Ticketmaster and Live Nation to start dating?
Jim Carroll
Loads of rumours, informed speculation and leaks going round that ticket-selling giant Ticketmaster and live music behemoth Live Nation are in advanced merger talks.
Per Reuters, “if the deal goes ahead, the marriage of the world’s biggest concert promoter and the leading ticketing and artist-management company will create a dominant force in the industry with ties to more than 200 artists such as the Eagles, U2, Miley Cyrus, Christina Aguilera, Madonna and Jay-Z”.
All of which begs the question: what’s the current status of the long mooted Live Nation/MCD love-in?
surely a bigger question is; “does this breach competition rules on some level?”
Leigh – I’m sure I could come up with questions about this deal all week
Surely a bigger question is: who is miley cyrus?
Paub – You don’t know who Miley “Hannah Montana” Cyrus is? Heavens above – http://www.mileycyrus.com/
aaahh Paul
where’ve you been m’poor thing?
Oh dear, I’m just getting the hang of peppa pig and bob the builder. I think we’re more a Miley Byrne house up to now.
Hopefully Miley Cyrus will be in rehab by the time the little uns are looking for some Hollywood.
who is miley cyrus?
She’s half responsible for one of the creepiest duets in recent history. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD3Xkw5OU9c
Is it worse to not know about the fruit of Billy Ray’s loins or to not know about Chris Brown?
Now that’s a question for the ages..
That has got to breach some kind of competition guidelines, the concert going public would be screwed.
Miley Cyrus is a freaky looking child, and as disturbing as the Travolta duet is the pictures with Billy Ray are even worse.
http://images.google.ie/images?q=miley%20billy%20ray%20vanity%20fair&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
This will be such a disaster, I was going to say I can’t see it getting through, but of course it flippin’ will.
It’s pretty suprising to see Live Nation suddenly cosy up with Ticketmaster when 6 months ago they were intent on muscling in on their business. Also interesting the qoute that “no cash will change hands”.
hey jim,
could this have something to do with fact there are 2 friday the 13th’s in a row coming up!?
I really love Peppa Pig….
2 w**kers together – it’s got to be masternation
Hugger – too true. That shall be their new name here from now on (TM MP3 Hugger, of course)
Great news! A big player that can square up to artists and get a better deal for the ticket buying public. TM provide a first class service (at a price) and Live Nation are an excellent venue manager.
So what’s the problem? Is the fear theoretical or real?
Brian – imagine a world where this was only one newspaper or one TV station or one radio station. While I can’t see MasterNation (™ MP3 Hugger) getting the nod from the relevant authorities, I do think such a beast would result in less choice and value for the ticket buying public
Brian:Why would a Monopoly want a better deal for the general public?
Jim…speaking of ticketmaster, you’ve seen the story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29014484/ about a certain agency apparantly making tickets for a gig appear as if by magic, immediately appear on their sister ‘secondary’ market site and unavailable on the main ‘face value’ site. You’d nearly think that, by default, for big ticket events, the promoter/act/ticket agency deliberately sell tickets over face value and trouser the additional profit….
Eek, a match made (possibly) in hell. That’s some merger – look out for possible “abuse of a dominant position” stuff to occur in the future if it goes through.
Brian – imagine a world where this was only one newspaper or one TV station or one radio station. While I can’t see MasterNation (™ MP3 Hugger) getting the nod from the relevant authorities, I do think such a beast would result in less choice and value for the ticket buying public
I never said that I wanted a single player in the market, I said that the market would benefit from a big player. Everybody seems to focus on the negative side of the deal. Ticketmaster seem to be the bad guys full stop. In reality they are a company that offers an excellent service to both the punter and to the promoter. I accept that their commissions are expensive but you’re paying for a good service.
One of the big changes in the music industry in the last few years is that the live performance is now more important and lucrative then the recorded music sales. Artists are now looking for the promoter who will pay them the most to play leading to a bidding war between promoters. Good for the artist and bad for the concert punter.
A strong vertically integrated player like your MasterNation will be in a better negotiating position then a plethora of rivals. Bad for the artist but good for the concert promoter. Lower prices for you and I.
I see no reason why this would not be the outcome as opposed to it being a “disaster” as referenced above.
Bad for the artist but good for the concert promoter. Lower prices for you and I.
LOL. No, hold on, ROFLOL. A monopolostic entity involving Ticketmaster meaning “lower prices for you and I? Good one, brian, good one.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation have announced a $2.5 billion merger today that will combine both powerhouses into a new company called Live Nation Entertainment.
The merger, which will be led by Ticketmaster’s chairman Barry Diller, is a tax-free, all-stock deal with its shareholders.
“This combination will drive measurable benefits to consumers and accelerate the execution of our strategy to build a better artist-to-fan direct distribution platform,” Live Nation’s CEO Michael Rapino says. “Together, we will work to simplify the ticketing process and ultimately increase attendance at live events.”
Last year, Live Nation gave rap star Jay-Z a $150 million deal that includes a start-up label, as well as a music publishing, talent consulting and management company. In 2007 the concert promotion company gave pop icon Madonna a $120 million deal, and uber-rock band U2 a 12-year partnership for an undisclosed amount.
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