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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2009 > February > 10 > Entry
The Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the story I wrote for the print edition about the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger announced earlier today. It may not impact consumers directly but it doesn’t have any obvious benefits for consumers either.
Musicians such as Bruce Springsteen have always been the voice of the little guy. And the Boss is none too pleased with the news Tuesday that two monstrous entertainment entities are joining forces.
Live Nation, the nation’s largest concert promoter with a major presence in Atlanta, and Ticketmaster, the nation’s largest ticket seller, have agreed to merge in a deal worth an estimated $2.5 billion. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
“Being able to put Live Nation and Ticketmaster into an equal partnership will allow the companies to get through this difficult period and be able to expand live entertainment options to audiences throughout the world,” Ticketmaster Chairman Barry Diller said in a statement.
The timing of this merger announcement came on the heels of bad publicity Ticketmaster received last week after Springsteen tickets went on sale. The rock star, whose tour comes to Atlanta April 26, became angry when Ticketmaster referred fans to a ticket brokerage it owned selling tickets at prices far higher than face value.
The stink over tickets forced Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff to issue an apology. On his Web site, Springsteen denounced the merger, recommending fans complain to their representatives.
“The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you,” Springsteen wrote.
The combined Live Nation Entertainment would be deeply entrenched in concert ticketing, venues, promotion and artist management.
“I can understand the motivation since these are two public companies with struggling stock prices,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, which follows the industry. “But it’s looking a lot like a vertical monopoly.”
Ticketmaster sells tickets for more than 80 percent of major arenas and stadiums in the U.S., according to concert tracking firm Pollstar. It also has a controlling interest in Front Line Management, which handles the careers of the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Aerosmith and Christina Aguilera.
Live Nation is the world’s No. 1 concert promoter (with more than 160 million tickets sold last year) and owns 140-plus venues including Lakewood Amphitheatre and the Tabernacle, both in Atlanta.
Live Nation also has comprehensive deals to tours of such artists as Madonna, Jay-Z, U2, Nickelback and Shakira, and recently developed its own rival ticketing service to Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster was able to take control of major concert ticketing in the 1990s by signing long-term exclusive deals with many of the major venues in town including Philips Arena and Fox Theatre.
As a result, competitors such as Atlanta-based Ticket Alternative are locked out of virtually all big concerts. Rather, the five-year-old company handles mostly smaller venues such as Hard Rock Cafe’s Velvet Underground downtown, the Loft in Midtown and special events such as Taste of Atlanta at Atlantic Station.
“While the big get bigger, there’s still room for the small guy and Ticket Alternative provides great customer service,” said Dan Nolan, who co-owns the Midtown venue Smith’s Olde Bar. Its upstairs performance space fits about 300 people max.
Live Nation, before the merger announcement, tried to break Ticketmaster’s dominance by creating its own ticketing service earlier this year, but there’s no evidence consumers are saving any money.
Ticket Alternative, which sells 250,000 tickets to events nationwide, prides itself on significantly lower service charges. A $33.50 ticket, for instance, would include a $3.25 service charge, said president Iain Bluett. Live Nation, for a $33.50 ticket for Ben Folds at the Tabernacle later this month, the “convenience charge” is a whopping $12.25, or nearly 37 percent of the face value of the ticket.
Bluett said he can only hope enmity toward this potentially even larger entity might bring business to his business as a true alternative.
Steve Harris, who runs the 1,000-seat Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points, has stuck with Ticketmaster despite the rising service charges but calls the pending merger “scary.”
“I can’t see the good in it.” he said. “We’re exploring ticketing options.”
Local talent manager Charlie Brusco, who oversees the rock band Styx and is friends with Azoff, has no qualms about the merger. He said he hopes Live Nation Entertainment will help make ticket pricing “more transparent” for fans. In other words, he thinks all those “service” charges will be eventually incorporated into the ticket price.
Atlanta-based concert promoter Rich Floyd, who has been in the business for 35 years, said Live Nation’s overarching strength has already forced him into doing mostly private corporate gigs instead of traditional concerts. This merger, he says, won’t help matters.
“Most of us little guys have already been wiped out,” he said.
Comments
By Littlefolks
February 10, 2009 9:30 PM | Link to this
Bad news for fans and artists. The merger is just like wallstreet- GREED. I will not buy any tickets from this group. If I go to an event it will be booked through an alternate or at the door… UCK!!
By Frank Simmons
February 10, 2009 9:33 PM | Link to this
Lack of competition means higher commission cost to the ticket buyer. It’s a rip-off anyway to pay 20% commission.
By Sick Of Outrageous Fees
February 10, 2009 9:40 PM | Link to this
This merger kills competition. Ticketmaster already charges a $10 convience fee plus a $5 ordering fee plus shipping costs $$$ for every $50 ticket. If you do the math, that is a 30% premium to buy tickets from Ticketmaster. They make $15 on every $50 ticket sold. This is outrageous! Now there is no competitor. After the merger when Tickmaster advertises tickets at $50 apiece, they really are $100 apiece. The fan is going to get screwed!
By Jim
February 10, 2009 9:43 PM | Link to this
Concert promotion in ATL is rediculous (ie, $160+junk for Robin Williams????) Tickmaster’s junk fees are the reason I NEVER attend ANY concert in Atlanta or any event that they sell tickets to. A 15% convenience fee is nothing more than a rip-off. Support Chuck Shumer and get rid of the monopoly. The most laughable is the fee to print your tickets on your own printer using your own ink. People of America unite and BOYCOTT ALL TICKETMASTER EVENTS.
By modestd
February 10, 2009 10:08 PM | Link to this
This is BS. But its not like Live Nation has not been doing what ticket master has been doing. I saw that modest mouse tickets were through live nation and I said Awesome! there will not be any big ticket fees. BS. Some how my four tickets at $32 bucks a piece ended up being $176. What an f-ing ripoff. I looked at other shows they were playing across the country that were not using TM or LN and they were significantly cheaper at around $28 bucks a ticket including charges. I hate LN and TM.
By alexcooley
February 10, 2009 10:25 PM | Link to this
What is the alternative? They have the whole friggin market. This country is going socialist, and soon people will start realizing that it is going to be big government and big corporations (monopolies) all over again. Remember that disgrace Jimmy Carter? It’s going to be worse.
By Whiny Fan
February 10, 2009 10:33 PM | Link to this
Nobody but the shareholders of TM and LN benefit from this. Artists, consumers, venues, fans all get the shaft. Good luck getting the Justice department to approve this one TM/LN, you’re about 3 weeks too late.
By Mishap
February 10, 2009 10:37 PM | Link to this
alexcooley,
I think you are a little confused about what socialism is…there wouldn’t be big corporations since they’d be state owned. Unless Obama has proposed nationalizing Ticketmaster, I don’t see a socialist event management system. Gov’t intervention on price (like w/ your utilities bill), is much more likely if Ticketmaster builds an illegal trust.
What Ticketmaster/Live Nation is doing is called vertical integration. From owning the venues to the promotion, they block out competition in something that’s looking more like a natural monopoly. Each area only has so many venues and if they own them all, they control the price.
The simple solution is to stop attending and paying ridiculous convenience/ticket printing surcharges. Go to a museum or support a local artist. The world will be that much richer for it.
By old rocker
February 11, 2009 5:10 AM | Link to this
“More transparent”??? How about “Extremely translucent”!!! To roll the TM charges into the ticket price will only make the purchaser think that Ben Folds at the Tabernacle is $45.75…all to Ben Folds, rather than a reasonable $33.50 to Ben Folds ( I know there’s a slice to Tabernacle as well) and the high percentage to TM. If TM thinks it can get away with brokering Bruce tickets, wait until it has the total monopoly and it CAN broker Bruce tickets. Unless, of course, Bruce stops touring. NOT!!
By brock
February 11, 2009 10:47 AM | Link to this
It’s easy to get bent about all the Ticketmaster/Live Nation fees, but if the grand total is too much, then don’t go. Sure, I’d prefer the fees be less, just like I’d prefer that Oreos were cheaper. No reason to get angry about it.
Ticketmaster/Live Nation surely realizes that concerts are the most discretionary of spending. So if they price the overall ticket/fees too high, they lose sales. Relax and be choosy how you spend your entertainment dollar.
By TixAlt
February 11, 2009 6:10 PM | Link to this
Venues think they will sell more tickets because of the exposure they get listing events with Ticketmaster.
Companies like Ticket Alternative are blurring that line. It just takes 1 or 2 venues to make that first leap and others will follow.
If Masquerade, CenterStage or Variety Playhouse would take that chance, then Ticketmaster would have competition and as a result would have to lower their fees to compete.
Campaign For Change! Coming Soon.
www.TicketAlternative.com
By TixAlt
February 11, 2009 6:10 PM | Link to this
Venues think they will sell more tickets because of the exposure they get listing events with Ticketmaster.
Companies like Ticket Alternative are blurring that line. It just takes 1 or 2 venues to make that first leap and others will follow.
If Masquerade, CenterStage or Variety Playhouse would take that chance, then Ticketmaster would have competition and as a result would have to lower their fees to compete.
Campaign For Change! Coming Soon.
www.TicketAlternative.com