[A2k] James Love: Meeting at DOJ on the Ticketmaster /Live Nation merger

[Manon Ress]

http://www.keionline.org/blogs/2009/03/17/doj-tm-ln-merger/

Meeting at DOJ on the Ticketmaster /Live Nation merger
By James Love, on March 17th, 2009

Yesterday=92s meeting at DOJ on the Ticketmaster Live Nation (TM/LN)
merger lasted about 90 minutes. Several civil society NGOs groups
showed up for the meeting. There were also several persons from age 17
to 65, who go to live events, play in bands, and preform in local
venues. Some of the meeting focused on the impact of the merger on
ticket prices, discussing for example how the merger would make it
more difficult for fan friendly acts to advocate for lower ticket
prices, or local, state or federal governments to enact or enforce
various consumer protection measures, as well as noting that the
reduced competition in ticketing services (LN is both an actual and a
potential competitor and a partner of competitors of TM) will lead to
high costs and fees in the ticketing areas. People shared a lot of
information about the impact of ticketing costs on events, and the
trends of ticket prices.

There was also considerable discussion about the impact of the
proposed merger on cultural diversity and freedom. People talked about
the =93fear factor=94 associated with the proposed merger: few performers
were willing to say anything about the merger publicly. One
participant had quite a bit of information about problems that Pearl
Jam faced doing live performances after previously speaking out
against TM, and there was discussion of the impact of the Clear
Channel consolation of radio stations on the quality of radio
stations, and the consequences of losing independent stations. The XM/
SR satellite merger had led to the elimination of many interesting
stations. People didn=92t want a single entity determining what acts
they would see, or telling acts what to do, or not do. Musicians from
lesser known acts didn=92t want the TM/LN to exercise even more control
than they do now.

Concerns were also expressed over other aspects of freedom. If artists
have to deal with a single entity for live performances, they would be
even more vulnerable than now when they express views unpopular with
management. People talked about the Dixie Chicks experience, for
example.

There were several interesting things that came out during the 90
minute meeting. One was that the DOJ clearly understood that the
opposition to the merger would not be satisfied with a few
divestitures, and this was really an up or down decision for the
merger as a whole.

One early question put to us was, would consumers be better off with
two vertically integrated companies, rather than one (a not too
hypothetical case of TM and LN vertically integrating both promoting
and ticket sales). This was not a difficult question for anyone.

My own take was the DOJ is willing to stop the merger, and is devoting
resources to build a case against the merger.
***************************************************************************
Manon Ress
manon.ress@keionline.org
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.:  +1.202.332.2670, Fax: +1.202.332.2673