Earth to Tour Selected Parts of Actual Earth (Namely Europe)

By Mr P on 02-10-2009

By the second half of 2009, Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TKTM) hope to merge into one giant entity called Live Nation Entertainment, "the world's premier live entertainment company." The deal would be a tax-free, all stock merger, totaling roughly $2.5 billion. According to the official press release, Live Nation Entertainment hopes to:

- Improve Access and Transparency
- Improve Ticket Pricing Options
- Invest in Better Ticketing Technology
- Increase Event Attendance

Sounds pretty good right? WRONG. If the merger goes through, don't be too surprised if you have to start fighting with your concert buddies for those tickets ("ticket-moshing"?): among the many fears is that the new company would bypass the primary ticketing market and begin auctioning tickets (through the Ticketmaster-owned TicketsNow) in the secondary market. Not only would this system favor the tech savvy who have the cash to pony up, but it'll also create a ridiculously overwhelming presence in both the primary and secondary markets for a single company. Hell, even if the company chooses to focus on the primary ticketing market, there would be significantly less competition for venues and tours after the merger. And those much-hated "convenience" fees? They'll probably be rolled into the face charge.

Of course, the actual merger hasn't taken place yet, as the companies still need to go through the usual legal process -- namely, the regulatory review -- and I'd expect to hear some loud antitrust cries resonate throughout the industry (there are already plenty, including this one from LiveStub CEO Michael Hershfield). Hopefully the cries will be loud enough to reach the smellholes of the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. Obama, where are you?

Meanwhile, TMT's rebranding experts hail the possible enterprise a great idea, as the word "Ticketmaster" itself is already among the chief causes of high blood pressure in music lovers between the ages of 15 to 28. TMT's in-house critics, however, are puking as I type this.

By Shane Mack on 02-10-2009

From the LA Times' music blog:

Somewhat lost in the flurry of Grammy activity was the news that Blossom Dearie, the jazz-cabaret singer with a voice as sweet and precious as her name, died of natural causes in her Greenwich Village apartment Saturday.

With a breezy, gentle vocal style that echoed a little girl's innocence, Dearie's appeal as a vocalist lies beyond genre classifications. In fact, many Pop&Hiss readers may have unknowingly first become familiar with Dearie as the voice for a few "Schoolhouse Rock" cartoons in the 1970s, including the gorgeous "Figure Eight" and "Unpack Your Adjectives."

- Blossom Dearie Wikipedia entry
- Blossom Dearie IMDB entry