Live Nation Rivals See Hard Rain From Dylan Data

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Concert promoter Seth Hurwitz has mined data from performances of Bob Dylan, the Who and Fall Out Boy for use when bidding against rivals like Live Nation Inc. to host gigs in the Washington area.

Hurwitz knows how fast tickets sell, the most-popular time of year, the age and address of buyers and how to contact them. He gets the information from Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc., the world’s largest ticketing system. Now Ticketmaster plans to combine with Live Nation, the biggest promoter, and Hurwitz says he’s worried that the data will fall into enemy hands.

“If they can simply walk in and make an offer based on intelligence they got from your business history, that’s an unfair advantage,” Hurwitz, 50, said in an interview last week.

Promoters who vie with Live Nation for top acts see antitrust concerns beyond Ticketmaster’s resale unit, which became a lighting rod last month after Bruce Springsteen fans were steered toward higher-priced tickets.

But Live Nation Chief Executive Officer Michael Rapino, who would be CEO of the combined organization, told lawmakers last week that the new company will form a firewall to separate ticketing and promotion,



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