Big Plans in the Music Business equals Bad News for the Consumer

Two of the biggest companies in the live music business, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, are planning what is going to be a very costly merger for musicians and fans. The companies who already own the rights of stars such as Madonna, Guns N’ Roses and The Eagles are about to own an even larger portion of the shrinking pie that has become the music business. The worst part about this is that those who make up the heart of the industry, the artists and the fans, are the ones who are going to be hit the worst.
When an artist goes on tour the promoter typically asks for a share of the revenue generated by live performance, merchandise and, sometimes, recorded music. If this merger goes through then that means these two companies get to call all the shots when it comes how much of the proceeds they think they deserve.
The same goes for the fans when they go to purchase their tickets. The prices will be set by this mega corporation and if you want to see the show, then there really is no wiggle room, other than third party ticket sales which are almost always higher priced. Let’s just hope they don’t get greedy, right?
Ticketmaster just recently suffered a PR blow when Springstein fired off at them for redirecting his fans to a different promoter that resells tickets for higher prices. Chief executive, Irving Azoff, issued and apology and promised refunds to fans.
From my perspective, it’s hard to understand what these companies are thinking from a public relations standpoint. The public’s perception of this merger is clearly not good, because it hurts the consumer. So why do these companies make such drastic moves when they know their consumer is not going to be happy?
Artists and fans have already put forth ideas to counterbalance the big corporation’s efforts, for instance asking fans for donations on their websites and steering clear from the large venues and ticket promoters when they go on tour.
Bottom line, if these giants de-harmonize the relationships with their clients and consumers, they had better be prepared to hold their own, because in the end artists and fans will continue to find more alternative ways to share their musical experiences.

://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/business/media/09carr.html?ref=business