Ticketmaster / Live Nation

Scalping

• ‘A public relations nightmare’- Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program – CBC News
• ‘Industrial-scale ticket scalping.’ Senators grill Ticketmaster over Taylor Swift concert fiasco – USA Today
• Report: Ticketmaster Is Colluding With Ticket Scalpers, Taking A Cut – CBS Los Angeles
• Ticketmaster is colluding with ticket scalpers and taking a cut, undercover report finds – CBS News
• Ticketmaster Has Its Own Secret ‘Scalping Program,’ Canadian Journalists Report – NPR
• Ticketmaster Has Secretly Been Cheating You With Its Own Scalpers – Rolling Stone
• Ticketmaster Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Scalping Report – Rolling Stone
• Ticketmaster reportedly has secret deals with scalpers that cheat fans – CNBC
• Ticketmaster Scalping Scandal- 15 Things to Know About the Shocking Report – Yahoo
• Ticketmaster Slapped With Class-Action Lawsuit Over Scalping – Fortune
• Ticketmaster-parent exec to blame ‘industrial-scale ticket scalping’ in testimony – 1330 & 101.5 WHBL

Destroying Music

• How Ticketmaster ruined the concertgoing experience, and how it might be saved – The Washington Post

Monopoly

• Lawsuit Claims Live Nation, Ticketmaster Have Monopoly on Ticket Sales – Rolling Stone
• The Live Nation and Ticketmaster monopoly – CNBC
• The rise of Live Nation and the fear of an emerging music monopoly – by ABC News – ABC News Australia – Medium

• Does Live Nation Have A Monopoly On The Concert Industry? – All That Shreds Magazine!
• Live Nation, Ticketmaster Face Lawsuit Over Alleged Monopoly – Digital Music News
• Live Nation’s virtual monopoly makes it a winner, this fund manager says – Cantech Letter
• More Needs to Be Done to Reign in the Ticketmaster Monopoly – Public Knowledge
• The Ticket Monopoly Is Worse Than Ever (Thanks, Obama) – The New Republic
• Ticketmaster, Live Nation Accused of Monopoly Practices in New Lawsuit – Ticket News

Extortion Racket

• Live Nation Accused of Shutting Out Venues That Don’t Use Ticketmaster in New Lawsuit – The Hollywood Reporter

• Live Nation faces Justice Department action over ticketing practices – Los Angeles Times

• Live Nation Rules Music Ticketing, Some Say With Threats – The New York Times

Hacking

• Internal Ticketmaster emails show the company hacked into one of its rivals, lawsuit claims – Insider

• Ticketmaster admits it hacked rival company before it went out of business – Ars Technica

• Ticketmaster To Pay $10 million After Illegally Hacking Rival’s System – Gizmodo

• Ticketmaster Pays $10 Million Criminal Fine for Intrusions into Competitor’s Computer Systems. Ticketmaster Used Passwords Unlawfully Retained by a Former Employee of a Competitor to Access Computer Systems in Scheme to “Choke Off” the Victim’s Business – D.O.J.

Taylor Swift

• ‘Definition of monopoly’- Ticketmaster ripped in Congress after Taylor Swift fiasco [Video] – AOL
• Is Ticketmaster a monopoly? – The Economist
• Senators accuse Ticketmaster, parent company, of being monopoly – WNCT 0
• Senators slam Live Nation over Ticketmaster’s dominance, botched Taylor Swift sale – CNBC
• The Live Nation and Ticketmaster monopoly of live entertainment – CNBC
• The problem with Ticketmaster, explained not by Taylor Swift – Vox
• Ticketmaster and Live Nation were not supposed to create a monopoly. Here’s why music fans, lawmakers, and Taylor Swift are fed up with the ticketing platforms – Fortune

Pearl Jam

• How Pearl Jam took on the music industry and lost – but predicted the future – The Independent

• PEARL JAM ENDS TICKETMASTER BOYCOTT – The Washington Post

• Pearl Jam lost their battle against Ticketmaster in court but the fight against the concert giants isn’t over. – Rolling Stone

• Pearl Jam Took on Ticketmaster 20 Years Ago – Yahoo

Emanuel

• Emanuel: Hands off with Ticketmaster, Lolla – WBEZ Chicago
  • As first reported here on Monday, mayoral frontrunner Rahm Emanuel has received campaign contributions from the two top executives at the controversial and monopolistic national concert giant Ticketmaster/Live Nation: $5,000 from ruthless CEO Michael Rapino and $10,000 from executive chairman Irving Azoff, the infamous “Poison Dwarf” whose nickname is thoroughly explained in Fred Dannen’s timeless music-business exposé, Hit Men.

    These contributions come at a time when Ticketmaster/Live Nation is looking to secure a long-term contract for a concert venue on Northerly Island, as well as any other advantage it can grab over its independent rivals in this market. (Acting as its local attorney, another mayoral candidate, Gery Chico, nearly succeeded in helping the mega-corporation wrest the Uptown Theatre away from Jam Productions a few years ago, and Ticketmaster/Live Nation remains eager to secure a venue of that size in Chicago.)

    Rahm’s brother, Hollywood talent agent Ari Emanuel, serves on the board of directors of Ticketmaster/Live Nation. What’s more, Ari’s agency, William Morris Endeavor, owns 50 percent of Lollapalooza, which has a tax- and competition-free deal keeping it in Grant Park through 2018. And no fewer than 15 William Morris employees have donated a total of $141,000 to Rahm’s campaign.

• Rahm Emanuel: Pal$ with thuggish concert giants Ticketmaster / Live Nation and Lollapalooza   – WBEZ Chicago
• Who Dares Challenge Ticketmaster? New Face for the Hunchback – Chicago Reader

Facts and Stats

• Live Nation Entertainment – Wikipedia