Showbiz Sandbox 425: Ticketmaster Gets Caught Abusing Its Market Domination
September 24, 2018
When Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged eight years ago it was openly feared that the combined companies would run roughshod over the industry and consumers alike. While there has been speculation about some of the shenanigans Ticketmaster has been up to since then, we now have conclusive proof that the ticketing juggernaut is manipulating the market and working with resellers in the secondary market in order to collect additional fees. They’ve even developed a software tool for just such a purpose.
The United States Senate, meanwhile, passed the Music Modernization Act. It creates a blanket mechanical license which allows for songwriters and artists receive royalties for streaming. It also fixes the problem of receiving royalties for works created before 1972 and includes producers in the new scheme. We’ll take a look a the new bill and explain what it all means.
Speaking of music, a new report indicates that industry revenue in North America is up slightly during the first half of 2018, just as Spotify makes it even easier for independent artists to post their music directly to the streaming service. Does that make Spotify a record label?
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Kelly Clarkson gets a new daytime talk show, Comcast beats Disney in an auction for Sky in the United Kingdom and singer Sam Smith loses his voice just before going on stage.
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comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of September 23, 2018
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-september-23-2018-300717301.html
A Chinese Star Goes Missing, and All of Hollywood Is Spooked
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chinese-star-fan-bingbing-goes-missing-all-hollywood-is-spooked-1145521
President and CTO of Internet Data Analysis Company iResearch “Disappear” for Investigation
http://chinafilminsider.com/president-and-cto-of-internet-data-analysis-company-iresearch-disappear-for-investigation/
‘Veronica Mars’ Revival in the Works at Hulu, Kristen Bell Set to Return
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/veronica-mars-revival-works-at-hulu-1136515
Music Modernization Act Passed in Senate With Unanimous Support
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8475876/music-modernization-act-passes-senate-unanimous-support
Music Modernization Act Passes, Despite Music Industry Infighting
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/music-modernization-act-passes-despite-music-industry-726091/
RIAA Issues Bullish Mid-Year Report: Revenue Up 10%, Streaming Now 75% of Total
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/riaa-issues-bullish-mid-year-report-revenue-up-10-streaming-now-75-of-total-1202950731/
Spotify to Allow Indie Artists to Upload Music Directly to Service, Bypassing Distributors
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8476084/spotify-indie-artists-upload-music-songs-directly-bypassing-distributors
Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel
http://bookfilter.com/2015/12/08/ninth-street-women/
Ian Buruma out at New York Review Of Books
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/19/arts/ian-buruma-out-jian-ghomeshi.html
Pay Rises, Job Shares and a Five-Day Week – Equity Submits ‘Ambitious’ West End Claim
https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2018/pay-rises-job-shares-five-day-week-equity-submits-ambitious-west-end-claim/
Gary Calamar Leaving KCRW After 25 Years (EXCLUSIVE)
https://variety.com/2018/music/news/gary-calamar-leaves-kcrw-1202952060/
Kelly Clarkson Daytime Talk Show to Debut on NBC Stations in Fall 2019
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/kelly-clarkson-daytime-talk-show-debut-nbc-stations-fall-2019-1145201
FCC Angers Cities and Towns with $2 Billion Giveaway to Wireless Carriers
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/09/fcc-angers-cities-and-towns-with-2-billion-giveaway-to-wireless-carriers/
The Top 10* Most-Produced Plays of the 2018-19 Season
https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/09/20/the-top-10-most-produced-plays-of-the-2018-19-season/
The Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights of the 2018-19 Season
https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/09/20/the-top-20-most-produced-playwrights-of-the-2018-19-season/
NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt Planning to Step Down
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bob-greenblatt-step-down-as-nbc-entertainment-chairman-1146263
Sam Smith Pulls Out of iHeartRadio Performance Due to Vocal Emergency
https://variety.com/2018/music/news/sam-smith-pulls-out-of-iheartradio-performance-due-to-vocal-emergency-1202953530/
Winning Sky Is Just the Start for Disney or Comcast
https://www.wsj.com/articles/winning-sky-is-just-the-start-for-disney-or-comcast-1537453493
A Public Relations Nightmare: Ticketmaster Recruits Pros for Secret Scalper Program
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/a-public-relations-nightmare-ticketmaster-recruits-pros-for-secret-scalper-program-1.4828535
Ticketmaster Has Secretly Been Cheating You With Its Own Scalpers
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ticketmaster-cheating-scalpers-726353/
Ticketmaster Calls Mass-Scalping Report ‘Categorically Untrue’
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ticketmaster-calls-mass-scalping-report-categorically-untrue-727000/
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