Live Nation to acquire Ticketmaster for $2.5 billion, plus $700 million in convenience charges.

So Live Nation is buying Ticketmaster! No, they're not REALLY paying a $700m service charge in this deal (never know who will actually believe that). What does this mean? Hell if I know, I'm not 'in the know' on this type of thing. But I'm sure both companies will continue to operate separately and metaphorically violate you at every opportunity while making a hefty profit for a bunch of silver-haired douchebags sitting around a table made out of a single piece of wood from a tree that was 700 years old who have never even heard of the bands being promoted and probably couldn't care less either.

I've also heard that TicketsNOW, an offshoot of Ticketmaster which scalped its own tickets to high-profile events, is being sued by 'somebody'. The reality of this actually succeeding if it can beat the team of incredibly-priced lawyers probably on retainer for Live Nation/Ticketmaster [am I the first blog to officially acknowledge this new company in writing?] is almost as real as Pam Anderson's chesticles. While people bitched about ticket prices on TicketsNOW, they all paid the price. This is called CONSENT and is most likely a technical waiver of liability. While I doubt Ticketmaster will continue scalping their own tickets after a blaze of negative press I know that they wont be successfully sued, other than in the case of the Bruce Springsteen tickets which had the company give the excess money back to the buyer....but that was so "The Boss" didn't shit a brick and refuse to perform.

REALITY CHECK:
As long as we all continue to download music for free, we'll be paying out the ass for ticket prices since bands are run as a BUSINESS and look to recoup lost revenue from shitty CD sales by charging more for concerts. Luckily, with higher ticket prices comes a higher level of expectation for entertainment. Yes, I say that means we should all be throwing the bottles of water we paid $7 for at the stage if the band is half-assing it. Of course touring is hard, but suck it up pretty boys (and girls), you play music for a living. Your search for sympathy is futile.

End rant.