Ticketmaster, Live Nation in merger talks

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by kathy1

i also think that they should charge one price for all the seats even the floor and then more people could afford to go. i don't think that they should charge different prices for different sections. i think they should check into that also. i have been saying this for along time and they still sell expensive tickets even more now with the way the economy is right now. does anyone else agree or disagree. thanks kathy

Ticketmaster (or any ticket seller) has zero to do what a certain ticket in a certain section costs, so there's nothing to "check into".

As for the strategy you're suggesting, most people would have a problem with the fact that they paid the same price for their seat located towards the back of the arena as the person in the front row.

[Nicks Fan]

What bothers me is artists like FM, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bon Jovi, Eagles etc who just play the same old hits and then charge you an arm and a leg to hear those same old tired hits year after year. We are in a reccession ,but try telling those baby boomer rockers that. It is a shame that the average family can't go to most shows these days as they are WAY overpriced. 200 dollars for the Eagles, 275 for the Face to Face Tour with Elton and Billy, 125.00 for Bon Jovi, 350 for Madonna. Just outrageous!!!

Matt

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

What bothers me is artists like FM, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bon Jovi, Eagles etc who just play the same old hits and then charge you an arm and a leg to hear those same old tired hits year after year. We are in a reccession ,but try telling those baby boomer rockers that. It is a shame that the average family can't go to most shows these days as they are WAY overpriced. 200 dollars for the Eagles, 275 for the Face to Face Tour with Elton and Billy, 125.00 for Bon Jovi, 350 for Madonna. Just outrageous!!!

I agree... but they wouldn't charge it if they couldn't get it. If they didn't get it, they would adjust their prices. All things equal, its not incumbent upon them to lower their prices- its incumbent upon us (the ticket buying public) to not buy tickets to see their show. That's the only way it will come across to acts & their promoters.

[Lisa1769]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

What bothers me is artists like FM, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bon Jovi, Eagles etc who just play the same old hits and then charge you an arm and a leg to hear those same old tired hits year after year. We are in a reccession ,but try telling those baby boomer rockers that. It is a shame that the average family can't go to most shows these days as they are WAY overpriced. 200 dollars for the Eagles, 275 for the Face to Face Tour with Elton and Billy, 125.00 for Bon Jovi, 350 for Madonna. Just outrageous!!!

Matt

Exclude Bon Jovi from that list! I could never tire watching that man perform.

[Lisa1769]

Originally Posted by LukeA

As for the strategy you're suggesting, most people would have a problem with the fact that they paid the same price for their seat located towards the back of the arena as the person in the front row.

This is what AC/DC did. Every seat $92.50. They also used the paperless ticket system for the "better" seats. I would say it helped keep brokers to a minimum.

[MacMan]

Looks like it's a done deal!

LOS ANGELES (dpa) - Two of the largest concert and event companies in the U.S. announced Tuesday that they had agreed to merge, creating one of the largest live entertainment companies in the world.

The $400 million deal will see Live Nation take over Ticketmaster to form a new company called Live Nation Entertainment with an estimated value of $2.5 billion including debt.

The new company is expected to sell more than 150 million concert tickets a year, promote 22,000 concerts annually, and own more than 140 venues globally.

It will also handle more than 200 big-name artists including U2, Shakira, Madonna, Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus and the Eagles. The concert companies, which also control marketing and recording rights for some of the artists, are seen as a growing force in the music world.

As sales of recorded music have declined because of the internet, touring revenues have increased.

However the deal faces significant anti-trust hurdles with one key legislator already coming out against it.

"This merger would give a giant, new entity unrivaled power over concert-goers and the prices they pay to see their favorite artists and bands," said New York Senator Charles Schumer, in a statement. "It must be viewed skeptically and scrutinized with a fine-toothed comb by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission."

The announcement of the deal comes after both companies have suffered negative publicity in recent weeks on charges that they inflated ticket prices for popular acts such as Bruce Springsteen.

But in a release announcing the deal, Ticketmaster and Live Nation said the merger would improve access to tickets, reduce prices and increase attendance at events.

The companies said that Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino will run the new company as CEO while Ticketmaster Entertainment CEO Irving Azoff will be executive chairman. Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller will be non-executive chairman.

[Steviefan49]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Oh, hell no. Anyone on the FTC who sees this as anything other than a MONOPOLY is seriously delusional or corrupt. I can just see $50 "convenience fees" tacked onto ticket prices...

And that - my friend would be getting off easy.. LOLOLOL.. I'm sure there's also going to be other mysterious taxes and fees attached as well, and I can't even begin to think about that.. as it makes my stomach do flipflops! LOL.. Long live Stub Hub! LOL

[Steviefan49]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

Go get em Bruce!!! This is very shoddy business practices on the part of Ticketbastard.

Matt

Amen Matt.!. It surely is.. So I'm thinking that this should be WAY more business for places like Stub Hub, who don't necessarily charge 2 arms and 2 legs, along with other body parts for a friggen concert ticket..

[Ench]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

What bothers me is artists like FM, Billy Joel, Elton John, Bon Jovi, Eagles etc who just play the same old hits and then charge you an arm and a leg to hear those same old tired hits year after year. We are in a reccession ,but try telling those baby boomer rockers that. It is a shame that the average family can't go to most shows these days as they are WAY overpriced. 200 dollars for the Eagles, 275 for the Face to Face Tour with Elton and Billy, 125.00 for Bon Jovi, 350 for Madonna. Just outrageous!!!

Matt

That's why I only go to smaller acts, now.

I saw Andy White before. Cost us £5 per ticket plus drinks. Great show, with support, and we got to speak to the artists afterwards. Not 40 people playing, it was the main artist playing guitar and pedal bass, and a percussionist playing ... "things". But just as enjoyable.

Have a listen to this and tell me that I'm losing out massively! Particularly since some of my favourite songs of his ("Acoustic Guitar", "Long Time Coming") aren't there.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endid=60965840

Hmmm.... Looks like I'm spamming Andy White here. But my point is that the big artists cost such a massive amount, and you're so insulated from them. With these ripoffs meaning that the ticket prices are, practically, even higher, and with tour DVDs an inevitability, it just doesn't add up for me.

[bikerchic]

Do you think FM is aware of this or even cares Should we all write them and voice our outrage like Springsteen fans?

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/...0News/2167479/


Canadians sue Ticketmaster over prices

Mon. February 09, 2009; Posted: 07:39 PM
New! Day Trading

TORONTO, Feb 9, 2009 - Giant ticket broker Ticketmaster Monday was slammed with a $500 million class-action suit accusing it of violating Canada's anti-scalping laws, lawyers said.

The civil suit contends Ticketmaster, which has its headquarters in West Hollywood, Calif., conspired to divert tickets to popular events from its main Web site to www.TicketsNow.com, a ticket auction Web site it owns, Canwest News Service reported.

"Customers have voiced concerns over the fact that tickets for the most popular events can ostensibly sell out in minutes, only to become immediately available in the secondary market at much higher prices," Luciana Brasil of Branch McMaster, one of the two law firms handling the case, said in a news release.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all Ontario customers who bought tickets through Ticketmaster or TicketsNow.com since Feb. 9, 2007.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is investigating Ticketmaster as well.

"I am deeply disturbed that Ticketmaster may be exploiting its market dominance -- funneling consumers to its subsidiary in order to inflate profits," Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal has criticized a planned merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, another major ticket selling operation.

"This possible $6-billion music mega merger -- combining two already-powerful companies -- creates a singular and dangerously dominant force in the industry that threatens to illegally cut competition and consumer interests," he said.

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

Do you think FM is aware of this or even cares Should we all write them and voice our outrage like Springsteen fans?

Springsteen fans have an especially large beef and reason for outrage, based on the ticketsnow.com re-routing during last week's onsales.

This lawsuit in Canada seems a bit frivolous, since the re-selling of tickets above face value is legal in most cases.

In the end, I think that Live Nation/Ticketmaster will have to ditch ticketsnow.com in order to get the merger to go through. There's just too much of a conflict of interest to plausibly rationalize its existence.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by LukeA

Springsteen fans have an especially large beef and reason for outrage, based on the ticketsnow.com re-routing during last week's onsales.

and same thing is happening to us Fleetwood Mac fans, so I don't understand.

This lawsuit in Canada seems a bit frivolous, since the re-selling of tickets above face value is legal in most cases.

But it is illegal in Ontario, which is where the lawsuit is being filed (as well as two other provinces).

[MacMan]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

and same thing is happening to us Fleetwood Mac fans, so I don't understand.

But it is illegal in Ontario, which is where the lawsuit is being filed (as well as two other provinces).

I thought it was illegal in all but two Provinces (BC and AB) I may have misread it as two Provinces besides Ontario where it's illegal.

Any.... In other light news:

Live Nation to acquire Ticketmaster for $2.5 billion, plus $700 million in convenience charges

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by bikerchic

But it is illegal in Ontario, which is where the lawsuit is being filed (as well as two other provinces).

Its not illegal if the seller isn't a resident of Ontario... and I'd venture to guess that most of the re-sellers on ticketsnow.com selling tickets to events in Ontario are from elsewhere.

If the system/software is facilitating illegal transactions, then of course the lawsuit has merit and should proceed.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by LukeA

Its not illegal if the seller isn't a resident of Ontario... and I'd venture to guess that most of the re-sellers on ticketsnow.com selling tickets to events in Ontario are from elsewhere.

If the system/software is facilitating illegal transactions, then of course the lawsuit has merit and should proceed.

But the "re-sellers" on TicketsNow is Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster owns TicketsNow and are illegally scalping the tickets themselves and calling it a "ticket exchange". Shady, shady.