals with the likes of Madonna and Jay-Z, the company has direct access to a bevy of major acts, from the Eagles to Christina Aguilera. Live Nation has also aggressively been expanding into artist merch and fan clubs via its MusicToday partnership, and also has deals in place to sell MP3s downloads.

So to recap: A combined Live Nation / Ticketmaster would have stakes in venues, ticketing systems, artist merch, music distribution and artist management. In one swoop, Live Nation Ticketmaster Entertainment could essentially become the world's largest record label -- and the only one that matters, as live music is the only reliable income stream for major artists.

Industry blog Coolfer takes a level-headed approach, noting that there is "no clear indication that a Live Nation-Ticketmaster Entertainment tie-up would hinder competition or raise prices for consumers. People are painting worse-case scenarios."

Perhaps, but if there's no sudden change in the cost of tickets, the effect on already struggling record labels may be more immediate. As Waddell notes, "labels would have even less influence and would move more solidly into roles as distributors and, to a lesser extent, marketers." When an artist can go straight to a management firm with direct access to everything from concert promotion to digital distribution, there's suddenly even less incentive to sign with a middle-man.

This is good news to anyone who believes artists should be signed and promoted based primarily on their ability to fill concert venues and sell merch. But everyone else? Might want to listen to Springsteen on this one.

-Todd Martens

Read more on the possible Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger

Photo credit: EPA

Comments

[Reggie525]

Ticketmaster is surely the most hated company in America. I stopped going to concerts years ago, so outraged was I at their exborbitant fees. Too bad members of Congress get free tickets to everything, or they'd go after those thieving dirtbags. And too bad it does no good to wish pancreatic cancer on a company, or I would.

[Glenn]

Live Nation-Ticketmaster would not be the world's biggest record label (in the traditional sense of what defines today's record label). Keep in mind that Live Nation dumped its recorded music division when Cohl left. Their artists will most likely go through an existing major label for their albums and singles. Live Nation is good at luring away the cream of the crop. They're not good at finding and developing new artists. They do not have the talent nor the propensity for taking such risks. That is still the domain of record labels and publishers. It may change in the future, but the way these companies are currently set up, Live Nation-Ticketmaster will be built for making big money on big/heritage artists.

[Candyce M]

Any company that can turn a $12 concert ticket into $35 is what is commonly known as a greedy bastard, i.e: Ticketmaster. Now they want to once again merge with now more powerful LiveNation? Will we be paying double the cost of the ticket in fees now?

[Todd Martens]

Hi Glenn,
Thank you for the comment -- avid reader of your blog (Coolfer). I don't necessarily disagree with your comment. The proposed company would certainly not be a record label in the traditional sense, but I don't think we can evaluate this by traditional standards. When I say the company "could essentially become" the world's largest record label, it's more an acknowledgment that a Live Nation/Ticketmaser merger would have access to almost everything a standard label would. How well they make use of those tools remains to be seen. And if Live Nation doesn't have access to a lot of artists, Front Line does. At the very least, it inspires some debate/discussion on what a future label may or may not look like. Hopefully this made sense. Again, thanks for reading.

[Mike H]

Can you say "Antitrust" and "Monopoly"? The government needs to step in as this will constitute the above and should not be allowed. If you thought that the extra fees were exhorbitant before, you ain't seen nothing yet. The Boss has good reason to be skeptical.

[fais do-do]

It's a shame and a travesty to the american music fan and the unknown musician if the merger goes through. "Show me the money!" seems to be the philosophy behind this proposed merger since it would primarily benefit the well-known artists that can sell out the huge arenas thus further padding the coffers of these two industry giants. Think of how much harder it will be for the many talented, yet lesser-known artists in the local community to get a shot at playing in the larger live music venues/events unless they can sell out the place with fans, family members, and anybody else they can coax off the street. I agree with The Boss; it's time we wrote to our state representatives and senators to say "No more free tickets! Buy your tickets like the rest of us -- at a redirected website where tickets are available at triple the face-value price! Enjoy the show, Senator!"