You get inured to sudden and radical change in the music industry: the switch to digital, the great illegal download explosion, the emergence of social networking sites, the 360-degree deals.
This week, however, something has happened that could irrevocably change how we consume music.
With the crunch getting crunchier, 2009 was always going to be “challenging” for the once soaraway live music sector. There are just too many gigs, tickets prices are ridiculously expensive, and the two or three shows you really, really want to go to all seem to be sold-out even before you know they’re taking place.
This was supposed to be the year when some much-needed competition would create a form of buyer’s market for live music tickets. Ticketmaster, the world’s leading ticketing company, was beefing itself up for a financial death match with a major new ticketing company – which also happen to be the world’s largest concert promoter: Live Nation.
Live Nation is the Microsoft of the music world. Its interests also include venues, band management, distribution and merchandise. It boasts “exclusive” deals with acts such as U2, Madonna and Jay-Z. Live Nation’s own ticketing agency would make it the definitive musical “one-stop shop”.
In Ireland, Live Nation is co-owner of the shiny new 02 venue. It also cooperates with local promoter MCD on certain live shows, and has had talks with MCD about taking a majority stake in the Irish company.
At the moment, though, Live Nation is concentrating on a much bigger and more global corporate merger. With recession gripping and both Ticketmaster and Live Nation wary of an expensive battle over prices, an unlikely match has been made. The two companies have announced they will merge to form Live Nation-Ticketmaster Entertainment.
Good news for them, bad news for live music fans who want to see more competition in an expensive marketplace.
We are now looking at one musical behemoth that would control many major venues, merchandising, ticketing systems, artist management and music distribution worldwide. It is just a small step for the new company to become the world’s largest record label.
Live Nation-Ticketmaster Entertainment would be able to deliver to bands everything they require in terms of getting their music out there and getting them into venues.
There are two immediate – and linked – problems for Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
One is that Barack Obama was elected on a strong anti-trust platform – among other things. Under his administration, the US justice department has promised a “vigorous enforcement” of the merger anti-trust laws and has now launched a “thorough investigation” of this deal.
The second problem is Bruce Springsteen. Last week Springsteen learned that Ticketmaster was redirecting requests for tickets to his Working on a Dream live shows to its secondary (and more expensive) seller site, TicketsNow. The company apologised, but an angry Springsteen went on to warn fans to be wary of the merger.
“The one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now,” he wrote, “would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.”
Given his huge populist appeal and respect within in the industry, Springsteen’s message on his website would have sent a chill through the Ticketmaster and Live Nation boardrooms.
The idea of one company selling concert tickets on behalf of an act it has an interest in, for a venue it owns, to promote an album it released, will surely be too much for the justice department in Obama’s America.
After all, who’s the one musician that President Obama would most likely have on speed dial?
