Spring Break
Tough Luck for Ticketmaster
Garen Aliksanian
Issue date: 9/1/07 Section: Entertainment
Ticketmaster, the world’s leading ticket retailing company, is on the verge of losing its biggest client, Live Nation, according to an in-house memo from Ticketmaster
last month.
Ticketmaster enjoys exclusive ticket-selling rights to most of the 29,000 events organized by Live Nation, the premier concert promoter in North America. While Ticketmaster is considered the one-stop shop for any and all types of tickets around the world, if it loses its contract with Live Nation, this may cease to be the case.
Contract negotiations between the two broke down last month, according to the memo, which states, “We believe we’ve taken every reasonable step possible to facilitate a renewal, but they seem intent on a direction for their business that leaves us no viable way to work together,” Variety.com reported.
According to Forbes.com, Ticketmaster is on the losing end of this deal. Variety.com reported that Live Nation, along with its affiliate the House of Blues, accounted for about 20
percent of Ticketmaster’s $1.1 billion in sales during 2006. Live Nation is a vital client that operates, books, and has equity interest in more than 160 venues in 18 countries, including the Wiltern, Avalon, and the House of Blues in LA.
It appears this particular loss might be detrimental to Ticketmaster, and Live Nation is not alone in its ambitions to take some control over its ticket sales. Many event organizers are slowly starting to wean themselves off the ticketing
titan, a task that has become easier thanks to the Internet.
In 2005, one of Ticketmaster’s biggest customers, Major League Baseball, broke away and bought Tickets.com, now the second largest ticketing retailer. Though not all MLB tickets are sold through Tickets.com, consolidation of all tickets under an MLB-controlled company is not out of the picture, TIME magazine reported.
The increasing separations from Ticketmaster may evenally lead to a rise in boutique ticketing agencies, all of which will, of course, need their own in-house counsel. Now that you’re really paying attention from the prospect of a job in the entertainment industry, consider the effect on ticket purchasers.
We can all hope that the new competition will lead to lower ticket prices for concertgoers, but ultimately this separation is unlikely to drive prices down in any significant way. The average ticket price for top tours in North America has increased about $35 in the past decade. Ticketmaster, LiveNation, and emerging ticketing agencies have personal incentives to maintain the status quo.
Though it might seem as if the partnership between Ticketmaster and Live Nation is over, the negotiations could still continue. Ticketmaster’s contract with Live Nation ends in 2008, and its contract with the House of Blues ends in 2009. Until then, anything is possible.
Garen Aliksanian is a 1L Day Student and may be reached at galiksanian@swlaw.edu.
last month.
Ticketmaster enjoys exclusive ticket-selling rights to most of the 29,000 events organized by Live Nation, the premier concert promoter in North America. While Ticketmaster is considered the one-stop shop for any and all types of tickets around the world, if it loses its contract with Live Nation, this may cease to be the case.
Contract negotiations between the two broke down last month, according to the memo, which states, “We believe we’ve taken every reasonable step possible to facilitate a renewal, but they seem intent on a direction for their business that leaves us no viable way to work together,” Variety.com reported.
According to Forbes.com, Ticketmaster is on the losing end of this deal. Variety.com reported that Live Nation, along with its affiliate the House of Blues, accounted for about 20
percent of Ticketmaster’s $1.1 billion in sales during 2006. Live Nation is a vital client that operates, books, and has equity interest in more than 160 venues in 18 countries, including the Wiltern, Avalon, and the House of Blues in LA.
It appears this particular loss might be detrimental to Ticketmaster, and Live Nation is not alone in its ambitions to take some control over its ticket sales. Many event organizers are slowly starting to wean themselves off the ticketing
titan, a task that has become easier thanks to the Internet.
In 2005, one of Ticketmaster’s biggest customers, Major League Baseball, broke away and bought Tickets.com, now the second largest ticketing retailer. Though not all MLB tickets are sold through Tickets.com, consolidation of all tickets under an MLB-controlled company is not out of the picture, TIME magazine reported.
The increasing separations from Ticketmaster may evenally lead to a rise in boutique ticketing agencies, all of which will, of course, need their own in-house counsel. Now that you’re really paying attention from the prospect of a job in the entertainment industry, consider the effect on ticket purchasers.
We can all hope that the new competition will lead to lower ticket prices for concertgoers, but ultimately this separation is unlikely to drive prices down in any significant way. The average ticket price for top tours in North America has increased about $35 in the past decade. Ticketmaster, LiveNation, and emerging ticketing agencies have personal incentives to maintain the status quo.
Though it might seem as if the partnership between Ticketmaster and Live Nation is over, the negotiations could still continue. Ticketmaster’s contract with Live Nation ends in 2008, and its contract with the House of Blues ends in 2009. Until then, anything is possible.
Garen Aliksanian is a 1L Day Student and may be reached at galiksanian@swlaw.edu.
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