The evil Ticketmaster involved in yet another takeover! The good news here, promoters possibly having more say in how they run and book their events, which is a good thing for artists and fans. Will be interesting to see if the acquisition moves forward.

From: Five Eight

Ticketmaster and Cablevision (owners of Madison Square Garden Entertainment) are looking to acquire around 49% of AEG Live, the second-largest promoter in the world (with an estimated value of $350-$400M). The deal would enable AEG Live to compete directly with Live Nation at a much higher level as both companies strive to become full-service concert promotion and ticketing businesses. It would also see the company stealing away a ticketing partnership with Ticketmaster (whose contract with Live Nation is set to expire in 2009). “If those rumours are true and there’s investments made into a competitor like AEG, for one it validates the frenzy around the live business,” said Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino. Live Nation has just announced a net loss of $18.4M in Q4 of 2007, compared to a loss of $33.1M for the same period in 2006. With live the lynchpin holding the music economy together at present, just how will the wider industry fare as the balance of power starts to shift dramatically in favour of promoters?

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