Ping, the new iTunes social network, has concert listings provided by Live Nation and Tictketmaster. Here’s the roundup.
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It’s Internet Week in New York City and the launches, announcements, and press surrounding the heavy hitters on the web will be occurring ad nauseam this week. One of the first to get my attention is the news and unveiling of Google Cloud Print with Live Nation joining the press release as one of […]
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The Tech and Music Industry blogs are abuzz today with a new and interesting patent that Apple has filed for a “Concert Ticket+” iPhone App for electronic ticketing. CrunchGear has a good explanation of the patent and what it purports to do:
There are a number of potential benefits to using this system. The most obvious benefit is you would no longer have to worry about losing or forgetting your ticket because the NFC technology would allow the iPhone to completely replace the paper ticket. The app would also allow you to easily transfer your tickets to others as well as access more information about the concert or event. From the business perspective, Apple’s e-ticket system would allow companies to target the ticket purchaser with live recordings, exclusive content, and concert refreshments….While none of the technology is particularly new, this system could certainly change the way we buy and use concert tickets in the future….
The idea for “ticketless” electronic ticketing via mobile phones has been floating around for a while, but it’s cool to see some more signs that bring this closer to reality. It’s also interesting to see that Apple made this move before Live Nation or Ticketmaster could lock it down, given that the newly combined Live Nation Entertainment would likely stand to gain the most from this kind of electronic ticketing. Of course, LNE is not a dominant technology company like Apple, so I guess it’s not really surprising how this played out. Either way, it’s cool to think about how this might revolutionize how we buy and use concert and event tickets.
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Live Nation just announced today that starting this Wednesday, there will be no ticket service fees on any Live Nation amphitheater show purchased on a Wednesday this summer where they’re providing the ticketing (through their website, obviously). Good idea, you clever corporate giant, you!
LOS ANGELES, CA June 1, 2009 – Today, Live Nation announced that it’s dropping service fees on more than five million lawn tickets and hundreds of concerts, helping add value and save money for fans throughout North America. The 24 hour event makes June 3rd the biggest one day sale in concert business history. Now that’s something for fans to sing about!
“No Service Fee Wednesdays,” kick off June 3 at 12:01 a.m., offering fans some of the lowest prices of the summer with no ticket service fees on any LiveNation.com-ticketed amphitheater show, and only at www.LiveNation.com.
Throughout the rest of the summer, Live Nation becomes Free-Nation, as it offers a variety of “No Service Fee Wednesdays” specials at www.LiveNation.com, making Wednesday the biggest day of the week for savings on concert tickets for hundreds of shows and millions of fans.
“Summer concerts are a great escape in these tough times,” said Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation. “Starting this Wednesday, Live Nation and the world’s top artists are making it less expensive for fans to see their favorite bands by waiving service fees on over five million tickets at www.LiveNation.com. We wanted to do something that had never been done before and “No Service Fee Wednesdays” provide incredible value to millions of music fans to attend the hottest concerts this summer.”
Tickets for “No Service Fee Wednesdays” go on sale at 12:01 a.m. local time on June 3, 2009 at www.LiveNation.com. This promotion is not valid in combination with other special pricing offers and is subject to availability.
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Taylor Swift takes Album of the Year; Underwood is Entertainer of the Year.
By Gil Kaufman
Carrie Underwood at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday
Photo: Jon Kopaloff/ FilmMagic
In what could signal a generational shift in the country music world, an elated Carrie Underwood became the first female since 2000 to win the Entertainer of the Year award on Sunday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.
“I’ve had a lot of good moments in the last four years. This one takes the cake!” Underwood said, as her voice cracked and she teared up before thrusting the award in the air in celebration and giving a shout-out to hockey-playing boyfriend Mike Fisher. “I don’t know what to say! I got nothing.”
It was a big night for the former “American Idol” winner, who also repeated last year’s win as Top Female Vocalist.
For the second year in a row, the Entertainer honor was determined by a popular vote during the broadcast, unlike past years, when the award was given out to the performer who sold the most concert tickets in the previous 12 months. Underwood wrested the top prize from perennial winner Kenny Chesney — who has taken it home the past four years — and became only the seventh woman to win it since the show launched almost four decades ago. The significance of joining a list of female winners that includes Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks was not lost on the 26-year-old.
“I accepted that award on behalf of myself and my fans, but also on behalf of other women who came before me that kicked butt but never got the recognition they deserved,” Underwood said backstage, according to The Associated Press. “I can’t wait [for] the day, which I hope is in the very near future, where having females in the category is no big deal whatsoever.”
Fellow young country phenomenon Taylor Swift beat out such heavy hitters as George Strait and Montgomery Gentry — not to mention Underwood — for Album of the Year for her smash, Fearless. Swift also performed on the show, playing “You’re Not Sorry” after magician David Copperfield conjured her on the stage. Underwood performed “I Told You So,” wearing a giant burgundy dress that nearly overwhelmed the stage. Miley Cyrus, another young country star who could be having her day at the ACMs in the future, was there to play her current single, “Climb.”
“I think a lot of people who know me know that if I talk to you for more than five minutes, I’m probably going to write a song about you, so, that being said, I’d like to thank all the characters in my songs: Abigail, Hey Stephen, Tim McGraw and Romeo,” Swift, 19, said about her autobiographical writing style. “The fact that you can write songs in your bedroom about your feelings and boys, and can win album of the year at the ACMs — I just didn’t think that was possible.”
Swift, who later said that she had labored obsessively for two years over Fearless,
also won an honorary ACM Crystal Milestone Award for helping to bring more young fans to country music.
Other winners included Brad Paisley for Top Male Vocalist; “Dancing with the Stars” winner Julianne Hough, who snagged Best New Artist in a fan-voted category; and Sugarland, who beat out Brooks & Dunn for the Top Vocal Duo award, breaking the team’s 14-year stranglehold on the category. Rascal Flatts — who were covered by Danny Gokey on “American Idol” last week — won Top Vocal Group and the Zac Brown Band took the Top New Vocal Duo or Group award.
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The world’s largest concert promoter Live Nation Inc plans to buy Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc for about $400 million in stock in a bid to create a company with dominant holdings in concert promotion and ticket sales.But shares of both companies fell on Tuesday, amid concerns the acquisition would be blocked by U.S. antitrust regulators under the new Obama administration.
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer slammed the deal ahead of its formal announcement on Tuesday, calling for a federal probe into Ticketmaster, the top U.S. ticket vendor.
“This merger would give a giant, new entity unrivaled power over concert-goers and the prices they pay to see their favorite artists and bands,” the Democrat senator from New York said in a statement The combined company will be called Live Nation Entertainment, and sell more than 150 million concert tickets a year, promote 22,000 concerts annually, and own more than 140 venues globally. It will also handle more than 200 big name artists including Madonna, Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus and the Eagles.
Ticketmaster shareholders will receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation common stock for each share of Ticketmaster they own, the two companies said in a joint statement. Live Nation will own 49.99 percent of the combined company, while Ticketmaster will hold the remaining 50.01 percent.
The deal, which the companies called a merger of equals, will create a company with an enterprise value of $2.5 billion including debt.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino will run the new company as CEO while Ticketmaster Entertainment CEO Irving Azoff will be executive chairman. Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller will be non-executive chairman. [REUTERS]
Continue reading “Live Nation officially to buy Ticketmaster!, faces scrutiny” at BrooklynVegan.com
words and photos by Faith-Ann Young
You know who I’d like to see duel? Kaki King vs. Gabriela from Rodrigo y Gabriela. just a random thought.
Anyway, Sunday night, Kaki King closed out almost a year of touring. Though she was visibly tired, relieved and even teary-eyed at times, Kaki cathartically plucked, strummed, and beat her long-nailed fingers over her guitar…ferociously, yet seemingly effortlessly. In the first 5 minutes, she proved worthy of Rolling Stone’s label of one of the 100 best guitar players of all time. Plus, with the help of her band, (a feirce bassist/guitarist, a fiercer drummer, a synth dude, and a guy who plays an quirky electronic valve instrument that looks like a bong), she cohesively melded punk rock, acoustic folk, and shoegaze throughout the set. (set list in pictures below)
How much is a Mountain Goats show worth? One chick in the front spent $500 to fly from Indiana just to see The Mountain Goats perform in NY this weekend (Saturday at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Sunday at Webster Hall) (not to mention accomodations and concert tickets)….pretty impressive. Anyway, Mountain Goats entered the stage to “December 63 (Oh What A Night).” In minutes, John Darnielle was full of sweat and energy, chatting with his usual easy banter, making his fans both clap, laugh and cry. Kaki came back on to play a few songs mid-set, first on guitar, and then on what looked like an electronic autoharp….To prove how close they had gotten during the tour, at the end of set, the whole Kaki crew came out and danced onstage alongside the goats……Hugged, cried - it was good (if emotional) night…
More pictures and a whole bunch of setlists below…
Continue reading “The Mountain Goats & Kaki King @ Webster Hall - NYC - pics & selists (from both NY shows)” at BrooklynVegan.com
