WTNH is reporting that  a controversial pro-secondary ticket market bill was canned this week by State lawmakers in Connecticut. Opponents of the bill say it was really designed to protect secondary ticket sellers and give more power to scalpers by preventing paperless ticket sales to big events.

One of the strongest advocates for the legislation is the owner of Vernon-based Ticketnetwork who calls it pro-consumer because it would make it easier for you to sell a ticket you don't need. But the President of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts said during a public hearing that Ticketnetwork puts a 'hold' on tickets before purchasing them in order to inflate the price.

MusicWeek is reporting that Stubhub is moving into the UK market - as eBay wants to move international in the secondary ticket market - and plans to take on Seatwave, Viagogo, Getmein and Worldticketshop in the European market.

Senior executives from the group, which trades more than $1bn (£614m) worth of tickets each year, have been visiting the UK and Germany on fact-finding missions. And although the StubHub is best known for its sporting ties in the US, Music Week has learned music events will be its bread-and-butter business in the UK.

The company now also has resources to start taking international orders for the first time; this means visitors can secure tickets for events in North America no matter where they are travelling from.

Ticketmaster, a Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. company (NYSE: LYV), today announced a partnership with MarketShare, the leading cross-media analytics company, to develop a suite of sophisticated dynamic pricing tools to help clients set and adjust prices for their live events. The unique demand forecasting tools and next generation pricing engine will allow sports teams, artists, promoters, and venues to better understand the value of their ticket inventory throughout the entire ticketing process – both prior to, and during the onsale. The company will begin rolling out its products for select leagues and venues, including Live Nation amphitheaters, this year.

The suite of pricing tools will be one of the signature offerings of Ticketmaster’s recently launched new venture LiveAnalytics, a Ticketmaster company. LiveAnalytics is focused on utilizing the company’s global fan data resources to develop rich data analytics products that provide clients with holistic fan insights aimed at improving ticket sales.

The agreement designates TicketsNow as the Official Ticket Provider of FOXSports.com and creates a convenient and secure destination for fans searching for tickets to events nationwide. TicketsNow links are contextually integrated into FOXSports.com Team Pages, Standings Pages, Schedule Pages, Scores Pages, Gametrax Pages, and Racetrax Pages. Fans can also purchase tickets to the nation's top sporting events through a custom, dynamic TicketsNow "ticket widget," which appears on the FOXSports.com home page.

Bruno Mars, one of the hottest pop sensations touring right now - is not only slated to play gigs this summer at Heineken Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands and the Olympia in Paris, France - he's also going to hit the stage at the O2 Festival in London, UK alongside The Black Eyed Peas, Plan B, Tinie Tempah, Bruno Mars, Example, and David Guetta.

Mar's musical style infuses modern pop with rock, hip hop, R&B, and reggae. His smooth voice and laid-back lyrics have made him a favorite among men and women alike, and Bruno has the ability to bring a portion of his hip style to other similar, talented artists. Bruno Mars is now putting his fame to good use, selling out 2011 tour dates worldwide for his Hooligans in Wondaland tour.

Adele released her second album, a critical and commercial success, earlier this year in the UK and USA -selling 208,000 co pies in its first week in the UK and debuting at number one on the UK Album Chart. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, selling 352,000 copies in its first week. The album has charted at number one in 17 European countries and the US.

In a recent analysis of the music industry Ars Technica noted:

Content industry analyses of the file sharing phenomenon tend to downplay key sources of income for musicians, the LSE report charges, most notably revenue from live concert performances. In 2009, for the first time, earnings from live music events outstripped music sales in the UK. The music recording industry was worth £1.36 billion (about $2.21 billion); the live music scene was estimated around around £1.54 billion. Ticket sales rose by 5.8 percent, "secondary ticketing revenues" shot up 15 percent, and receipts for related services at concerts came to £1.54 million. (This didn't help the music labels much because few profited from better live music sales; that is starting to change.)

In an effort to clamp down on the secondary ticketing market, promoter Off The Kerb Productions has agreed a deal with Ticketmaster to allow fans to use their credit card to access the shows, rather than a traditional ticket that can easily be resold. Music Week is reporting that Ticketmaster UK is embarking on its biggest paperless tickets event to date by offering fans of comedian Michael McIntyre the service for his 2012 arena tour of the UK and Ireland.

Ticketmaster UK managing director Chris Edmonds told Music Week:

"We are committed to developing products that make tickets readily available to fans, not those who only want to sell them on the secondary market. Our Paperless ticketing solution is the ideal option where event organisers want to ensure that tickets are offered at face value."

To become a fan club member, please visit https://signup.sting.com/. In addition to the opportunity to purchase tickets to this exclusive, members-only event, fan club members also enjoy access to advance ticket purchases, exclusive behind-the-scenes video footage and photos, members-only contests, and interaction with thousands of fans from around the world within the Sting.com community.

Ticketnews.com is reporting that Ticketnetwork, the mother company of the American online ticketing publication and advocate of secondary ticketing, is taking David Fray, CEO and President of Hartford, Connecticut's Bushnell Center, to court for defamation.

 In late February, during a public hearing held by the General Assembly's General Law Committee concerning proposed ticketing legislation, Fay appeared to accuse TicketNetwork of creating software "bots," programs that can quickly and surreptitiously scoop up large blocks of tickets, which are illegal in several states.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's CEO, said after the meeting of its executive board that ticketing was one of the more important lessons the ICC has learnt from this event.

"There is certainly something on the ticketing process that we need to consider for future events, particularly where there is such a high demand for tickets," Lorgat said. "Other than that I do not want to at this stage think about the detail. Overall I am very impressed with the way the event went."

The former boss of sports fundraising at the University of Kansas was recently sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for his orchestration of a $2 million ticket scheme, The Kansas City Star reported.

Rodney Jones, 42, plead guilty in January to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after an independent probe ordered by Kansas found that millions of dollars worth of athletic tickets had been diverted for the purpose of re-selling them to brokers.

Jones, 42, was the second former employee ordered to prison this week in the scheme. He was the assistant athletic director in charge of the Williams Fund, the fundraising arm of Kansas athletics.