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WASHINGTON—U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08) who earlier this week requested a federal investigation of Ticketmaster’s business practices and relationship with TicketsNow, today commended Bruce Springsteen for speaking out against Ticketmaster. Alarmed by the proposed merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation that Springsteen highlighted in his condemnation of Ticketmaster, Pascrell today requested that the House Judiciary Committee and federal regulators carefully scrutinize the transaction.
“This recent flap with TicketsNow exposed how a corporation with too much influence over the entertainment industry can hurt the average American music fan,” stated Pascrell. “I am adding my voice to the opposition that Bruce urged regarding the Ticketmaster, Live Nation merger. Such a transaction brings up serious antitrust issues that may only further disadvantage middle-class Americans and disenfranchise consumers. I look forward to working with the Judiciary Committee to carefully vet this proposed merger.”
A copy of the letter follows and is attached in as a pdf.
February 5, 2009
Chairman John Conyers, Jr. Chairman Hank Johnson, Jr.
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary
Full Committee Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy
2138 Rayburn House Office Building B-352 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Conyers and Chairman Johnson:
My office was deluged this week by calls from angry music fans in New Jersey and all across the country concerning problems they experienced while attempting to purchase tickets on Ticketmaster.com for Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming tour. Bruce Springsteen himself expressed anger over a conflict of interest issue that may have interfered with the way Ticketmaster served his fans.
At issue is the relationship between Ticketmaster and its affiliate company, TicketsNow. TicketsNow is a secondary market ticket reseller that offers fans who are unsuccessful in securing tickets on Ticketmaster.com with admission to the events they desire at values marked-up hundreds of dollars above face value. With Ticketmaster reaping a significant profit from TicketsNow sales, there is an obvious conflict of interest issue at play that calls into question the company’s business practices.
Because of Ticketmaster’s questionable relationship with TicketsNow, I am concerned by a report in yesterdays’s Wall Street Journal about Ticketmaster’s proposed merger with Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter. As the above example demonstrates, there is an incredible potential for abuse when one company controls the primary and secondary market for concert tickets. That potential will surely be magnified exponentially should one company be able to control every aspect of recording, record sales, licensing, venue ownership and ticket sales.
I view this proposed merger with great skepticism and strongly believe that any merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation be carefully scrutinized by federal regulators and your committee to ensure that it is in the best interests of consumers.
I look forward to discussing these issues with you in greater detail at a later date. Please feel free to contact Arthur Mandel at my staff at x55751 if you have any questions or require any further information.
Sincerely,
Bill Pascrell, Jr.
Member of Congress
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