“The most powerful and influential entity the music
business has ever known.” That’s Billboard’s Ray Waddell,
who knows what he’s talking about,
describing the merger.
Understand This Ticketmaster UK was the one to sell
Tickets in the UK for Michael Jackson O2 LONDON
until things took a sudden turn June 25, 2009.
One of the last things Michael Jackson stated to RandyPhillips
there at rehersals June 24th, 2009 according to Randy was:
" Thank you for getting me this far, I can take it from here"
AND THAT WAS IT...MICHAEL JACKSON WAS GONE...
THE FALLOUT: TICKETMASTER/LIVENATION
Irving Azoff has his back up against a wall.
The Live Nation (LYV) CEO faces declining ticket
sales at the concerts his company produces and his
company's 2009 revenue was down well below expectations
at $365 million from $450 million the year before. What's
more, he doesn't trust the numbers about concert tours
and he seems to have had it up to here with scalpers
and the so-called secondary ticket business.
In a lively conversation with Fortune magazine managing
editor Andy Serwer at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conf.
in Aspen, Azoff rehashed some of the ground he covered more
antagonistically at the company's investor day earlier this month.
There, he admonished investors who were selling shares and
driving the price down 20% as "short-sighted" and blamed the
press for spooking artists into rethinking their marketing
strategy.
Azoff attributed the company's poor revenue figures to the
merging two massive companies Live Nation and Ticketmaster,
which it acquired last year for $835 million (cash and stock) -
and the chaos of the ticket business.
To that end, the company is developing a dynamic ticketing
system in an effort to retain the activity it has lost after the sale
to scalpers and ticket brokers. The system will put ticket prices
in line with demand, shifting prices on the fly based on demand.
But that's where Azoff is extremely bullish. "We think of
ourselves as an e-commerce opportunity more than a ticketer
of live events," he said.
"We eventually think we can ticket everything"
Where he wasn't bullish was recorded music.
"Recorded music has become your marketing tool for
your entire career," he said.
"There's a reason Madonna did a deal with whatever clothing
line now instead of 15 years ago. The money coming in from
third-party branding is kind of replacing recorded music."
NOTE: For those who would like to read alittle
Background on LIVE NATION/TICKETMASTER
Irving Azoff/Ticketmaster was selling tickets to o2 London
for Michael Jackson TII. His history w/ Michael goes way back
to Trudy Green whose partnered w/ HK MANAGMENT/
FRONT LINE MANAGEMENT..Azoff s managment arm.
* * * * * * * * *
Could it be that Azoff/Phillips wanted his return on Jackson
and Michaels answer was: I can take it from here... And so