Live Nation, better know by its old name of Clear Channel seems to have aspirations in buying up all the decent music venues in the UK. With the approval of the acquisition of the Academy Music Group (who own Brixton Academy, Shepherds Bush Empire and few other well known music venues (article here)) along with venues such as Oxford’s Zodiac (details here). 

 If this continues then I believe the outlet for smaller upcoming bands maybe curtailed, and the fair potential for ticket prices to rise noticeably.  I’m generally not against corporatisation for the sake of it (I don’t see No Logo as my bible).  But in the music industry it seems that  corporatisation tends to be a choking influence with a reluctance to invest in new artists.  As it is Clear Channel has a serious chunk of radio airplay already, the number of potential organisations to get new artists exposed in traditional means is shrinking.