Ticket Masters

It was reported on CMJ.com that Ticketmaster, the concert admission gods (or whores, you know whatever) themselves are in the process of deciding to renew their contract with LiveNation, one of the largest national concert promoters under the umbrella of Clear Channel. This would then probably force LiveNation to come up with their own ticketing system, making their tickets unavailable at traditional Ticketmaster retailers (Macys, Dillards, some grocery stores and college campuses) as well as online. Its unclear if this is actually going to go through, and whether or not it will only impact nationally or internationally as well.

Good idea, Ticketmaster. You planning on changing to a 100% service charge to make up the difference when you go bankrupt?

I'm in no way advocating LiveNation here. It's widely known that they monopolize several large markets as far as concerts, grabbing hold on everything from huge artists like John Mayer and Tom Petty as well as festivals such as Warped Tour and the recent Projekt Revolution tour. In some markets, they are THE promoter, and the loss that Ticketmaster will incur in the first stages will be astounding. Not only in ticket sales but the fact that the House of Blues venue chain is owned by Live Nation. I mean, obviously I'm not in the board room here, I don't have a calculator out crunching the numbers in respect to what the contract outlines, so maybe it is for the best, but the effect on the music industry could be catastrophic. That, or it would free LiveNation and other promoters who may follow suit from having to pay ticketmaster a percentage of their revenue and make some of their own tickets, the flaw being that a large percentage of average concert goers might not know where to go other than Macy's for ticketmaster.

It got me thinking about the scene in Phoenix, specifically. We are an interesting market in that LiveNation, while probably making a large profit, isn't our biggest promoter. They'll front the cost of some of the larger venues and artists with bigger guarantees, but we also have two large independent promoters, Luckyman Productions and Stateside Presents. Each promoter has their niche, Luckyman bringin' in the pop punk bands, metal and pop rock while Stateside has cornered the indie rock genre, ranging from smaller folk acts like Okkervil River and Midlake to massive shows like The Shins and Modest Mouse. On top of that we have a handful of smaller independent promoters who bring mid-level bands to smaller venues. Live Nation doesn't even stand a chance with what I assume are complicated contracts as versus dealing with promoters who are more ingrained into the scene, not to mention that they don't own any of the venues out here. I'm not sure about other markets, and while I have my own qualms with promoters such as Luckyman (moreso their treatment of local bands, but thats another post), I can't help but be a little thankful that we don't have this monopoly. and that there are options to have more flexible ticket prices, albeit still with that pesky convenience charge (seriously, I'll go behind the counter and print them myself )

Its hard to say what kind of affect this is going to have on specific markets and LiveNation as a whole, but hoepfully this might encourage more Luckyman Productions and Stateside Presents to pop up, make their own rules and damn the 'master. Hell, maybe LiveNation might even do it themselves.

Song of the Moment : Big Casino - Jimmy Eat World