The U.S. Department of Justice approved the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merge on Monday, according to rollingstone.com. The joining of the two biggest pieces in the $4.4 billion (U.S.) worldwide concert business is sure to affect every live-music fan, artist, agent, manager, and promoter.
In a statement, Ticketmaster’s chief executive, Eagles manager Irving Azoff, called the decision “a great win for fans,” but some people in the business fear the combined power of the two companies will make it hard for outsiders to promote and sell tickets.
“It’s disappointing to me,” said Buck Williams, who represents R.E.M. and Widespread Panic. “It’s just another step in eliminating competition.”
“They’ve pulled the rug out from under the entrepreneurs, to some degree,” he added.
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Entertainment, Hip Hop/Rap, Music, Pop, Rock Tags:
celebrity blogger,
Eric Huchinson,
FrankMusik,
ida maria,
Julian Perretta,
Ladyhawke,
Perez Hilton,
Perez Hilton Presents...,
Semi Precious Weapons,
Sliimy,
TicketMaster
Perez Hilton at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards
For the upcoming “Perez Hilton Presents” Tour, Ticketmaster is doing something groundbreaking – they’re actually charging customers the price advertised on their tickets. Those purchasing tickets for the North American tour will not pay any hidden convenience or service charges. Even taxes will be included in the price, although customers choosing mail or UPS delivery for their tickets will have to pay an additional shipping cost.
The tour – the first put on by the celebrity blogger – will feature Ida Maria, Ladyhawke, FrankMusik, Julian Perretta, Eric Huchinson, Semi Precious Weapons and Sliimy.
Ticketmaster is using “paperless “ tickets for the first time in Canada for Metallica’s October 12 concert at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre. This system was implemented in order to ensure that the tickets will go directly to those who purchase them. In other words, it’s bad news for scalpers.
Instead of buying a normal, printed ticket when they went on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday, fans purchased an electronic ticket using their credit card. According to charttack.com, they’ll then have to swipe their credit card and provide another form of identification to gain entry to the venue.
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