As reported by the Industry Observer, the financial terms of the deal between the two companies has not been made public. Currently, Ticketmaster and Ticketek account for approximately 80 percent of all live entertainment tickets sold in Australia – it is unclear how the Moshtix deal will change this statistic. It’s not the first time Moshtix has found itself in the hands of a larger media conglomerate; after Hamish Petrie established the company in 2003, it was bought out by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (formerly News Limited) in 2007. In 2013, Harley Evans and former News Corp executive Vanessa Bond performed a management buyout of Moshtix and the Murdoch owned sister company Foxtix.
In the wake of this buyout, 34 Sydney-based employees will continue to operate as a standalone business unit under Evans, with further information scarce. Evans insists that the business will continue to operate unfettered, claiming “[Ticketmaster] want to empower businesses like Moshtix to take what Ticketmaster can bring to the table and improve the experience for the end user”. Moshtix’s advantage in the industry, as with most independent ticketing businesses, was their close partnership with venues, artists, fans and events and Ticketmaster wish to allay concern that this would change.
“Moshtix has a rich 15-year history and during this time have developed a reputation for being extremely hard-working and passionate about what they do. Their mission to ‘make live easy’ by delivering a seamless connection between partner, fan and the artist is shared with us. We look forward to working with them to help fans discover, share and experience the live entertainment they love,” Maria O’Connor, managing director of Ticketmaster Australia and New Zealand said in a press release.
In 2010, competition concerns were raised about Live Nation’s merger with Ticketmaster; the world’s largest concert promoter, with the world’s largest ticket provider. Last year, Ticketmaster was hit with scandal when undercover journalists in the US discovered a professional scalping racket run by Ticketmaster themselves. According to the report, Ticketmaster enlisted resellers to grab bulk tickets from its site and then sell them at higher prices on a Ticketmaster-owned, invite-only platform called TradeDesk while taking a cut.
Remember when Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster teamed up for this controversial deal?
