Ticketmaster - Live Nation Merger

This week Ticketmaster and Live Nation announced a merger of the two companies and after reviewing this transaction, we can't see it being very beneficial to the average consumer. First, the joining of these two companies produce a near monopoly on ticket sale services. And not just in the United States. In the United Kingdom the new entity, Live Nation Ticketmaster, will control 70% of ticket sales. Expect concert tickets, service charges and transaction fees to increase - but that's not the worse problem. These companies already give preferential treatment to corporate sponsors or those purchasing with American Express. Already these individuals have access to choice seats - it is plausible in the near future that they may have access to a majority of seats. Live Nation Ticketmaster also plans to start selling high profile concerts by auction, effectively eliminating competition from the secondary markets provided by StubHub, LiveStub, and eBay. Another example of what's good for Wall Street is not particularly good for Main Street. Here at MyJoog.com we plan on stressing the thousands of venues where tickets are purchased outside of Ticketmast and Live Nation. There will still be daily opportunities to attend affordable shows at coffee houses, wineries and breweries, bars, and small music venues.