DOJ Approves Live Nation - Ticketmaster Merger

The Department of Justic on Monday approved the merger of  artist management and ticket market Ticketmaster Inc. with concert promoter Live Nation Inc. This creates a single company capable of managing the revenues from artists end-end: artist management, bookings, venue ownership, tickets, merchandising, and recording are all within the Live Nation Entertainment Inc. scope.
 
The DOJ, as a condition of the approval, requires the new company to license its ticketing software to AEG Live, the number two concert promoter in the US. Ticketmaster must also shed its sports ticket arm, Paciolan.
 
With recorded music becoming an increasingly small part of the music revenue pie, this is probably not good news for the big record labels. However, industry experts say that much of that shift has already occurred.