Worst.News.Ever - Live Nation and Ticketmaster in Merger Talks

Live Nation and Ticketmaster - my two most hated organizations in the universe are rumored to be in talks of a merger. In most cases, one might think that two negatives could make a positive, but I can't imagine that being the case here. I've already been subjected to paying $5 promoter fee, $3 Building fee, $6 convenience charge, and $2 'ALLOW ME TO PRINT OUT THE TICKET MYSELF' fee for a $15 concert ticket and I feel dirty and cheated every time I do it. CNN's Alan Duke defends Ticketmaster's charges because they 'pioneered' online ticketing and fans no longer have to wait in long lines for hours to buy tickets. This is true, but I can think of a million other services that are more convenient because of the internet that don't charge a 'convenience' fee.

The merger, if it goes ahead, would combine the world's largest concert promoter, Live Nation, and the leading ticketing company, Ticketmaster. This news comes on the heels of Ticketmaster messing with Bruce Springsteen's ticket sales. Ticketmaster was caught passing ticket-buyers to their secondary ticket site, TicketsNow. TicketsNow is a broker (like StubHub) and can inflate the value of tickets based on demand. Well, the funny thing was that there were plenty of tickets still available for the Springsteen show. I got news for you, Ticketmaster... YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE BOSS.

“Last Monday, we were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice,” Springsteen and his tour team said in a letter posted on Bruce’s official site. “We have asked this redirection from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow cease and desist immediately and Ticketmaster has agreed to do so in the future and has removed its unwanted material from their and our site.”

The Boss continues, “A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.”

President Obama has vowed to toughen antitrust enforcement, and I hope to God that he starts with Evil Nation and Ticketmassa. If you are a San Francisco resident, Click Here to write to Nancy Pelosi and let your thoughts be known regarding this merger.

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