Once fans realize that the artists and their managers are the ones making the decision on how much to charge for tickets, how much to add for a service fee and who gets to scalp them, there will be no one to hide behind.

Really?

While I do agree that this is the case with some of the larger artists who play the big arena shows, I call bull**** when it comes to Ticketmaster and all the “convenience/facility/etc. fees” that they add to tickets for the smaller artists.

Case in point: I went to see a Rock Boat artist at the House of Blues in Chicago a few weeks ago. Tickets to this show were $12. All of the additional fees that Ticketmaster added onto it were more than the price of the ticket itself. The artist in question had NO idea that the fees were that high, and was shocked when we told them.

I don’t really have an opinion about the merger itself, because I’m not familiar with what Live Nation does, really. I tend to go to shows at smaller local clubs and don’t deal with the larger EVENTS that I associate with Live Nation. All I know is that I hate Ticketmaster and their fees that seem to have no explanation other than to gouge the customer for more money, and I can’t see how those fees are the artist’s fault, because the artist doesn’t see any of that money.

That is my point. Ticketmaster is now managing artists so they can influence these fees.

Andy,

I sent you an email in reply to this blog post (from my work email address, so hopefully it gets through to you), but just wanted to publicly say that I’m actually in agreement with you. Ticketmaster isn’t necessarily the “big evil” that people think they are. They are NOT a monopoly, as ticket buyers STILL have the option they always had before Ticketmaster came into existence —- go to the box office and buy your tickets without the service fees. Yeah, $15 in service fees is horrid on a $12 ticket, but what would it cost that same individual (in both time and money) to make the trek to the box office to make that same purchase?

As an occasional promoter myself, I, like you, like the concept of having both artist management and the promoter on the same “profit page”, if you will, but will this really bring the booking agents in line with the whole concept? In my dealings with them, they’ve almost ALWAYS had only one goal — get the most $ for the act. This often doesn’t result in the best show experience, as ticket prices may be forced too far upward to generate a sellout or contractual requirements may be unrealistic for the production at hand. I often find that the agent doesn’t even know contract specifics, either! He or she may know the “general” contract for the whole tour, sure, but good luck negotiating (remember that term? – it’s not in their vocabulary much anymore, is it?) changes to the general K for your specific show.

The days of real PROMOTERS (a local operator who know his or her specific market and therefore can really work that one market) are pretty much already gone, thanks to the Live Nation and AEG domination of the business. I think this Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger might indeed produce some of the desired effects that you describe, but the agents will definitely have to be on board, too. That’s the one cog in this wheel that concerns me most.

Andy,

As a Live Nation employee, I have read my fair share of end game blogs and articles revolving around this topic day in and day out since the news of the possible merger leaked.

I must say… this is far and away the best words I have read about this subject.

There is definitely a lot of work to do. In fact, even the smaller folks, such as myself, on the huge company food chain have no idea what lies ahead. However, people should know that there are dedicated folks in the trenches trying to make this business both artist and more importantly guest friendly. We don’t forget for a moment why we’re in this. If there were no fans, no guests, no negotiation- we’d be at a stalemate in the industry as a whole. The game is changing, as you pointed out, and I’m proud to be a part of the way I hope it effectively runs in the future.

I completely agree with you about artist vs promoter guarantee, etc. It takes effective management and utilization of knowledge on both sides in order to make something work for everyone- we shouldn’t be so eager to jump into high deals that increase ticket prices and drive up everything else around it to try and break even. And for the public, this is where this merger would help on so many levels.

I hate to negate the above commenter, but negotiation is still in our vocabulary. That’s why people are trying to make this work to begin with. Irving is a genius. Michael Rapino… is a genius. Without knowing them personally and just being part of one of their companies at this point, I can say I am astounded by some of the ideas generated by these men. I am excited to see where the two of them go with this and how the industry, and the ideals that are currently backing it, change.

There is a great system of accountability about to be in place. We can help, fan or an employee in this crazy music business, alike to keep it that way. Its going to be history, folks… and I am entirely excited about it.

Oh, please “negate” away. No offense taken at all. I love an open dialog. When I said “negotiation” seemed to be absent from the current vocabulary, I was referring to the booking agencies, not the promoters or management. The stone wall I always seem to encounter is that management always wants me to deal only with the booking agent, where it’s strictly a “take it or leave it” proposition. But then of course I’m only a “little guy” and never could even dream about being in the position of a Live Nation (many, many shows on a tour – or perhaps even the whole tour!). So I’m sure the folks at your company still get to “negotiate” with anyone, as you’re coming from a position of much greater power.

But with the decline (complete demise?) of the record industry and the current state of the economy, change is inevitable. Let’s hope it benefits everyone, because if it doesn’t benefit the fans and the artists, and hopefully their connection with one another, things will only get worse. We are, after all, only dealing with listening to musical art as a form of entertainment. There’s a lot of competition out there for the available eyeballs and ears and the dollars associated with same. Ultimately it’s the same as any business, if the customer isn’t happy with the experience and doesn’t come away from that experience feeling that the expense is justified by the return, he or she will spend his $ elsewhere.

brandi carlile is the perfect girl for that cruise !
she’s on the boat from the first day to the last , she does not just sing at her scheduled shows , she loves singing with other people and do her own piano jam session and she give a lot of time to her fans !
She needs to be back next year she got the Cayamo spirit !!

[...] asked what I could help him with and he said he just wanted to thank me for my blog I wrote a couple weeks ago.  He said he thought my position was dead on and he hoped he could convince everyone involved to [...]

I understand that Ticketmaster is made out to be the “bad guy” when it comes to selling tickets…but you failed to mention what this merger is really about.

The secondary ticket market is something that artists, promoters, managers, and yes ticketmaster, all want to get in on. Ticketmaster purchased Ticketsnow so that they could sell tickets under the guise of a “broker” or “fan” for hundreds, sometimes a thousand dollars more than the face value.
These tickets are being withheld from REAL FANS who should have a FAIR CHANCE at getting tickets to a show at face value!!!
This merger is creating a MONSTER for fans. Only those who pay more for the PRIMARY SALE of the tickets will be sitting in the best seats. What happened to joining fan clubs, doing presales, and at last resort, sitting at the computer on Saturday morning trying to get tickets on the ONSALE???

This deal is so transparent…but the media and the greedy are screwing real fans. If it is the artists responsibility to sell tickets…shouldn’t they sell them at the same price for everyone?

[...] few weeks ago, I blogged about my excitement about Live Nation and Ticketmaster merging because I believed it would put an end to artists [...]