Concert Listings Online

July 12, 2006 11:24 AM

In browsing several concert venue websites, I noticed that many of them don't list their upcoming concerts and instead link off to www.livenation.com or www.pollstar.com. Does anyone know why this is? Is it a legal issue regarding the promoters of these events?
posted by ghastlyfop to computers & internet (4 comments total)

LiveNation and PollStar are ClearChannel promoters, which always try to ink exclusive deals with any venue they work with (i.e. they're the only promoter scheduling gigs into that venue). Since they're the only ones booking that venue, it therefore stands to (their) reason that their website can do the work of listing all that venue's events. It makes the LiveNation brand more powerful.

Lots and lots of "small" venues are ClearChannel-only shops. Small definitely does not equal independent anymore.
posted by logovisual at 11:38 AM on July 12, 2006

I do a website for a popular band. Listing the dates of upcoming shows is a pain in the ass. I imagine venues and artists who link offsite do it because it's easy and less time consuming, not to mention you don't catch hell when it's not accurate.
posted by dobbs at 11:48 AM on July 12, 2006

Pollstar is NOT a ClearChannel promoter. In fact, they do everything they can to be as neutral to the politics of ticket sales and touring because that's their meat: They report box office results and upcoming tour dates. The information is their product, so it pays to be as neutral as possible.
posted by bryanzera at 12:42 PM on July 12, 2006

There is also the fact that the outside sites will take care of ticket sales, seating, etc. If simply listing upcoming events is a PITA, think of how complicated those would be. Many of the sites, I think, are happy to have someone take it off their hands.
posted by megatherium at 1:32 PM on July 12, 2006