TM took over back in the late 80's as the underdog because they made the great business decision to give venues a cut of the pie as opposed to charging venues f

TM took over back in the late 80's as the underdog because they made the great business decision to give venues a cut of the pie as opposed to charging venues for their services - which is what their competitors did at the time. They quickly took demolished the competition and began setting up long term contracts, usually between 3 and 10 years with each venue. Then, in 2010 they merged with LiveNation who owns a vast majority of some of the nations largest, most popular venues. Major artists' managers and promoters all have close ties to TM/LiveNation as well, because it's where the money is. So when Taylor Swift goes on tour, these folks make sure they hit a TM venue at each stop along the way. That's just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the gist.