Live Nation and Ticketmaster To Merge

[Sushov23]

Like it matters if they merge, either way we are paying high fees anyway. Fucking bastards.

[Memorial_07]

everything is the economy's fault

[whynotsmile99]

blows, but have we come to expect anything more?

it's interesting that music fans are in the midst of changing the record industry with the digital/download revolution but still getting fucked with the ticketing companies. i guess there's not much people can do. Pearl jam needs to pick up the cause again

[Memorial_07]

you figure since we're not spending copius amounts of cash on music anymore that ticket companies can assume that we will spend it on tickets which is why they continue to fuck people over

[Alchemy]

I knew the Galactic Empire would arrive before 2010.

[shakermaker113]

FUCK. just when I was thinking competition between livenation and ticketmaster might be better than the monopoly we currently have.

don't you just feel fucking powerless?

[shakermaker113]

oh, when are they merging with al qaeda?

[PrettyRagdoll]

oh, when are they merging with al qaeda?

Right after Osama agrees to add a $60 fee per suicide bomber. Those virgins in heaven aren't cheap after all.


But seriously? Fuck Ticketmaster AND LN. Next year when we go to buy our 3 day pass will be paying almost $100 in bullshit fees

[ultraslow]

FUCK those evil greedy fuckers

what a fucking racket

[Memorial_07]

Right after Osama agrees to add a $60 fee per suicide bomber. Those virgins in heaven aren't cheap after all.


But seriously? Fuck Ticketmaster AND LN. Next year when we go to buy our 3 day pass will be paying almost $100 in bullshit fees

seriously. an insurance charge for the facility for each fucking day is bullshit. I hate that god damn thing

[SFChrissy]

So this is what LN really meant by getting into "ticket sales"...ephing bullshit!!! - wish artists would manage their ticket sales!!!

Talk about "dope fiend blues"

[suprefan]

Kind of. I mean you do see that LN has been selling tickets on their own for all their venues since Jan 1st right?

[betao]

[shakermaker113]

So this is what LN really meant by getting into "ticket sales"...ephing bullshit!!! - wish artists would manage their ticket sales!!!

the really big artists in the uk seem to do that. oasis, coldplay, etc. I think maybe radiohead too. at least, they used to. they would have their own dedicated phone lines just for their own concerts. and the tickets would be customized for the band. maybe ticketbastard has consumed all business there now too though. who knows.

smaller artists could never manage it though. it's up to the venues, I think. like gamh and slims in sf have their own ticketing system now.

[Ardentbiscuit]

They should name the new company:

Keyser Soze

"I'm telling you this guy is protected from up on high by the Prince of Darkness."

"...The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist...."

[Boourns]

Have you seen how much LN is charging? I think their fees might be even higher.

$12 Asobi Seksu ticket -> $23.50 after ticketmaster fees (~96% markup)
$22.50 Animal Collective ticket -> $31.50 after livenation fees (~42% markup)

livenation >> ticketmaster

[Blinken]

It still has to get approved by the SEC and congress. i think one of them will step in and not allow this to go through.

[Memorial_07]

Both have flaws and pros. But I've always bought through ticketmaster and I'm staying with them for now

And Bourns, that comment you posted would only be legible to argue if it was the same two bands for the same show.

[BlackSwan]

Wow... I can't believe this really has a chance of actually happening.

[Boourns]

Both have flaws and pros. But I've always bought through ticketmaster and I'm staying with them for now

And Bourns, that comment you posted would only be legible to argue if it was the same two bands for the same show.

Well, that's not possible. But the fact remains: a show on livenation had fewer surcharges than a show on ticketmaster even though the livenation show had a much higher ticket price.

Charging $11.50 for a $12 is inexcusable, there's absolutely no justification for it. And fuck all venues that use ticketmaster when other options are out there, it is funding and supporting terrorism.

Can anyone find an example of livenation charging $11.50 for a $12 ticket? I wouldn't be surprised to see such a thing, I'm just curious.

[wmgaretjax]

Kind of. I mean you do see that LN has been selling tickets on their own for all their venues since Jan 1st right?

some of the big ones are still under TM contract.

[suprefan]

Just arenas that are not a big factor. The advantage LN has over TM is that they control venues. TM controls none they are just the middleman.


And the merger will happen.

[PassiveTheory]

It still has to get approved by the SEC and congress. i think one of them will step in and not allow this to go through.

Ahahahahahahahahahah. That's cute... that's real cute.

[suprefan]

Billboard story today regarding the aftermath of the Phish onsale. Its funny how they are saying they are trying to improve things. But while that onsale happend they were trying to fix things on the fly. Yeah thats smart.

Talk of a proposed Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger is dominating music biz headlines today (Feb. 4), but last week's Phish onsales through Live Nation Ticketing are still very much on the minds of music fans.

Last weekend, no ticket on the planet was hotter than those to see the reunited Phish, resulting in a rabid fan onslaught that severely tested Live Nation's new ticketing system, which just launched last month.

Fans unable to get tickets posted blistering reports online, but Live Nation Ticketing executives point to overwhelming demand and the simple reality that exponentially more fans wanted tickets than were available.

"When you have 10 million requests from your ticketing system and only 20,000 seats, there's going to be a line," says Nathan Hubbard, CEO of Live Nation Ticketing. "But we can do a better job going forward of messaging to them and handling the experience they have once they finally get through it and the tickets are sold out."

Indeed, most of the frustration expressed online seemed to be from fans who made it through much of the ticket-buying process before crashing off the site without completing the transaction, or those who spent what they felt was too much time in the ticket "waiting room" only to come away empty-handed.


Of the 10 million requests, Live Nation Ticketing "sold more than 250,000 tickets over the weekend," Hubbard tells Billboard. "With that kind of volume, some people who couldn't get access to the tickets had a bad experience, and we're sorry for what they went through. We're fans too, and we never want fans to have that kind of experience."

Hubbard says he and the Live Nation Ticketing staff are "spending every waking hour putting in place fixes to improve it going forward. We understand exactly what the problem was and worked with our partners to put in place those fixes so we can do better next time."

Ticketing sites overwhelmed by demand for super-hot shows have bedeviled fans many times previously, most recently with Phish and the post Super Bowl super-demand for Bruce Springsteen tickets. The latter snafus came when fans in Long Island and New Jersey tried to purchase tickets via Ticketmaster, though the company maintains those issues were unrelated to the high demand.

The e-commerce challenges presented by online ticketing for high-demand shows aren't limited to Live Nation, but the nature of Phish fans and their sense of community makes for a robust Internet "town hall" on message boards. Clearly, complaints from dissatisfied Phish fans were heard loud and clear by Live Nation, which is sensitive to how it's ticketing efforts are perceived in this critical launch period.

"We work in an industry with the most passionate consumers in the world, so you bet we listen to them. And we've gone out and used all of their feedback to get better this week, to understand and diagnose the problems," says Hubbard. "That's why three days into it now we've got a handle on it and have put in place some system and configuration changes with our partners that are going to help us handle that traffic better in the future."

Based on today's speculation, one of those partners may be Ticketmaster. In any case, the way the Phish onsales played out in many ways validates the premise held by Hubbard and others that the concept of the 10 a.m. on-sale may be on its way out.

[Boourns]

Phish tickets are the new Radiohead tickets.

[Trick Loves The Kids]

ahahahha the most soulless company in the world is formed

HELLO. WE ARE HERE TO PRESENT... MUSIC. FOR ENTERTAINMENT.

[Tylerdurden31]

OH HAI. TM IZ TALKING TO AEG TO.

we're fucked

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/business/04music.html

Ticketmaster Entertainment, the ticket-selling giant, is in talks with Live Nation and the Anschutz Entertainment Group over a potential merger with either music promoter, people briefed on the talks said Tuesday night.

Ticketmaster appears to be leaning toward a deal with Live Nation, these people said. Speculation about a potential combination of the two companies has percolated among analysts and industry insiders for several years.

A combination of Ticketmaster with either company would create a serious force in the world of music and live events. Long known for its iron grip on ticket sales, Ticketmaster has also become one of the biggest artist-management companies, thanks to its acquisition last year of Front Line Management. That brought it representation of artists like the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett and Miley Cyrus. The company was spun off from IAC/InterActiveCorp last year.

But any potential deal would face several obstacles, including antitrust concerns. Live Nation and AEG are the nation’s two largest event promotion companies. Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., is a giant among music promoters, and it has spent more than $200 million to strike deals with the likes of Madonna and Jay-Z. The company, a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, has faced criticism for its efforts to branch out beyond its mainstay music promotion business to branch out into the recorded music business.

A.E.G., founded by the billionaire investor Philip Anschutz, is known more for its sports promotion events; the company also owns several large venues like the Staples Center in Los Angeles, as well as several sports teams.

A spokesman for Live Nation declined to comment. Representatives for Ticketmaster and A.E.G. could not be reached for comment.

[ThomThom]

Ticket+AEG+Live Nation = SUPERCOLLIDER

[ThomThom]

Billboard story today regarding the aftermath of the Phish onsale. Its funny how they are saying they are trying to improve things. But while that onsale happend they were trying to fix things on the fly. Yeah thats smart.

All of this nonsense for a fucking jam band? Awesome!

[suprefan]

All of this nonsense for a fucking jam band? Awesome!

The hippies have powers over these kinds of things.