Stopping the Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger

Sometimes you just have to say no. The Obama administration is now faced with a merger so obviously harmful, that if it doesn't say no, it will send the signal that it could care less about consumers, artists, and small businesses.

This week the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are holding hearings on a proposed merger by Ticketmaster, the giant ticket booking firm (it has been estimated that Ticketmaster controls 70% to 80% of all online concert ticket sales in the United States), and Live Nation, the largest concert promoter in the United States. As detailed in our complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice, the merger would reduce competition in the core business areas of both companies, it would likely lead to high ticket prices, while making small independent booking venues and artists both more vulnerable in business dealings with the new giant.

Why was the merger even proposed, given its obvious harmful effects? Well, this is Washington, DC, and Ticketmaster and Live Nation think enough money spread around will overcome the bad smell. One step they have taken is to hire Hilary Rosen to push the deal. Hilary once ran the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), before briefly working for the non-profit Human Rights Campaign. She returned as a lobbyist for XM Satellite Radio, and recently joined the Brunswick Group to push this merger.

Hilary Rosen, hired to push the merger. (Picture from Wikimedia Commons)

The Bill Clinton administration started off very soft on mergers, allowing almost everything to go through, subject to minor "fixes" such as minor divestitures or limited agreements on conduct. The first merger that was aggressively blocked was the Staples/Office Depot merger, which was stopped by the Federal Trade Commission, an independent agency not controlled by the easily lobbied Bill Clinton White House.

The Obama administration should not make the same mistake. It needs to show that it is willing and able to enforce the U.S. antitrust laws, and it needs to show that it is willing and able to protect consumers, artists and small businesses from a bad merger.

See more on the merger (here, here, here, here, here and here).

Whatever your views are on this or any other merger, you can submit comments by email here: [e-mail]. The Department of Justice Antitrust Division reads and considers the comments, particularly those that provide an explanation of how the merger may affect you. Information that is marked confidential will be treated as such by the DOJ.

Comments

[alternapop]

Back in the 80s, I was paying around $12-15 for good size concerts (5000 seat venues) and the service charge on these were around $1... 8% per ticket. Now for a $25 concert, the service fee can easily be $10... closer to 30-40%, per ticket. This is just outrageous and reeks of a monopoly.

[ROFLMAO]

Well, the ticket prices are governed not just by monopolistic companies but also by the laws of supply and demand. If the great American public stopped flocking to these concerts and being willing to pay these prices, they would surely come down. I am annoyed that I cannot go to concerts, plays or even the movies without paying an outrageous price. Mostly I don't go any more.

How about baseball, football or hockey? My local baseball team jacked up their prices to a ridiculous point - now I only go once or twice a year.

But the American sheeple keep on lining up with their wallets outstretched. The market has spoken!

[mds415]

Have you checked out Ticketmaster's service charges lately? They have an outrageous surcharge on each ticket no matter how many you purchase, add an additional 'facility' fee, and then have the nerve to charge you to print the ticket out on your own printer. A recent $25 ticket (face value) ended up costing me nearly $40. And since they have exclusive contracts with most of the venues in my area (San Francisco Bay Area), I have no choice but to submit to their opressive fees or stay home if there's a performance I want to see.

Why Ticketmaster was allowed to get this big and monopolistic is beyond me. We as consumers have no recourse except to stop buying tickets. Ticketmaster must be reined in. This merger can not be allowed to happen.

[drymartini1]

you have recourse. STOP GOING TO CONCERTS.

[truebluecoondog]

The music industry has suffered an awful lot, from the artist's point of view. There is no money in it for most and enormous riches for a few cherry picked teen idols. This might be the final blow if it goes through.

Concert tickets are rediculously high as it is with fees and more fees tacked on. Marketing and sales of CD's are monopolized by Walmart and Best Buy and nobody can compete. Local artists have to sell their own CD's with no more privately owned record stores around. The same situation exists with local independent radio.

No more giant cash cows in art and music, please.

[MagisterLudi]

This is a no no. This case should be the litmus test for Obama Admin on matters of corporate responsibility and monopoly. No longer can they claim this as another measure necessary for "nation's economic health."
Ticketmaster is the Microsoft of the entertainment biz. They try to take down all competition.
I was involved in some capacity in a lawsuit Ticketmaster brought against Ticket Stub because Stub dared(!) to resell artists' own tour tickets.

[AGarcia]

Gimme three major acts worth seeing and maybe I'll be concerned. Ticketmaster should care more about the lack of quality musicians and vocalists. The truth is they could care less. You couldn't pay me to see U2, Madonna or Robert Plant's old bones rattling up there. Sad, they how have capitalized on aging crusty rockers and cookie-cutter teeny boppers to make millions. They promote pure mediocrity and they are unstoppable. Let them merge THEN prosecute them for monopoly. I still think a stake in the heart would work best (maybe).

[Realityism]

Each of these companies is already almost a monopoly in its own right. Allowing them to combine would essentially put every aspect of going to see your favorite musicians into the hands of a single entity. An entity does not have to compete or negotiate with anyone.

[Realityism]

Oops, I mean an entity *that* does not have to compete or negotiate with anyone.