I thought I'd take a look at two companies that reported earnings earlier in the week that share a couple things in common. First, they deal with music. Second, their prospects have been defined, in part, by the surge of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPod/iTunes zeitgeist.

Let's begin with Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). According to Reuters, Warner Music Group lost 25 cents per share from continuing businesses in Q3. Analysts wanted to see a loss of only 16 cents per share. In last year's Q3, the company lost 6 cents per share. Not a good trend. Warner Music Group's management unfortunately fails to impress.

Continue reading Warner Music Group and Live Nation: Two melodious investments?

Warner Music Group and Live Nation: Two melodious investments? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For the first quarter, Live Nation said that revenues dipped by over 6%. Currency translations affected the top line, so if you strip them out, you get an increase of nearly 3%. The loss from continuing operations expanded by an earsplitting 40% to $1.29 per share. According to this news article, analysts were looking for a loss of only $0.82 per share.

Continue reading Live Nation's Q1 misses expectations by significant amount

Live Nation's Q1 misses expectations by significant amount originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 May 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Live Earth concert sets new record for internet views

Live Earth concert sets new record for internet views originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer signed a bill last week eliminating state-imposed price restriction on reselling event tickets, effectively legalizing scalping. More and more states have been repealing anti-scalping laws in recent years, paving the way for companies like eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) subsidiary StubHub to create a market for the resale of tickets.

As "deregulation" of scalping continues, StubHub and similar companies should prosper. It's hard to understand why it's taken so long for so many states to eliminate these antiquated laws. According to the Boston Globe, "The justification for anti-scalping laws has been the desire to prevent fans from paying exorbitant amounts for tickets."

But if someone wants to pay $5,000 for a ticket to see the Rolling Stones, why would the government interfere? Who exactly is being protected when the state tells a guy who wants to buy a ticket from someone who wants to sell it that he's not allowed to see the concert.

There's really no economics-based justification for anti-scalping laws. It appears to be a reaction to the unsavory perception of the business, but I can think of plenty of other unsavory industries that are perfectly legal. Now I'm going to go look at my cell phone bill and try to figure out why it's so high.

New York legalizes ticket scalping -- why not? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.