The Wall Street Journal are quoting “people familiar with the matter” as saying that “Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. are close to a merger, in a deal that would consolidate two of the most powerful forces in the music industry under one roof.
"The combined company would be called Live Nation Ticketmaster," the Journal adds, "and would merge the world’s biggest concert promoter with the world’s most dominant ticketing and artist-management company. The resulting firm would be able to manage everything from recorded music to ticket sales and tour sponsorship. It could package artists in new ways, for example, allowing corporations such as a cellphone provider to sponsor a concert.”
While this is hardly a new angle, especially in Ireland, where Music Sponsorship is at a highly evolved stage, there is no doubt that a merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the US would be of major significance to the global music industry.
Ticketmaster shares plummeted by almost 33% on the NASDAQ last year, when Live Nation in the States announced that they wouldn’t be renewing their long-standing contract with the ticket retailers. Many industry insiders dismissed this as renewal posturing, but last month Live Nation launched their own site selling tickets to high-profile gigs by the likes of New Kids On The Block, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac and The Dave Matthews Band. They also signed a three-year deal with Blockbuster making the video chain their exclusive physical retail outlet in the US. Given the central role Live Nation plays in the US entertainment business, and their importance to Ticketmaster's turnover, these events have almost certainly triggered the impending merger deal.
Contacted by Hot Press, both Live Nation and Ticketmaster in Dublin declined to comment on the merger reports until further information became available. It remains uncertain whether or not European territories would be covered in the deal. However, the news is sure to pique interest on this side of the Atlantic where the contract between Live Nation and Ticketmaster UK and Ireland is due to expire at the end of 2009. Interestingly, Ireland and the UK's most successful music retailer HMV recently strengthened their position in both live music and ticket retailing, launching a joint venture with the MAMA group which will control eleven UK venues, as well as signing a new deal with the Seatem ticketing agency, and rolling out 20 new in-store box offices.

Any merger deal between Live Nation and Ticketmaster would likely be referred to the Competition Authorities in the EU for approval.

* Live Nation own the Dublin O2 and 50.1% of the UK-based Festival Republic organisation in which Denis Desmond’s MCD is the other shareholder. Formerly the Mean Fiddler Group, Festival Republic’s major outdoor events this year include Reading, Leeds, Latitude, Heavenly Planet, Pimm’s Summerfest and Glastonbury.