What is Ticketmaster Live Nation?

Ticketmaster Live Nation is a global live events and ticketing company that was formed in 2010 after Ticketmaster and Live Nation merged. The company has two main divisions – Live Nation for live events promotion and ticketing, and Ticketmaster for online ticket sales. Ticketmaster Live Nation sells over 500 million tickets per year and promotes over 40,000 live events annually across dozens of countries. It dominates the live events and ticketing industry, especially in North America.

What does Ticketmaster Live Nation do?

As a live events and ticketing giant, Ticketmaster Live Nation has two core businesses:

• Live events promotion and operation – This includes producing, promoting, and hosting live concerts, festivals, tours, and other events at its owned/operated venues and third-party venues globally. Live Nation promotes major global tours for top artists and owns major event promoters like House of Blues and Fillmore.
• Ticketing services – This includes providing ticketing software and services that allow official event organizers and venues to sell tickets online, by phone, or at ticket outlet locations. Ticketmaster sells tickets for Live Nation events and also provides ticketing services for third-party sports leagues, venues, theaters, festivals, and more.

In essence, Ticketmaster Live Nation handles all major aspects of the live entertainment business – it owns the venues, promotes/produces the shows, and sells the tickets. This vertical integration gives it unmatched reach and influence in the industry.

What are Ticketmaster Live Nation’s key assets and brands?

As the world’s largest live events company, Ticketmaster Live Nation owns important assets and brands across the live entertainment value chain:

• Venues – Over 200 large venues and festival sites globally including House of Blues, Fillmore, and VIP clubs. Also books shows at 3rd party venues.
• Ticketing – Ticketmaster is the world’s largest primary ticketing company. Also owns international ticketing brands like Eventim.
• Artist Management – Manages over 500 top artists and bands across all music genres.
• Live Promotion – Promotes over 40,000 live events annually as the world’s largest promoter. Owns promoter brands like Live Nation Concerts and National Artists.
• Sponsorship – Sells event sponsorships and experiential programs for brands.

This collection of core ticketing, venue, promotion, management, and sponsorship assets gives Live Nation unmatched reach across artists, venues, events, distributors, fans and brands.

What are the key divisions and subsidiaries of Ticketmaster Live Nation?

Ticketmaster Live Nation has the following key operating divisions and subsidiaries:

• Ticketmaster – Provides ticket sales, ticket resale services, marketing and distribution globally.
• Live Nation Concerts – Promotes thousands of live concerts and events annually across all venues and genres.
• House of Blues – Owns and operates a major chain of live music venues and restaurants in the U.S.
• Fillmore – Another chain of branded live music venues and clubs primarily located in major U.S. cities.
• Front Line Management – Manages music artists and bands across genres.
• Live Nation Network – Provides cable TV programming and online live streaming content focused on live events, concerts, and music documentaries.
• VIP Tickets – Sells ticket packages with premier seats, special amenities, hospitality services, etc.

The company also has divisions for venue security, merchandise sales, artist tour marketing, secondary ticket sales, and technology services.

What is Ticketmaster Live Nation’s business and revenue model?

Ticketmaster Live Nation utilizes multiple business models and revenue streams across its different live event operations:

• Ticket fees – Charges fees on every ticket sold online, by phone or at outlets for events. This accounts for a majority of revenues.
• Event promotion – Profits from promoting tours and producing live events at its owned/operated venues.
• Sponsorships – Sells event sponsorships and activation opportunities to brands.
• Service fees – Charges a fee to venue clients for providing ticketing services and technology for events.
• Food & beverage – Concessions sales at its owned and operated venues and VIP clubs.
• Venue rental – Generates revenues by renting its venues out to third party promoters/event organizers.
• Advertising – Sells digital, print, TV advertising around events.
• Artist management – Takes a % of artist earnings from various entertainment income sources.

This diversified model allows Live Nation to generate revenues from the entire live entertainment ecosystem and reduce risk from any one revenue stream.

How large is Ticketmaster Live Nation?

Ticketmaster Live Nation has enormous scale as the world’s largest live events and ticketing company. Some key facts about its size and reach:

• In 2019, it promoted over 40,000 live events that sold 504 million tickets.
• It owns over 200 major venues and clubs globally with 86 million annual venue attendance.
• In 2019 it had over 30,000 corporate sponsors.
• Live Nation Concerts had over 500 million in average event attendance from 2015-2019.
• It provides ticketing services for over 12,000 global clients across venues, sports, attractions.
• In 2019, it sold over 500 million tickets worth an estimated $29 billion in gross transaction value.

The company sold around 100 million more tickets than all major sports leagues in North America combined in 2019. This gives a sense of Live Nation’s enormous ticketing distribution power globally across concerts and live events.

What is Ticketmaster Live Nation’s history?

Ticketmaster Live Nation was formed in 2010 from the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Here are some key events in the history of both companies:

• 1996 – Ticketmaster acquires its main ticketing rival Ticketron and secures dominance in computerized event ticketing services.
• 1998 – Robert Sillerman begins consolidating regional concert promotion firms into SFX Entertainment to form a national promoter.
• 2000 – SFX Entertainment is sold to Clear Channel and merged into Clear Channel Entertainment to form a major national concerts promoter.
• 2005 – Clear Channel spins off its live entertainment business as Live Nation, the world’s largest live events promoter.
• 2007 – Live Nation begins expanding into ticketing services to compete with Ticketmaster and partners with AEG venues.
• 2009 – Ticketmaster and Live Nation announce plans to merge into integrated ticketing/promotion company.
• 2010 – The Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger is approved with conditions, forming Live Nation Entertainment (LYV).
• 2011 – Live Nation closes Ticketmaster’s secondary ticket resale division TicketExchange.
• 2021 – Live Nation acquires majority stake in Latin music giant OCESA.

The merged Ticketmaster Live Nation powerhouse has transformed the live entertainment industry by integrating global ticketing services with concert promotion and venue ownership.

Who are Ticketmaster Live Nation’s main competitors?

Ticketmaster Live Nation has some major competitors in different parts of the live events business:

• AXS – AEG’s ticketing division and Live Nation’s main competitor in event ticketing technology.
• SeatGeek – Primary and resale ticketing platform used by some sports teams and theaters.
• Universe – Ticketmaster competitor in some European markets owned by Eventim.
• C3 Presents – Major U.S. concerts and festivals promoter focused on Texas and the Midwest.
• Another Planet – Leading U.S. promoter for theaters and clubs venues, owned by AEG.
• MSG Entertainment – Leading venue owner/promoter in New York focused on theaters and arenas.
• Bowery Presents – Dominant promoter in Northeast U.S. for small music venues.
• SMG – Ranks 2nd globally in convention center management and also operates venues.

However, no single competitor comes close to matching Ticketmaster Live Nation’s unmatched scope of ticketing technology, venues, promotion infrastructure, distribution power, and artist relationships globally.

What ticket fees does Ticketmaster charge?

Ticketmaster uses a variable ticketing fee structure depending on the event type, price points, sales channel and services. Typical fees include:

• A per ticket convenience fee often between $5-$20 for online/phone sales.
• An order processing fee per order – often $5-$10 per order.
• A delivery fee per order for print-at-home or mail delivery of $2.50-$15+.
• An extra charge (often $4-$12 per ticket) for mobile entry tickets.
• Potential premium and dynamic “market based” pricing on high demand tickets.
• Higher fees on event day and last minute sales.
• Higher fees for front row/VIP seating packages.

For top events, total fees can add up to 25-30%+ of the base ticket price, leading to consumer complaints. But Ticketmaster maintains the fees cover costs and provide value-added service.

Does Ticketmaster Live Nation face any controversies?

Ticketmaster Live Nation’s dominance in live entertainment has sparked some controversies and criticisms over the years:

• Some consumer groups and fans allege its high ticket processing and service fees amount to “price gouging” by a monopoly.
• Artists and rival promoters claim exclusive venue and ticketing deals lock out competition and drive up consumer costs.
• Lack of major competitors in ticketing has raised anti-trust concerns in the U.S. and internationally.
• Dynamic and speculative ticket pricing has angered some fans and consumer groups resulting in legal disputes.
• Government conditions imposed after the merger banned retailer ticket exclusivity deals and required fee disclosures.
• Scandals around fake ticket waiting lists, improper cross-selling, and erroneous fee advertising have led to class action lawsuits.

However, Ticketmaster Live Nation maintains it helps venues maximize reach, provides value-added ticketing services, and increases consumer choice. The live events business involves high risks that require integrated ticketing and promotion at scale to mitigate losses and costs across thousands of events.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected Ticketmaster Live Nation?

The COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation of thousands of live events in 2020 had a devastating impact on Ticketmaster Live Nation. Some effects included:

• Live Nation promotions revenue dropped 98% year-over-year from $1.6 billion in Q2 2019 to just $31 million in Q2 2020.
• Ticket revenue fell 98% year-over-year from $1.3 billion in Q2 2019 to just $30 million in Q2 2020.
• It had to refund over $2 billion in tickets for over 11,000 concerts in 2020 that could not be held due to COVID-19.
• It lost over $630 million alone on concert ticket refunds in Q2 2020.
• Stock price (LYV) fell over 60% from $77 in January 2020 to under $30 by April 2020.
• It cut staff by 20% or over 3,500 employees and executives took pay cuts to conserve over $1.1 billion in cash.

The near total loss of live events and ticketing revenues in 2020 devastated Ticketmaster Live Nation’s business. However, pent up fan demand for concerts, government support, and online shows/livestreams are enabling it to start recovering in 2021-2022.

What is Ticketmaster Live Nation’s current stock price and valuation?

As of October 2022, Live Nation Entertainment stock is trading at around $87, near its 52-week high. Its market cap stands at $20.3 billion, reflecting an implied enterprise value of $24 billion when including net debt. The P/E multiple of 62 reflects very high expected growth as demand rebounds.

Is Ticketmaster Live Nation a monopoly in live entertainment and ticketing?

Ticketmaster Live Nation does have tremendous power, but experts debate if it constitutes an illegal monopoly:

• The 2010 merger gave it control of up to 80-90% of major concert venue box office ticketing in the U.S. and 70%+ globally.
• It promotes over 70% of the top 100 global touring acts through exclusive deals.
• Over 70% of major U.S. amphitheaters are either owned or booked by Live Nation.
• No other ticketing company comes remotely close in scale and reachable across multiple live entertainment segments.

However, some argue it still faces competition in certain areas:

• AXS provides ticketing for 15%+ of major U.S. venues in competition with Ticketmaster.
• Smaller regional promotion firms like Another Planet entertain tens of millions annually.
• Bands like One Direction have used Songkick instead of Ticketmaster for fan club presales.
• Rival promoters and venues have won lawsuits over anti-competitive behavior in some markets like New York.

While clearly holding unmatched power, experts debate if it meets the legal threshold for having an unassailable monopoly across all live entertainment globally.

Conclusion

In summary, Ticketmaster Live Nation is the dominant global force in live entertainment ticketing and promotions. Its unmatched array of ticketing technology, venues, event promotion infrastructure, distribution channels and partnerships across venues, artists and fans provides powerful competitive advantages. While facing criticism over high fees and industry power, the scope provides significant capabilities to connect live experiences with fans and promote events in a high-risk business. The pandemic dealt the company a massive blow, but it is well positioned to grow again as demand returns and it expands into new international markets, venues and ticketing technology services.