Early last year, a controversial deal was proposed between two of the music industry’s major companies. Today, the Justice Department gave permission for Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. to form their merger. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the new company, Live Nation Entertainment Inc., is “barred from retaliating against venue operators that want to use ticketing services from competitors” and “will be required to license its ticketing software to AEG, a unit of Anschutz Corp.”

The Wall Street Journal also reported that “the companies also will be required to offer ticketing and concert-promotion services separately, rather than as a bundle. And divisions of the company won’t be allowed to share certain kinds of data so as to reduce the competitive edge afforded by its vast scope.”

With the massive drop in CD and MP3 sales in recent years, it seems that concerts will be the main financial focus for the music industry.