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Corgan supports Live Master

By | Published on Thursday 12 March 2009

Oh, there have been plenty of people standing up to knock the proposed Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger, but what they don’t realise is how much good it will do for independent musicians by giving them back “the power in the music industry”.

We know this to be true because The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, who’s been getting involved in all kinds of Congressional investigations this week, has written a letter to Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the US Congress’ Committee On Antitrust, Competition Policy And Consumer Rights, to give his support to the somewhat controversial merger between America’s biggest live music conglom and the world’s biggest ticketing firm.

Before reading on, it’s possibly worth noting that The Smashing Pumpkins are managed by the Ticketmaster-owned Front Line management, founded and headed up by Irving Azoff, who is CEO of Ticketmaster and who will be one of the top two execs at the merged Live Master. Front Line manage lots of artists, and Azoff has personal relationships with many of them, so expect quite a bit of artist support for this deal should it look like political types are seriously considering blocking the proposals.

Corgan, of course, is also generally rather bitter about the hold EMI’s Virgin US have over his band’s early back catalogue, and has been quite public (and occasionally legal) about his frustrations with the way they work, or don’t work, those albums. For an artist who hates the fact a major record company controls his creative work, you can see why a merged Live Master would, by comparison, be a good thing – their business model isn’t based around owning artists’ work, and their existence would be a threat to the likes of EMI.

Anyway, here’s the contents of Corgan’s pro-LiveMaster letter, as obtained by and published in the Chicago Sun Times, in full:

Dear Chairmen Kohl & Leahy and Ranking Members Hatch & Specter,

The merger as proposed before you on the surface may seem to be too much power in the hands of the few, and I can understand the need for Congress to review this matter. Here I would hope that my 20 years in the recording and touring business will allow me some candid authority on these issues, and would help shed some light for you on some of the nuances that perhaps could easily get missed.

The ‘system’ that was once the modern record business, essentially ushered in with the meteoric rise of the Beatles, is now helplessly broken. And by almost every account available cannot be repaired. Personally I would add to that a healthy ‘good riddance,’ as the old system far too often took advantage of the artists as pawns while the power brokers colluded behind the scenes to control the existing markets.

This control often saw the sacrificing of great careers to maintain that control. Look no further than the major record labels’ intense fight to slow down the progress of internet technologies that more readily brought music and video to the consumer because they couldn’t completely control it. This disastrous decision on their part has destroyed the economic base of the recording industry. It is now a shadow of its former self.

Artists now find a heavy shift of emphasis to the live performance side, and this is where this merger finds its merit. The combination of these companies creates powerful tools for an independent artist to reach their fans in new and unprecedented ways, all the while restoring the power where it belongs. In today’s ever changing world, the ability for artists to connect to their fans and stay connected is critical for the health of our industry. Without sustainable, consistent economic models upon which to make key decisions, it is both the music and the fans that suffer.

In short, we have a broken system. This is a new model that puts power into the hands of the artist, creating a dynamic synergy that will inspire great works and attract healthy competition. The proposed merger you have before you helps create those opportunities by boldly addressing the complexity of the existing musical and economic landscapes.

Billy Corgan
The Smashing Pumpkins



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