U.K. OK’s Ticketmaster-Live Nation deal

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Steve Chiotakis: It’s a huge entertainment merger that’s been proposed and now British regulators are giving it a green light. Marketplace’s European Correspondent Stephen Beard has more on the link-up of concert promoter Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Stephen Beard: Live Nation is the world’s biggest producer of live concerts. It stages 22,000 of them a year in 33 countries. Ticketmaster is the biggest ticket agency. Together, the two companies would be a major force in live music.

At first, that worried the U.K. Competition Commission. It feared that Live Nation would funnel all its ticket sales through Ticketmaster, and that would lead to higher prices. But now, on reflection, the commission has changed its mind. It says the deal will not lessen competition.

Quite right too, says Greg Parmley, editor of IQ Magazine:

Greg Parmley: Any concert promoters are looking to sell their tickets as quickly and as effectively as possible. There are a lot of other ticketing agencies out there, a lot of different ways to sell tickets. For Live Nation just to sell their tickets through Ticketmaster, I don’t think it’s going to happen at all.

Today’s go ahead means the merger faces no obstacles in Britain. But in the U.S., the Justice Department has yet to deliver its verdict.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.