So with slumping CD sales, music industry reports have shown that touring is the new breadwinner. Live Nation (who has signed Madonna) and Ticketmaster are planning to merge but some artists, especially those with independent labels are concerned it would be harder to book larger venues. And Bruce Springsteen is not very happy because in February, Ticketmaster redirected buyers to a secondary site where the prices of the tickets to his concert were hiked up. The merger would encourage monopolised music-ticketing. There might be some good news as just announced, New York Senator Chuck Schumer plans to introduce a legislation that will protect against unfair pricing by secondary-ticket markets.
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It’s interesting though, if we look at our own experiences with buying tickets. There’s a double standard here… My friends’ friends usually have “better deals” – they buy tickets not because they want to attend the concert but they want to make money by selling it to others, either in lower of higher prices. Sometimes people don’t even care if the price is higher as long as they get to see their favourite rock-star or to see their favourite Olympian. So if we are to curb the problem of secondary-ticket markets, shouldn’t we define who the real consumers and sellers are? And how are we able to do that efficiently? It won’t be soon before we are able to see legislations like that of Senator Schumer to take real effect even after it’s passed. However, it is a step forward to protect the rights of musicians, if not the rights of consumers.
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