Former TM employee here. Some thoughts: "Given that LiveNation is the by far the biggest promoter in the US, it would be an enormous risk for a venue to forsa

Former TM employee here. Some thoughts: "Given that LiveNation is the by far the biggest promoter in the US, it would be an enormous risk for a venue to forsake Ticketmaster and go with an alternative." This is far from inconceivable. The issue is a combination of technical & financial. First, can a ticketing system support a massive onsale? Ticketmaster has proven they can, time & time again. A lot of geeks thinks it's not a hard problem. LiveNation apparently thought that too & went their separate way. They threw $100M at the problem & continually crashed for major onsale events. Eventually they threw in the towel & merged with TM. So if you're a promoter, why take the risk? As for financial, that brings us to the next point. "Venues/Artists Need To Ditch The Big Guys" You missed the biggest reason this won't happen: Venues & artists are the ones responsible for the fees. Those fees are largely dictated by venues, promoters, artists & the rest in the supply chain. Honestly, when I hear this, it's a bit like someone telling Tony Soprano he needs to ditch his hitmen because they're violent.