Yesterday, in what Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff called "a great win for fans" and many fans will surely contend, the Department of Justice approved the $2.5 billion merger of the Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the live music business that purchased Coran Capshaw’s Musictoday for a total $26.5 million between 2006 and 2007.
As part of the merger, Ticketmaster must license its ticketing software for use by other ticketing companies. It will also, according to the Los Angeles Times, divest a ticketing company called Paciolan, Inc., the sports arm of its ticketing empire. (Comcast-Spectator will reportedly acquire Paciolan.) Both companies neared their 52-week market highs yesterday; this morning, Live Nation shares continue to rise in value while Ticketmaster holds at the 15 percent increase it notched yesterday.
As for that "great win for fans"? Well, roughly one year ago, Ticketmaster caught a lot of attention for forwarding Bruce Springsteen fans to Ticketsnow—a website owned by Ticketmaster that allowed for the marked-up sale of tickets. While apologies were made to The Boss and his crew, one wonders what fans may go through now that Ticketmaster and Live Nation are set to become one and the same.
