Blink-182 fans are furious at Ticketmaster, the band, and society in general over the astronomical ticket prices to the band’s reunion tour—Billboard has cited ticket prices as high as $600 in some cities. This is, unfortunately, the logical outcome of the entertainment monopoly Ticketmaster has built since it merged with Live Nation, creating a live events behemoth in which a huge portion of ticketing, venues, and the artists themselves are owned or controlled by a single company.

It is arguably also the case that, in trying to “fight” ticket brokers (called “scalpers” by many), Ticketmaster has done something that is very lucrative for itself and for artists, but also worse for the average fan: It has simply jacked up ticket prices for certain high-profile events to a level where all tickets are more-or-less priced at the maximum level that the secondary market would normally bear. More on this in a minute.

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Again, it’s important to remember that Ticketmaster/Live Nation is controlling every aspect of this situation and is making money from every single part of it. They represent the band, plan the tour, own and/or operate the venues, sell the tickets, and allow others to resell the tickets, on their site, for a fee. This vertical integration gives Ticketmaster unprecedented control over concerts in the United States and is the reason why groups like the American Economic Liberties Project have asked the Justice Department to break the company up. In 2009, when the Senate was scrutinizing the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, consumer rights groups predicted that what has happened would happen.

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