Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Live Nation Ticketmaster

Here they go again. History has not been good to music industry mega-mergers. The latest involves Live Nation and Ticketmaster for an all stock offering. No cash would be exchanged. Live Nation just launched it's ticket service and from the postings on message boards, it did not make those purchasing U2 tickets happy. The site couldn't process orders, etc. A lot of people were left without tickets. Live Nation also has taken on Madonna, Jay-Z, etc to promote tours, release records, sell merchandise, etc. They do not have the infrastructure to do it. Tickemaster bought Irving Azoff's ever growing management company. On paper, the merger would help Live Nation on the artist and ticketing side. Ticketmaster gets the benefit of the extensive Irving Azoff roster.

I'm skeptical that this sum is greater than the parts. What does this mean for artists outside this circle? There is an alternative in AEG, the other big promoter. Most of the local promoters who had non-compete agreements when they were bought by what is now Live Nation, have expired. The concert promotion business has vastly changed since the SFX/Live Nation creation, comprised of many, many local promoters. Can these promoters still compete and make money? It used to be that artists would forge relationships with the promoters, which lead to artist development. Start out at a small club and as the career builds, you move up to bigger venues with the same promoter, everyone was happy. The artist and the promoter knew each other which made for good promotions and well run shows. It is such a DIY world for the artist now. They not only have to make music and perform it, but they have to be creative directors, graphic artists, videographers, editors, web designers, merchandisers, distributors, bloggers, accountants, booking agents and promoters.

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