Full Description

Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. (Ticketmaster Entertainment), incorporated in September 1995, is a live entertainment ticketing and marketing company. As of December 31, 2008, the Company operated in approximately 20 countries worldwide, providing ticket sales, ticket resale services, marketing and distribution through www.ticketmaster.com, an e-commerce sites on the Internet, and related Internet and mobile channels, approximately 7,100 independent sales outlets and 17 call centers worldwide. The Company operates in two segments: Ticketing and Artist Services. In February 2008, the Company acquired GET ME IN! Ltd. On August 20, 2008, IAC/InterActiveCorp completed the spin-off of Ticketmaster Entertainment. On October 29, 2008, the Company acquired an additional equity interest in Front Line Management Group, Inc. (Front Line), there by increasing its interest from 39.4% to 82.3%. During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company acquired Paciolan, Inc. and SLO Limited, Inc.

The Company served approximately 10,000 clients worldwide across multiple live event categories, providing ticketing services for arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, music clubs, concert promoters, professional sports franchises and leagues, college sports teams, performing arts venues, museums, and theaters. The Company’s brands and businesses sold approximately 141 million tickets as of December 31, 2008. The Company provides primary ticket sale services in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, primarily under the Ticketmaster brand name, and through other brand names in various other jurisdictions abroad, including China (Emma Ticketmaster), Denmark (BILLETNet), Finland (Lippupalvelu), Germany (Kartenhaus), the Netherlands (Ticket Service), Norway (billettservice.no), Spain (Tic Tack Ticket), Sweden (Ticnet) and Turkey (Biletix). It also provides resale ticket services in Canada through TicketsNow and in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands through GET ME IN!. Ticketmaster Entertainment also is a party to joint ventures with third parties that provide ticket distribution services in Mexico and supplied ticketing services for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Ticketing

The Company's ticketing operations are primarily an agency business that sells tickets for events on behalf of its clients and retains a convenience charge and order processing fee for its services. It sells tickets through a combination of Websites, telephone services and ticket outlets. Ticketmaster Entertainment provides primary ticket sale services to the clients, which include venues, promoters, sports leagues, teams and events, and museums, cultural institutions and historic sites.

Consumers who purchase tickets through Ticketmaster Entertainment pay an amount equal to the ticket face price, plus a per ticket convenience charge, a per order processing fee and, if applicable, a delivery charge. Ticketmaster Entertainment remits the entire face value of the ticket to the client. The Company generally enters into written agreements with individual clients to provide primary ticket sale services for specified multi-year periods, ranging from 3 to 5 years.

Ticketmaster Entertainment offers ticket resale services through TicketsNow, its TicketExchange service, and GET ME IN!. TicketsNow enters into listing agreements with licensed ticket resellers to post ticket inventory for sale through TicketsNow at a purchase price equal to a ticket resale price determined by the relevant ticket resellers, plus an amount equal to a percentage of the ticket resale price and a pre-determined service fee. TicketsNow remits the reseller-determined ticket resale price to the ticket resellers and retains the remainder of the purchase price. TicketsNow also licenses point-of-sale business management software to ticket resellers for a fee, which allows the resellers to manage their ticket inventory and operate their businesses. While TicketsNow does not generally acquire tickets for sale on its own behalf, it may do so from time to time on a limited basis. TicketsNow also operates a wholesale ticket brokerage business that sells its own inventory of tickets through TicketsNow.com and other retail resellers nationwide.

In addition to enabling Platinum primary ticket sales, the TicketExchange service allows consumers to resell and purchase tickets online for certain events that were sold for Ticketmaster Entertainment clients in the United States, Europe and Canada who elect to participate in the TicketExchange service. Consumers in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands buy and sell tickets to live entertainment events through GET ME IN!, which charges sellers a commission and buyers a processing fee.

Ticketmaster Entertainment sells tickets online, through independent sales outlets, and via call centers. During the year ended December 31, 2008, 73%, 16%, and 11% of primary ticket sales were transacted through these channels, respectively. The Company’s primary online ticketing Website, www.ticketmaster.com, together with its other branded ticketing Websites, are designed to promote ticket sales for live events and disseminate event and related merchandise information online. As of December 31, 2008, the Company had approximately 7,100 Ticket Center independent sales outlets worldwide, approximately 2,000 of which were in the United States and approximately 5,100 of which were in various jurisdictions abroad. As of December 31, 2008, Ticketmaster Entertainment operated 17 call centers worldwide, through which consumers can generally purchase tickets by speaking to an operator or by way of an interactive voice response system, seven days a week, for at least 20 hours per day.

Artist Services

The Artist Services segment primarily provides management services to music recording artists in exchange for a commission on the earnings of these artists. Artist Services also sells merchandise associated with musical artists at live musical performances, to retailers, and directly to consumers via the Internet. As of December 31, 2008, the Artist Services segment comprised of the business of Front Line. Through its brand I Love All Access, it operates a VIP ticketing fan experience program. The program covers both Front Line and third-party clients, and provides fans with a range of added value to the concert ticket, including possible meet and greet or photo opportunities with the artist, attending sound checks, back stage passes, meals and refreshments, merchandise items and venue parking. The Company also operates a merchandise business selling t-shirts and other apparel at concerts and through retail outlets. Other activities produce income from services provided for various marketing and sponsorship activities for artists.