Word: lively
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...Azoff says the critics, whether famous, furious or both, are missing the point of the merger: that it would produce greater efficiencies in the music business, which theoretically would benefit ticket buyers and artists. The proposed megamarriage of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, if approved by regulators, would combine the country's largest ticketing company with the nation's biggest concert promoter. Since the $2.5 billion all-stock deal was unveiled in February, a throng of players, ranging from angry independent concert promoters to frustrated music fans, has been drumming the Department of Justice to block the deal, claiming the merger...
...merger will combine Ticketmaster's ticketing and artist-management business with Live Nation's concert promotion, network of concert halls and fan-club operations under one roof. As a combined company, the new entity is expected to enjoy about $40 million in annual cost savings and have greater bargaining power to woo artists and sell out concert halls more efficiently. "Forty percent of the tickets to music events go unsold," said Azoff, whose Front Line artist-management group within Ticketmaster represents such artists as the Eagles and Guns N' Roses. "The goal of this [combined] company is to better market...
...Michael Rapino, chief executive of Live Nation, said this is no time to be getting in the way of business. "Every day, we are watching great American companies fail," he said. " These economic times require bold, fast action to innovate and grow...
...antitrust concerns are twofold. First, there's the so-called horizontal impact, which refers to when a company buys out a rival to eliminate competition. In this case, the merger will stop Live Nation's recently launched ticketing company from cutting in on Ticketmaster's turf. Live Nation dumped its ticketing contract with Ticketmaster in January after signing a 10-year contract to license ticketing software from Europe's CTS Eventim to run its own ticketing business. The move took a toll on Ticketmaster, which saw its profits dive 78% in the first quarter, partly due to the lost Live...
...Second, there's the vertical impact, which refers to the company's expansion into all parts of the live-music industry, from managing artists to selling beer and hot dogs at venues. Rivals worry that the merged company's far-reaching and powerful tentacles will favor the company's own acts, venues and promotion company and shut out competing concert halls, managers and promoters. "They'll be the concert promoter, the ticketing company, the merchandise company, the agent, the manager - they'll be everything," said Jerry Mickelson, co-owner of concert promoter Jam Productions. "It would be one-stop shopping...