Late last month, concert companies Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged, after approval from the US Anti-Trust. Both companies made venues sign contracts for exclusive access to ticket sales from over 100 venues in the US. The new company (keeping the name Live Nation) claims this will allow them to lower ticket prices. However, both companies have been accused of inflating their service fees in the past (a Coldplay ticket on Live Nation priced at $35 had over $20 extra in service fees this past summer).
"They've just received the biggest disincentive not to reduce ticket prices ever."
-David Viecelli (Agent for indie bands such as Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire)
"A bad idea for fans of live music."
-Tony Margherita (Manager for Wilco)
"Pretty much everybody agrees that ticket prices with service charges are too high - and I don't see anything in the Justice Department remedies that will change that one bit."
-John Scher (Manager for Simon and Garfunkel)
Knopper, Steve. "Live Nation and Ticketmaster Merge, Creating Music-Industry Superpower." Rolling Stone. 18 Feb 2010: 14-15.
Yes, I read Rolling Stone. Yes, their magazine is full of political bias. However, a year subscription was $2, so I might as well.
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