14-Mar-2022 (Mon)
Wherein there are lots of things to be angry about, but one of them is still TicketMaster.
Here's John Oliver's piece from last night on multinational superpredator TicketMaster / Live Nation:
You may remember TicketMaster from such hits as:
- "Wherein three national corporations control nearly all of San Francisco's live music."
- "Ticketmaster is recruiting professional scalpers who cheat its own system to expand its resale business and squeeze more money out of fans".
- "Live Nation admits putting tickets straight on the resale market".
- "Live Nation and DOJ reach 'settlement' that does nothing but extend the time period of the consent decree, with no fine."
- "Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who personally ordered that Jamal Khashoggi be kidnapped and dismembered alive with a bone saw, now owns 6% of Live Nation / TicketMaster."
- "Big Music Needs to Be Broken Up to Save the Industry".
5 Responses:
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Honestly a bit miffed they didn't have a pull quote from you. ;)
In all seriousness, I wish they touched on the dismantling of independent local venues, but glad we at least got the ticketing aspect exposed.
Do restrictive zoning laws help entrench and empower the likes of LiveNation and Ticketmaster?
I don't know what axe you're trying to grind here, but... no.
I've been hating on TicketBastard^H^H^H^H^H^H^HMaster since, well, as long I've been going to concerts (1985). Don't we have _any_ anti-monopoly laws that will release us from the Great Satan's grasp?
Did you purposely exclude this one about Clear Channel, or is there just to much abuse to remember it all?
https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2004/05/25.html
Maybe the patent mentioned in the post has expired, so yay? But I bet there's some lawyerly shenanigans that prevent me from buying a digital copy of the show I just saw. Or maybe the Live Nation monopoly is the one ring to rule them all.
I actually forgot about that one!
I guess the patent expires next year, and it would apply equally to thumb drives as to CDs.