Ticketmaster has a new deal. Buy a ticket for a show before Labor Day and get a free song on iTunes. That's right - pay $30 more than you used to for a concert ticket and ticketing fees and they give you a song that the average person values at 25 cents. Such a deal.

Live music is just as bad off as recorded music.

Live Nation, the spinoff from Clear Channel, is the world's largest live music company and the second largest venue management company. And they're getting bigger, as they acquiring HOB Entertainment, the owner of the House of Blues music halls and restaurants.

In 2006 Live Nation hosted 60 million concert fans at 26,000 events in 18 countries. They own, operate, have booking rights for, or have an equity interest in more than 160 venues.

Live Nation and TicketMaster aren't inherently evil. But like the major labels themselves they're an example of why monopolies don't work in the long-term. They kill competition, raise prices, minimize artist payments, and are too big to adapt to change in a technology-driven world.

Bob Leftsetz isn't as kind as I am. His rant starts:

This is TicketMaster's idea of cool? Overcharge me for the ticket (maybe not their fault, we can blame that one on the greedy act/manager/agent), then hit me with all kinds of bogus fees and then give me ONE FREE SONG? Whoop-de-doo!

More is below.

Lefsetz writes::

Boy has TM got an image issue. The public hates them. If they wanted to give back... How about if you buy the fucking ticket, which is expensive no matter WHAT the beginning price ($15 ticket? $15 in FEES!) you get the WHOLE DAMN ALBUM!

Used to be the tour was an advertisement for the album, now the album is an advertisement for the tour. But many people don't have the fucking record and have no intention of ever buying it, especially with heritage acts. God, the Stones' "Bigger Bang" was their best-reviewed album in twenty five years, but it STILL didn't sell. Why do you need to own it? But if people are already agreeing to spend in excess of $100 to see these geriatrics, they MIGHT check out new music by the band. Hell, why make an album if no one HEARS IT!

Which is why most of the heritage acts HAVE STOPPED making records. Sure, most have nothing to say, but on the chance they do, why not give the music to those who express interest!

But NO, we're gonna give you one track of your choice, and then feed you a fucking sampler album. And you know you can't get one without the other. No, the ten or twenty bullshit tracks that you don't ever want to listen to will be cluttering up your hard drive. And most people are too stupid to realize when you delete them from your iTunes Library THEY REMAIN ON YOUR HARD DRIVE! Shit, Walter Mossberg beats up the computer companies for adding craplets (http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20070405/pcs-mired-in-chores/) and nobody at TM reads the fucking business paper of record and thinks they're doing their fans some fucking good!

This is not 1973, music is not a scarce resource. You can steal it online, you can hard drive swap, you can listen to every act known to man on MySpace and the big breakthrough is you're going to feed us label priorities that we're NOT FUCKING INTERESTED IN?

These pricks should read Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing" (http://www.sethgodin.com/permission/). Wherein he delineates how the game has changed. You have to ASK the customer, and only give him what he wants. It's a changed era. Seth is getting rich spreading his wisdom, but the fucks in the music business are all losing their jobs. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS MOVIE!

Apple isn't blame free, but we know their agenda. Just get everybody hooked on iTunes, make exclusive deals with everybody in the music business, and nobody can compete. And they'll emerge almost blame free in the eyes of the public, who'll hate the dreaded TICKETMASTER once again.

God are things fucked up. Did you read that inane insane bullshit about Florida and the used CDs (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-record-shops-used-cds-ihre-papieren-bitte.html)? Yup, that's the cancer on our industry, the sale of used CDs. No, it's keeping indie retailers in BUSINESS! Stop the sale of USED CDs and the sale of NEW CDs will fall even further. Yup, with nowhere to BUY the music, you sell LESS!

And Verizon cancelling sponsorship of the Gwen Stefani tour over the Akon fracas. You know handlers will now be lecturing their charges on everyday behavior. Then again, a star's everyday behavior is ALL OVER the Web! So, if you're not a reasonable person, EVERYBODY KNOWS! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUV6b-J31GE)

And why does Gwen Stefani need sponsorship money anyway? Why does any STAR need sponsorship money? They're charging a fortune, they're selling out, it's PURE GREED! And you wonder why the public hates the whole fucking music business.

You're in it for the money, admit it. Don't tell me the public doesn't care. If the public didn't care, sales would be through the roof, new acts would be selling out arenas, stadium shows would be de rigueur. You can't believe in the music or the people who make it. But the people who are selling it, they're the WORST!

http://www.apple.com/itunes/ticketmaster/

"Bob Lefsetz is the author of "The Lefsetz Letter." Famous for being beholden to no one and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself. His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who's in the music business. Never boring, always entertaining, Bob's insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and consultancies to major labels."

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