It’s only been a matter of time and despite widespread opposition the merger of two live music giants is firmly on…so in the long term - is consolidation good for the live music industry? Well it’s certainly good for the shareholders of both businesses in the short-term as stock in both companies is reported to have risen sharply and there is no doubt that costs can be reduced in some areas of both operations but will this really effect the live music industry from the perspective of the ‘indie’ and ‘alternative’ music fan?

There has been a lot of heated chatter on blogs and according to some you would think the world is about to end. It’s not. Of course the new company is pretty significant and YES, powerful - called Live Nation Entertainment - the new company will own more than 140 concert venues globally, will promote approximately 22,000 concerts annually and is estimated to sell around 140 million gig tickets…

BUT we are talking the biggest bands, the major tours - firstly if music fans continue to pay rising ticket and merchandising prices then the long term looks good for the corporate monster that is now Live Nation Entertainment but will that happen for sure? You only have to look at what’s happening in English Premiership football to see that there is a threshold, there is a point where people say no! You wouldn’t think a few years ago that Manchester United and Liverpool would struggle to sell tickets to their respective hardcore fans but they now do. People wake up (eventually) to the few exploiting the many!!

Secondly there are thousands of bands, smaller independent promoters and venues - places to check out new and established live music that are not affected by this new company. You will probably see an emerging two-tier ’super band/ super gig’ industry ruled by the corporates and the rest of the industry which we think is still relatively healthy…from a creative point of view at least and in some respects from a commercial angle too.

Remember if you don’t want to pay £100+ for a gig ticket or £30 for a t-shirt - then DON”T pay it.

Those that want to check out Beyonce or Elton John (or whatever!) at the 02 Arena aren’t really the type of people watching up and coming unsigned bands in a dingy bar in Sheffield or any other UK city you would care to mention.

Let the top end of the industry do their thing and let the rest of us do ours.

GYEO