Live Nation (and ticketmaster)
Lots of talk about the proposed merger of LiveNation and Ticketmaster over the last few days. Its not hard to see why Ticketmaster would be interested in getting in closer to LiveNation, they have pulled off some impressive strategic moves over the last few years - most notably persuading huge artists to sign contracts with them. Its one thing to have recognized that the decline of recorded music would lead to a resurgence of live music, its quite another thing to persuade artists sitting on huge record label deals of the same thing.
Ticketmaster has an image probem that it needs to solve - I (amongst many others) have been a vocal critic its charging system for some time. What is grating is that most artists and venues hate passing along inflated convenience charges to their fans, but feel restricted by a lack of options. But Ticketmaster control the market for sure, and a tie up with the largest concert promoter in the world makes considerable sense - I hope both parties realize the potential to build a slick end-to-end live music experience.
Putting aside the obvious anti-competitive nature of any deal, which will probably end up derailing these discussions, opportunities will emerge for a new wave of live music experience providers. The fact is, most customers resent the charges that ticketmaster applies, and would actively support a viable alternative. Assuming bands and venues do indeed feel the same way, then a clear opportunity exists for a low-cost ticketing business that relies on electronic ticket distribution and passes savings back to fans through lower/non-existent convenience charges. Lots more on this another day…
It also creates a big opportunity for a live music experience provider that can build a service specifically tuned for real music fans - whether its true or not, most music fans will tell you that live nation and ticketmaster are out of touch with real music fans, and resentment exists for their size and power in the market. That is why I am really excited to see how my friends at Songkick develop their product - those guys really get music fans and continue to build an experience that is tailored just for them. If this merger does go through, companies like Songkick that put fans first might find themselves as the big winners.
