Live Music Merger Hits Hurdle
The Competition Commission of the United Kingdom has ruled in opposition to the proposed merger of two major players in the live music industry. Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticket supplier for live performances, is to join forces with Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter. Representatives at the Commission stated that the merger would “severely inhibit competition.” The union of the two would give the resulting company the power and the “incentive” to curtail other companies seeking to enter the ticket distribution business.
Voices on this side of the pond share these sentiments. The National Association of Ticket Brokers, an American lobbying group, is quoted as saying the merger of the two companies could result in the “control (of) every part of a live concert, from artist management and promotion to venue management, merchandise sales and ticket sales and resales.” The FCC Competition Board, the American equivalent of Britain’s Competition Commission, has yet to make a ruling.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation have responded by saying that the proposed merger sought to “strengthen a flagging music industry.” If they’re successful, the two companies would obtain about four-fifths of the market share in concert admissions. With venues and the very tickets to those venues being majority controlled by a single company, that’s about as close as it gets to having the business of live music cornered.
The merged company, which I will dub as ‘Ticket-Nation,’ or if you prefer, ‘Live-Master,’ would essentially have the ability to charge what they please. Most of us free-market loving folk out there know that this scenario does a little more than straddle the line between reasonable, and black top hats with monocles, pocket watches and twisting mustaches.
“Pass go, collect $200.”
You may need it next time you want to see your favorite band on stage.
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