Music

There's a long windy article in today's WSJ about the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger titled "Can He Save Rock 'n' Roll?"

The "he" is Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff, who has been around the music biz since ships were made of wood and apparently has had mountains of success.

This merger isn't about saving the business. Recorded music sales are not going back to what they were. Per-song downloads, pirating, shorter attention spans and better radio delivery option have changed that forever.

This merger is about consolidating power around the one area of the business that is still strong and growing.

Kudos to him of he can get it done. Hats off to antitrust officials if they block this one, as it truly will be bad for consumers. Good luck to upcoming artists. At least they know whose back they need to scratch.