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Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

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Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#11

Post by saaaaaam »

rrrpdx1 wrote: post #8

I always wonder why ticketmaster/live nation isn't making more money? Given they are a monopoly, I'd expect them to be making a ton of profit. But it doesn't really seem to look that way: https://www.google.com/finance/quote/LYV:NYSE

Because a large proportion of the money flows out the door. Most of their revenue is pass-through revenue, due to the sports teams and concert promoters (and by extension musicians) they sell tickets for. Ticketing works as a high volume low margin business.

You need to deduct at least 70% (or more) from their topline to get a true picture of the company’s revenue vs revenue that walks straight out the door.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#12

Post by luizfzs »

mschuster91 wrote: post #4

> With all the hate Ticketmaster has gotten and all the other ticketing platforms out there, I'm surprised Ticketmaster still has a hold of pretty much the entire market. That's the thing. Everyone hates Ticketmaster... but forgets that the venues and even many high profile artists could easily cancel their contracts with Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster takes the blame, rakes in the cash and distributes the cash to venues…

Complicity assumes every venues has the same options, but they don't.

Pearl Jam tried to tour without Ticketmaster in 1994 but several venues turned them down because of contracts. They ended up signing with TM a few years later. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pearl-jam-taki...

When signing with TM is survival and not signing means your venue sits empty or your band has a hard time booking large venues, that's not a free choice. That's just coercion.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#15

Post by testbjjl »

byoung2 wrote: post #3

They merged with LiveNation and they own half of the venues. The other half of the venues have exclusive deals with TicketMaster, who provides them with software to run venue logistics (TicketMaster for business), creating vendor lock-in.

Vendor lock-in by any other name boils down to monopoly. The moat is their lobby.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#16

Post by dfxm12 »

Ticketmaster has more vertical integration. They own the ticketing, ticket resale, the clubs, concert production, promotion and talent management. When you own the venue, you can lock out other ticket sellers. Artists are probably looking for a one stop shop for putting a tour together.

As an example, stubhub can sell/resell tickets, but that's about it.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#18

Post by canucker2016 »

mdni007 wrote: post #2

Rant: Trying to buy tickets for the Knicks game at MSG. Is it really impossible to have a ticketing platform that prevents scalpers from marking up prices to an insane amount? $10000+ for a ticket that originally costs around 2k should be illegal. Most of these tickets will go unsold I'm sure.

It's not impossible - in Ontario, it required a law. Resale ticket prices capped at original ticket face value.

see https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ontario-ticket-resale-cap-e...

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#19

Post by reactordev »

nemoniac wrote: post #17

Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) gave a good explanation many years ago already: https://stereogum.com/58831/trent_reznor_blasts_ticketmaster...

Worse, they are all owned by the same company now. It’s all a multi-headed hydra of suck. Live Music has been completely monopolized.

Re: Ask HN: Why hasn't there been a real competitor to Ticketmaster yet?

#20

Post by sirsinsalot »

byoung2 wrote: post #3

They merged with LiveNation and they own half of the venues. The other half of the venues have exclusive deals with TicketMaster, who provides them with software to run venue logistics (TicketMaster for business), creating vendor lock-in.

They also own a lot of the venue infrastructure across the industry such as catering, tour buses, security,...

They have leverage with venues they dont own and a monopoly across industry verticals.

Sickening situation for music.

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