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During a House subcommittee hearing this morning, Ticketmaster Entertainment CEO Irving Azoff reiterated his distain for the secondary ticketing market and said that he would consider selling the company’s TicketsNow reselling operation if it might help assuage concerns over Ticketmaster’s proposed merger with Live Nation. Azoff acknowledged that Ticketmaster’s TicketsNow subsidiary has experienced some problems in recent weeks as a result of the handling of some Bruce Springsteen ticket sales, which prompted its recent settlement with New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram. Ticketmaster is also facing multiple class action lawsuits in Canada as a result of some of its alleged business practices with TicketsNow. Read More

The two biggest companies in the ticketing and live entertainment industries faced skeptical members of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights in Washington, DC today and seemingly did little to convince them that the merger the two propose would benefit fans, promoters, venues, artists or ticket companies. Ticketmaster Entertainment and Live Nation took great pains during the 90-minute hearing to try to explain how the music industry has been irrevocably changed by darkening market forces, stressing that their survival partially hinged on the deal being allowed to go through. Read More

Just as the company deals with its two Congressional hearings this week on its planned merger with Live Nation, Ticketmaster Entertainment is about to be hit by a third class action lawsuit in Canada over its alleged business practices. In addition, Ticketmaster separately finds itself on the defensive again North of the Border, this time over its alleged mishandling of sales of Leonard Cohen tickets. Read More

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram today said she had reached a settlement with Ticketmaster Entertainment, and its TicketsNow subsidiary, over the way it handled recent sales of Bruce Springsteen tickets, and calls on Ticketmaster to pay $350,000 to “cover investigative, attorney and administrative fees and to support New Jersey consumer protection initiatives.” The state’s Division of Consumer Affairs received more than 2,000 complaints in connection with the sale of tickets to Springsteen shows scheduled for May at the Izod Center, under which consumers were redirected to the TicketsNow Web site when tickets were allegedly sold out on Ticketmaster’s site. The move prompted New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell to call for an investigation, and led to Springsteen blasting Ticketmaster for the practice. The company quickly apologized for the move. Read More

Reunited ska-punk band No Doubt has finally unleashed its full tour itinerary for spring and summer 2009. The 45-date tour officially launches with the band’s headlining set at the Bamboozle Festival on May 3 in East Rutherford, NJ, and a performance at Tiger Wood’s charity Tiger Jam on May 16 in Las Vegas, NV. The band is booked on the road, along with special guest Paramore, through July 31-to-August 1 stand at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, CA. Other highlights for the trek include a May 23 concert at Cricket Wireless Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ, a June 3 event at Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, FL, a June 24 gig at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, and a July 18 performance at General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC. Read More

Barry Manilow, who has made the Las Vegas Hilton his home since February 23, 2005, returns to kick off his fifth year on February 26-28 in the legendary Hilton Theater. Manilow is performing at the Las Vegas Hilton through 2009, generally on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. He will perform 21 weekends for 63 shows this year. Stage seat tickets are $225 (plus tax and service charge), with 34 located on each side of the stage and at the same level. Main orchestra tickets are $145-$175 (plus tax and service charge); rear orchestra tickets are $96-$125 (plus tax and service charge) and balcony seats are $115 (plus tax and service charge). Read More

Trailblazing electro-pop group Depeche Mode will hit both coasts of North America later this summer after completing the first leg of its tour in Europe. The Tour of the Universe launches its continental run with a July 24 concert in Toronto, ON, and concludes on September 5 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Venues are yet to be announced for the 20-city venture, which also includes a July 31 show in Boston, MA, an August 3 gig in New York, NY, an August 16-17 stand in Los Angeles, CA, an August 23 concert in Austin, TX, and September 1 event in Atlanta, GA. The six-week trek includes one additional stop in Canada on July 25 in Montreal, QC. Read More

Despite the ticketing and concert industry seemingly defying the current recession, Ticketmaster Entertainment allegedly felt increasing pressured by the emergence of former client and rival Live Nation, and partially as a result it rushed into a merger with the company and downplayed its own value, the recent shareholder lawsuit against Ticketmaster states. TicketNews obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which also claims that Ticketmaster was in violation of Nasdaq rules in January, prior to the merger, because the company did not have enough independent members on its Board of Directors. This happened following the appointment of company CEO Irving Azoff becoming a member. As a result, the board added a member, and then went on to vote to increase the board’s size to 13 members. Read More

It’s been a good week on Broadway with 14 of the 23 productions seeing an increase in attendance. Ticket sales this week topped out at $15,054,535, compared to $14,354,031 last week. To date, this season is up $33,961,386 from than the same point last year. The most profitable productions as measured by gross receipts were Wicked at the Gershwin, The Lion King at the Minskoff, Billy Elliot at the Imperial, Jersey Boys at the August Wilson and South Pacific at the Beaumont. Among the six plays, one special and 16 musicals, eight of them saw more than 95 percent capacity. Overall, attendance achieved 87 percent of capacity. Only two productions, Pal Joey at Studio 54 and “The Story of My Life” offered tickets at less than $50 per showing. Read More

Two of the biggest names in punk rock, Rise Against and Rancid, will band together this summer for an extensive co-headlining tour across North America. The 29-city trek begins June 4 at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC, and wraps July 31 at The Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto, ON. The two-month tour will complete a coast-to-coast circuit, stopping in most major markets along the way. Highlights of the outing include a June 11 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO, a June 24 gig at the Fillmore in Detroit, MI, a July 13 show at The Joint in Las Vegas, a July 20-21 stand at the House of Blues in Orlando, FL, and a July 28-29 run at the House of Blues in Boston, MA. Read More