Cue “The Imperial March” from Star Wars. The music industry now officially has its very own “The Man,” one giant bad guy at which we can all hiss and bitch. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the merger between service-fee junkies Ticketmaster and behemoth concert promoter Live Nation, following the marriage’s regulatory approval in Norway, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Here’s a hint that the new Live Nation Entertainment stinks of a monopoly: When the merger of two American companies is also being debated in Norway and Turkey, it’s probably too freaking big. Under the DOJ’s terms of the agreement, Ticketmaster must sell Paciolan, a ticketing systems firm it acquired two years ago, and license its software to AEG, the company’s largest customer/now-competitor.

What does this mean? Well, Live Nation, a spin-off of radio destroyer Clear Channel, owns over 100 venues (including Chicago’s First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Charter One Pavilion and the House of Blues), dozens of global festivals and Nickelback. And now the Beverly Hill–based firm controls the world’s largest ticketing agency. It’s a top-to-bottom unification of venue, label, artist and ticket provider in many cases of large tours. Basic economics tell us that this should only lead to increased prices, service fees and more disgruntled consumers.

TickerDisaster.org has done a great job following the legal trials of this merger.