Ticketmaster cleared of abusing dominant position

Ticketmaster, the company that controls the market for the sale of concert and other event tickets, has not abused its dominant position, the Competition Authority has determined.

The regulator also found that the company's relationship with the two major event promoters in the State - MCD and Aiken Promotions - had not restricted competition.

The two-year investigation followed complaints from thousands of concertgoers concerning the face price of tickets sold by Ticketmaster Ireland, the level of booking fees charged and allegedly exclusive agreements between the company and MCD and Aiken Promotions.

The authority, which announced its findings yesterday, highlighted just one issue of potential concern relating to the degree of transparency in ticket price information. It said that an absence of transparency in price information was not a breach of competition law and it had brought the matter to the attention of the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and the National Consumer Agency.

The authority concluded that the prices were set by the promoter, in conjunction with the artist, and tickets were then sold by Ticketmaster.

It said that Irish promoters competed aggressively with promoters in other countries to convince high-profile artists to perform here by offering them sufficiently attractive terms.

"Therefore, high-profile artists have strong bargaining power in their negotiations with promoters and can command substantial appearance fees, which, in turn, are reflected in the ticket price that consumers pay."

Ticketmaster Ireland accounts for 100 per cent of the market for outsourced ticketing services for events of national or international appeal.

The authority said that Ticketmaster did not appear to be able to exercise market power by behaving independently of the promoters, by charging higher booking fees to the consumer.

In relation to exclusive agreements between Ticketmaster Ireland and MCD and Aiken Promotions, the investigation concluded that competition takes place for the contracts awarded by these firms and others, rather than on an event-by-event basis.