The Ticketmaster fight got a lot less polite

On September 4, the Progressive Policy Institute basically told the judge overseeing the Live Nation/Ticketmaster settlement: nice try, not enough. A jury already called the whole operation an illegal monopoly. PPI wants Ticketmaster broken apart, not just split from Live Nation on paper, because either way it still owns the plumbing: inventory, barcodes, who gets in the door.

Translation: if you’ve ever built a festival marketing plan around a Ticketmaster presale, you’ve been leaning on a system a jury already convicted. Don’t assume that system looks the same in 2027.

CBGB just hired someone to sell its soul for it

CBGB Festival is back in Brooklyn September 25 to 26 with Morrissey, Interpol, Patti Smith, and a reunited Sex Pistols on the bill, and it just handed its sponsorship business to UG Strategies on a multi-year deal. Marshall, Woodstock Cannabis, and The Bowery Presents are already in.

The most anti-corporate venue in music history now has a professional brand-partnerships agency. That’s not a punchline, it’s a warning: even the properties built on refusing to sell out are getting organized about how they sell out. Good luck finding a cheap sponsorship in punk now.

TikTok isn’t promoting artists anymore, it’s booking them

TikTok’s Music on Stage finals hit September 18, hosted by Cat Burns and Songkarn, after scouting emerging artists across 20-plus regions. The prize isn’t a trophy. Winners get actual slots at Breakaway Carolina and All Things Go NYC. Last year’s round pulled 8.2 billion impressions.

An app that used to just hype a song is now literally deciding who gets a stage. Managers and booking agents have a new competitor, and it runs on watch-time, not relationships.

The people who used to just host and promote music are now deciding who gets paid and who gets a mic.

Bottom line

A court is rewriting ticketing. A punk landmark just professionalized its sellout. An app started booking festivals. Same week, same story: the people who used to just host and promote music are now deciding who gets paid and who gets a mic.

The takeaway: if your music strategy still treats streaming, ticketing, and social as three different jobs, this is the week to stop.

Festival and sports activations are a core part of what we build. If live music is on your plan, tell us about it.