Ticketmaster China kicks the bucket

Ah, the beleaguered state of show promoters here in Shanghai. According to China Music Radar, Ticketmaster’s China operations were “officially shelved” last week. The company had only just bought high-profile upstart Emma Entertainment in 2007. That merger, Emma Ticketmaster, managed to screw up safety at an Avril Lavigne show, failed to bring Oasis, did an okay job getting John Legend here and then spluttered to a halt in May 2008. CMR has a history lesson on the soap opera antics of its foray here in China which is well worth reading… and a lament about the state of ticketing/promoting now that this option, as messed up as it was, is gone.