Ticketmaster and Live Nation merge at last

Monday, Ticketmaster and Live Nation announced their merge in a move to reshape the live-entertainment business, after agreeing to conditions from the Justice Department designed to support rivals selling tickets and manage venues and performers.

Executives immediately united the world's dominant ticket seller and concert promoter, though the agreement must be approved by the US District Court for the District of Columbia

The new company, Live Nation Entertainment, also has wide-ranging agreements with hitmakers including the Eagles, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, Jay-Z, Shakira and U2.

Live Nation Entertainment “create more choices for family entertainment, sports, artists, teams and other rights holders," according to Chairman Irving Azoff, formerly CEO of Ticketmaster.

But at least one competitor says that the Justice Department's agreement doesn't do enough to keep Live Nation Entertainment from raising ticket prices or cornering the hottest shows.

Under the Justice Department deal, Ticketmaster must license its ticketing software for four years to Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the USA's No. 2 concert promoter. That would enable AEG to get into the ticket sales business or form an alliance with someone else. In turn AEG wants to aggressively explore that possibility. The company left open the possibility that it might not challenge Ticketmaster.

The Justice Department agreement , moreover , requires Ticketmaster to divest Paciolan, a ticketing company used by hundreds of sports and entertainment venues that is planned to be purchased by Comcast.

The deal with Justice prohibits Live Nation Entertainment from retaliating against any venue or performer that uses a rival ticket provider.