The Badger Herald: Opinion: Proposed ticket company merger reeks of monopoly

Opinion

Proposed ticket company merger reeks of monopoly

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Also by Emily Osborne:

BadgerCare Plus Core Plan was lacking in positives (October 8, 2009)
Mifflin area more than just a street (September 13, 2009)
Attorney General flip-flops on same-sex rights, discredits self (September 1, 2009)
UW tuition initiative good investment for all students (April 9, 2009)
Proposed ticket company merger reeks of monopoly (March 26, 2009)

By Emily Osborne
Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:51 p.m.

2 Vote 0 Votes

The potential Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger is nothing but the latest in Ticketmaster’s feeble — and laughably almost successful — attempts to monopolize the live concert industry. After announcing in early February their plans to merge, Senators Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and Charles E. Shumer, R-N.Y., rallied a committee to discuss what many in the music industry perceive as a deliberate attempt, on Ticketmaster’s part, at market domination. If this ridiculously blatant attempt to screw over customers is legitimized, millions of potential customers will be left with two options: fork over excess money to Ticketmaster or be content with the “live” quality of your car radio because you’re out of luck.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation are falsely alleging they were never competing companies, though a merger wasn’t discussed until Live Nation sucked up 15 percent of Ticketmaster’s profits. The attempt by Ticketmaster to eliminate competition is an obvious effort at dishonestly avoiding, rather than coming to terms with, the inevitable market competition that should rightly exist in a capitalist economy.

Ticketmaster currently sells tickets for an estimated 80 percent of concert venues, but apparently to the top execs at Ticketmaster, this isn’t enough. Sen. Kohl rightly questioned, “If Live Nation can’t compete with Ticketmaster, who can?” But as Sen. Kohl suspects, this is Ticketmaster’s intention, to break the law by eliminating all potential competition. And in all honesty, isn’t that the core of the monopolistic argument?

Wisconsin is fortunate enough to have a senator who truly values his constituent’s needs. Sen. Kohl, chairman of the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee, has been at the forefront of the Ticketmaster merger controversy, asking the tough questions and demanding consumer rights. With concertgoers intentions in mind, Herb Kohl has voiced both skepticism and disapproval concerning the merger. Rightly worried concertgoers will be penalized, and Kohl has expressed much-needed concern that customers will likely be paying more for their concert tickets if the merger is allowed to pass. Kohl demanded that Ticketmaster and Live Nation demonstrate this is leaving “consumers better off,” which will be no easy feat, as Ticketmaster is infamous for steep service charges and its frustrating hold on the market. Sen. Kohl has fortunately been one of few to step forward despite an obvious need and public demand for market diversity.

It is naïve and false to suggest customers will be better off after this merger, and it is impossibly unlikely that they will be able to plead their case. Customers have been exploited again and again since the beginning of Ticketmaster, and it appears this may be the last straw in a series of Ticketmaster’s bold efforts to steal from concertgoers’ pockets. It will be most enjoyable, though equally irritating, to see the lies Ticketmaster will inevitably weave in an attempt to prove its worth in the market. People, and music artists alike, have been frustrated with Ticketmaster’s schemes for years, and it is only natural that their past has caught up to the company. If Ticketmaster is to learn anything from this, it’s that customers won’t return if they feel manipulated and undervalued. However, it is Ticketmaster’s plan to leave its customers with no other options, forcing them to return.

Not only are Ticketmaster and Live Nation alleging they were not competing companies, they are also attesting that they do not set prices, arguing instead that music artists set them. Thank you, Ticketmaster, for infuriating every person who has been overcharged for the balcony seats of a headlining concert. As any person who has navigated through Ticketmaster’s website knows, customers are paying much more than the price set by the artist. Leave it to this money-hungry company to claim they have no intention at making a profit. How funny is it that Ticketmaster makes a huge percentage of its proceeds not from the ticket price (that yes, are set by the artist) but rather from service, building, and processing charges, all which come out of the customer’s bank accounts.

As if there weren’t already enough problems with Ticketmaster concerning its overpriced tickets and the thoroughly unfair access to these tickets, these problems are likely to be magnified by the merger with Live Nation. So, while technically Ticketmaster can claim its not setting prices, what the company cannot claim is it is not manipulating the concert market, making a huge profit and overcharging customers while doing so.

Emily Osborne (ekosborne@wisc.edu) is a freshman intending to major in journalism.

2 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | March 27, 2009 1:57 AM | Reply
IP hash: d1d9c67e

look a little deeper into where those fees come from, you claims are just flat wrong. plenty to be angry about, just look for yourself and get your own opinion and stop taking the easy factless route. people only get ude when they really dont know what they are talking bout.