by Travis Mateer
There’s an interesting legal process happening right now regarding aggressive business practices from Live Nation, which acquired Nick Checota’s Logjam Presents, that could lead to this massive promotion company getting the Bell System treatment. From the link:
The breakup of the Bell System was mandated on January 8, 1982, by a consent decree providing that AT&T Corporation would, as had been initially proposed by AT&T, relinquish control of the Bell Operating Companies, which had provided local telephone service in the United States. This effectively took the monopoly that was the Bell System and split it into entirely separate companies that would continue to provide telephone service. AT&T would continue to be a provider of long-distance service, while the now-independent Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), nicknamed the “Baby Bells”, would provide local service, and would no longer be directly supplied with equipment from AT&T subsidiary Western Electric.
This divestiture was initiated in 1974 when the United States Department of Justice filed United States v. AT&T, an antitrust lawsuit against AT&T. At the time, AT&T had substantial control over the United States’ communications infrastructure. Not only was it the sole telephone provider throughout most of the country, its subsidiary Western Electric produced much of its equipment. Relinquishing ownership of Western Electric was one of the Justice Department’s primary demands.
The anti-trust actions of the Federal Government have exposed Live Nation’s strategy to ensure growth in secondary markets doesn’t threaten their firm stranglehold on tickets sales and control of venues. Here’s an excerpt describing Live Nation’s strategy:
The DOJ’s complaint alludes to the importance of geographic areas that were once written off as secondary markets suitable for tour stops between major cities.
“Live Nation has recognized that one of its ‘Biggest Competitor Threats’ is smaller and regional independent promoters that have the ability to ‘com(e) in from the edges creating events, opening venues, and purchasing inventory,’ ” it says, citing internal company documents.
“To address this disruptive potential, Live Nation pursued an aggressive plan to acquire or co-opt key independent promoters, even when the economics of a particular deal did not make sense for its promotion business,” the complaint says.
It lists examples from around the country, including the deal with Logjam, which began as an independent entertainment company and now owns the Top Hat, the Wilma and the KettleHouse Amphitheater.
Yep, Logjam “began” as an independent entertainment company, expanded into Bozeman, then gobbled up LOTS of Covid money to say solvent, even getting assistance from Jon Tester with the passing of legislation called the Encore Act. Is that why our REPUBLICAN Attorney General is refusing to jump on THIS bandwagon? (emphasis mine):
The civil antitrust suit, announced on Thursday, ultimately seeks a breakup of Live Nation-Ticketmaster through a jury trial. Attorneys general from 29 states, not including Montana, have joined the lawsuit.
Further down in the article, Tester’s favorite musical act, Pearl Jam, is referenced. Did you know the Ticketmaster beef Pearl Jam had with Ticketmaster included a sit-down with Bill Clinton and an idea to use military bases for musical performances? (emphasis mine):
Controversy over Live Nation and Ticketmaster goes back decades. In 1994, Pearl Jam announced a boycott of Ticketmaster, accusing it of pressuring other promoters to ignore the band’s tour because it wasn’t using the ticketing service.
Pearl Jam’s beef with Ticketmaster started after the band discovered the promoter was adding fees and service charges to charity benefit concerts it was performing in Chicago. It had just released its second album, “Vs.” — one of its most popular — but nevertheless had to cancel most of its subsequent tour due to clashes with Ticketmaster-controlled venues.
The band members even got a meeting in President Bill Clinton’s Oval Office to push the matter. Pearl Jam proposed a plan to use recently closed military bases as concert venues, because those sites weren’t under Ticketmaster’s control.
After this, our good little Democrat musicians who play instruments and sing songs, like the one about a kid committing suicide in front of his classmates, got VERY political with their imagery, because Trump.
Isn’t this adorable? No, not the image, but the sentiment expressed by a band kissing the ass of one political party while bashing the other that artists are supposed to make people THINK and FEEL. Really? Where does GETTING DEMOCRATS ELECTED fit in to this band’s artistic integrity?
I’m sorry to report that any artist who chooses to share stage time with the occultist prosecuted for murdering three kids, then sprung from jail by his Hollywood pals, is NOT someone who should be given the benefit of the doubt in terms of their artistic integrity.
Controlling music venues is a great way to control musicians, and controlling musicians is NOT something Montana’s Attorney General is going to want to interfere with. It’s much more politically advantageous to where a cowboy hat and claim the Biden administration is flying immigrants to Flathead.
A migrant family of five flew into Kalispell from New York on Wednesday and ended up on the doorstep of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, said Sheriff Brian Heino.
The family — a husband, wife and kids — crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas and were flown to New York and then from New York to Kalispell, Heino said. After first trying to find lodging at an area homeless shelter and having been turned away, they ended up in the lobby of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office looking for help, he said.
“They were told that this is a great place to be,” Heino told the Daily Inter Lake on Thursday.
While THIS controversy provides catnip for conservatives, I’ll keep doing my thing here in Zoom Town, providing my HYPER-LOCAL analysis of what’s happening in this strange little microcosm of America. If you’d like to help me out financially, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to do it.
Thanks for reading!
