[DoodahMan]

PLEASE make this happen Uncle Sam! i am a lover of music, my friends are lovers of music, the circles i run in on the internet are lovers of music. i cannot express in words how much Live Nation sucks. they are ruining concerts. not only do they have a strangle-hold on venues, but why the hell are they "allowed" to run some in-house scalping ops? i cannot wait for the day i see their demise. i will not pour out a beer for them! sorry for the rant HN. Pearl Jam was right decades ago man.

[peterlk]

Note that this follows on the heels of the recent (near?) death of California Senate Bill 829 [0] - which is taking aim at the vertical integration of live performance by Live Nation. If you’re in CA, call your representatives!

With this in mind, to continue your rant…

The anticompetitive behavior of Live Nation is toxic to the music and performing arts industries. It’s the Walmart effect, except consumers end up paying way more because exclusivity contracts prevent competition. Artists sign exclusivity contracts with Live Nation, and onlt play Live Nation Venues. Venues purchased by live nation outbid independent venues until those venues sign exclusivity agreements with Live Nation or die, and then Live Nation pushes up the price.

[0] https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB829/id/2796147

[hnburnsy]

> but why the hell are they "allowed" to run some in-house scalping ops?

Because the promoters, talent, and talent management are all in on it, TM just agrees to take the heat for its cut.

That is not to say that separating TM from the venues will not help concert goers, but maybe not as much as you might think.

[us0r]

This.

I was a fly on the wall for a conversation with someone who runs a 12k seat venue. They guaranteed Harry Styles $5 million for 2 nights and made it work because.... "secondary". Even the venues are in on the scalping.