Ticketmaster, Live Nation in merger talks

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Wow.

Anyway, I'm not sure why you belittle the "emotional component". Seems to me to be a pretty important factor that differentiates it from selling and re-selling, say, a lamp.

I didn't mean for it to sound like I'm belittling the emotions that people have for their favorite band/sports team. When you do everything in your power to get the best tickets possible and fail, of course its disappointing. That said, just because it seems that scalpers got "most" of the premier tickets for a show doesn't mean that Ticketmaster had anything to do with it other than facilitating the initial transaction.

For most high profile events, there are FAR more amateur/professional scalpers trying for tickets than fans. They buy tickets to all the high profile events, so they're more familiar with how the site works, which call centers/outlets to use/avoid, etc. It doesn't mean that fans don't end up with great seats in public on-sales, but, in the end, its a numbers game. There's more of them than there are of us, is what it boils down to... which is something less fantastical than some of the conspiracy theories we've all read.

I think we will soon see a shift to where the top tier (in Fleetwood Mac's case, ~$150) is all will-call, or ticketless (swiping credit cards at the gate, like AC/DC). I think Azoff will be smart enough to install this procedure (or something similar) at all of Live Nation/Ticketmaster's high profile events, because it makes too much sense for all involved.

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Personally, I don't believe that Ticketmaster in the past has been in league with touts (or scalpers), they have just got the tickets online or on the phone like the rest of us (although the more professional scalpers hire lots of people to do this when the tickets go onsale ). But Ticketmaster re-directing to TicketsNow on the first day of sale when tickets are still available certainly seems rather fishy to me.

I completely agree with you- especially when the show isn't even sold out yet. It gives the false (in most cases) impression that tickets are scarce, or even completely sold out.

[Heidi1968]

Two VIP tickets and a backstage pass to Fleetwood Mac Unleashed Tour!

To help parents meet their children's educational needs, the supergroup Fleetwood Mac is auctioning off VIP tickets and meet-and-greets as a fundraiser. The auction benefits Hilltop Nursery School in Silver Lake, California, a parent-participation, cooperative pre-school founded over 50 years ago. Pairs of tickets for each show on the band's Unleashed tour--plus face time with Fleetwood--are up for auction on eBay now and the charity auctions will continue throughout the tour.

Along with a pair of tickets in the first 25 rows, each auction winner and their guest will get a meet and greet the legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood before the show– A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the true fan.

To bid on this auction go to www.ebay.com/hilltopla

[skcin]

^ All the bidders names look awfully similar. Looks like the scalpers are going to grab these too.

[bikerchic]

Originally Posted by LukeA

The whole Ticketmaster conspiracy bull**** (in regards to getting tickets in the on-sale) is SO tiring. I've pretty much given up trying to explain things logically to people, because there's such an emotional component to trying/failing to get tickets online ("even though I was logged in right at the top of the hour!!!!") that there has to be a conspiracy when scalpers get tickets and you don't. (Never mind the fact that there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of people trying to get tickets to the show online, just like you are) But, there simply can be no other explanation, it seems.

I guess time will tell. Hopefully the truth will come out in the courts. I do know though, that the law suits are coming out of the wood work (in Canada and the U.S.).

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by skcin

^ All the bidders names look awfully similar. Looks like the scalpers are going to grab these too.

A bunch of them look like total bargains at this point (even with a few days left to go)

[skcin]

Originally Posted by LukeA

A bunch of them look like total bargains at this point (even with a few days left to go)

Yeah, I noticed that too. Hmmm...

[LukeA]

The political fight against the merger begins in earnest tomorrow, with my old boss speaking on Capitol Hill. Must See (webcast) TV, for sure.

---

http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/...e_process.html

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing on the proposed merger of the controversial ticket broker Ticketmaster with the giant national concert promoter Live Nation tomorrow, and the scheduled witnesses include Jerry Mickelson, co-founder of Chicago-based Jam Productions, one of the largest of America's few remaining indie promoters.

Though it is now in the minority among major U.S. cities, Chicago remains a deeply competitive market for live music, with Jam and Live Nation often vying for major arena shows, and Jam maintaining a firm grip here on smaller theater gigs. In 2005, Jam won a $90 million verdict against Live Nation in a highly publicized anti-trust suit after testimony that included executives at the larger company boasting that they'd love to "crush, kill and destroy" the regional promoter.

Also scheduled to testify in Washington, D.C. are Irving Azoff and Michael Rapino, the Ticketmaster and Live Nation executives set to become the reigning braintrust at the new Live Nation Entertainment, and David A. Balto, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a self-described "think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action, combining bold policy ideas to help shape the national debate to expose the hollowness of conservative governing philosophies."

Presumably, the Center for American Progress group stands in solidarity with Jam in opposing the merger, though Mickelson has so far declined to comment on the issue.

The subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights is chaired by Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and its members include Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has called for an investigation into Ticketmaster's handling of ticket sales for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen tour, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT, an outspoken critic of music piracy who also dabbles in music-making himself as a singer.

Entitled "The Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger: What Does it Mean for Consumers and the Future of the Concert Business?," the session begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern and will be Webcast on the committee's site at http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings...ng.cfm?id=3674.

[BTFLCHLD]

yum thanks for the heads-up

[MacMan]

Well THIS should be interesting.

[BTFLCHLD]

confirmation azoff's an ass....run, Lindsey, run.

[MacMan]

Attorney General Announces Settlement with Ticketmaster on Sale of Springsteen Tickets

Tickets will be made available for thousands of consumers shut out by Ticketmaster and steered to a more
expensive ticket re-sale website

NJGOV

Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today a settlement with Ticketmaster to resolve more than two thousand complaints filed by consumers with the State Division of Consumer Affairs this month in connection with the sale of tickets to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concerts scheduled for May at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The agreement also mandates reforms to Ticketmaster’s business practices.

The settlement creates a random drawing for 1,000 consumers who filed complaints against Ticketmaster with the Division of Consumer Affairs as of last Tuesday, February 17th, to purchase two tickets each to one of the two concerts scheduled for May 21st and May 23rd at the Izod Center.

In addition, those consumers who filed complaints but are not chosen in the random drawing for the opportunity to purchase tickets to the May concerts will be given a $100 Ticketmaster gift certificate and will be given the opportunity to purchase two tickets to a future Springsteen concert in New Jersey prior to a general ticket sale.

For those consumers identified by the state and Ticketmaster whose credit cards were charged for ticket purchases but the transactions were never completed because of technical problems, Ticketmaster agreed to complete the transaction and provide consumers with the tickets.

For those consumers identified by the state and Ticketmaster who within the first five hours that tickets went on sale went from the “No Tickets Found” page of Ticketmaster’s primary website to Ticketmaster’s wholly-owned subsidiary TicketsNow.Com and purchased tickets at a higher price, Ticketmaster agreed to refund the difference between the purchase price and the face value of the tickets.

The settlement, known formally as an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, places a wall between Ticketmaster and its ticket re-selling subsidiary TicketsNow.com for at least a year for all shows and entertainment events Ticketmaster handles. After the conclusion of the year, Ticketmaster will need prior approval from the Attorney General for any links between its “No Tickets Found” Internet page to its TicketsNow re-sale website.

Ticketmaster agreed not to engage in paid Internet search advertising that would lead consumers searching for “Ticketmaster” on Internet search engines to its TicketsNow re-sale site. In addition, Ticketmaster confirmed and agreed that all tickets it receives for sale to the general public will be sold on its primary market website. Ticketmaster also agreed not to allow the sale or offer of sale of any tickets on the TicketsNow.com re-selling website until the initial sale begins on its primary website.

“This settlement swiftly and fairly resolves a significant issue for thousands of loyal Springsteen fans in the Garden State who believe that Ticketmaster tilted the playing field against their efforts to purchase tickets to the May concerts,’’ Attorney General Milgram said. “Everyone deserves an equal chance to buy tickets on a primary ticket selling website and shouldn’t be steered to a re-selling website where the prices can be substantially higher.”

“Because of the excellent cooperation of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the agreement will make tickets available for many of those who filed complaints with the Division of Consumer Affairs as of last week,” Milgram added. “I also want to thank Bruce Springsteen and his management in our efforts to hammer out this agreement. He was as outraged as anyone over the circumstances surrounding the sale of tickets to his concerts.”

“Significantly, Ticketmaster has agreed to change its business practices and not allow any link from its No Tickets Found Internet page to re-sale Internet sites for at least one year, and after that any proposed linkage will not be permitted unless approved by my office,” she said.

Dennis Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said, “On behalf of our Chairman, Commissioners and staff whose dedication to customer service have made the IZOD Center one of the world’s most successful concert venues, we deeply appreciate the Attorney General’s commitment to bringing about a solution to the issue which occurred with these ticket sales.’’

The 2,000 tickets – 1,000 tickets for each show – are being made available for purchase through the random drawing by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. All Ticketmaster fees and service charges will be waived.

An investigation by the Attorney General and the Division of Consumer Affairs into Ticketmaster’s sales practices began with the immediate uproar over the sale of Springsteen tickets when they were made available for sale on Feb. 2. The Division of Consumer Affairs created a link on its website to receive complaints. As of Tuesday, Feb. 17, approximately 2,200 complaints were filed concerning the Springsteen concerts. Complaints filed by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, will be covered by the agreement.

Consumers complained that sales were blocked on the Ticketmaster website and they were re-directed to the ticket re-selling website called TicketsNow.com where tickets were available at substantially higher prices.

The state receives a settlement of $350,000 to cover investigative, attorney and administrative fees and to support New Jersey consumer protection initiatives.

[BTFLCHLD]

cool...missed this yesterday...thanks MacMan.

[michelej1]

Here's an article on the merger from Time Magazine. Phillips is the CEO of AEG, one of the big concert promoters. This is an excerpt from the article.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,...903447,00.html

Can the merger result in lower ticket prices for the public? Phillips said Live Nation has a history of being "aggressive" with pricing. "We walked away from bidding on Fleetwood Mac because we thought the guarantee was too high and what we'd have to charge the public would be too much," he said. Mickelson noted that Live Nation's new ticketing company introduced service fees that were even higher than Ticketmaster's: "A Coldplay ticket at a Ticketmaster building had a $15 service charge, and the same Coldplay ticket at a Live Nation ticketing venue had a $21 service charge."

[BTFLCHLD]

Azoff said he supports efforts to clean up the ticket-reselling business, which he calls "the Wild, Wild West of the business" and hints that Ticketmaster may sell its TicketsNow resale entity if the merger goes through. "The furor about the secondary market really has nothing to do with this merger," he said. Azoff said he would ultimately like to see the merged entity offer dynamic pricing, whereby front-row seats are offered in the primary market at prices well above the average — possibly up to $1,000 — while nosebleed seats are sold below the average price for as little as $20 a pop.

Just when I thought I couldn't like Azoff any less.

[MacMan]

No wonder shows don't sell well with this kind of mentality... This idea will hit the wall eventually.