Today’s links Live Nation/Ticketmaster is buying Congress: The other gig economy. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I’ve been. Latest books: You keep readin’ em, I’ll keep writin’ ’em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I’ll keep writin’ ’em. Colophon: All the rest. Live Nation/Ticketmaster is buying Congress (permalink) Anything that can’t go on forever eventually stops. Monopolies are intrinsically destabilizing and inevitably implode…eventually. Guessing which of the loathsome monopolies that make us all miserable will be the first domino is a hard call, but Ticketmaster is definitely high on my list. It’s not that event tickets are the most consequential aspect of our lives. The monopolies over pharma, fuel, finance, tech, and even beer are all more important to our day-to-day. But while Ticketmaster – and its many ramified tentacles, like Live Nation – may not be the most destructive monopoly in our world, its monopoly pisses off people with giant megaphones and armies of rabid fans. It’s been a minute since Ticketmaster was last in the news, so let’s recap. Ticketmaster bought out most of its ticketing rivals, then merged with Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter, and bought out many of the country’s largest music, stage, and sports venues. They used this iron grip on the entire supply chain for performances and events to pile innumerable junk fees on every ticket sold, while drastically eroding the wages of…Pluralistic: Live Nation/Ticketmaster is buying Congress (30 Apr 2024)