So who, exactly, are the artists supporting the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger?

UPDATED

In its MediaFile blog, Reuters drops the names, including Seal (said to be a close personal friend of Ticketmaster chief Irving Azoff), Shakira, Journey, Van Halen and… Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, a group that has long worked exclusively in Chicago with independent promoters (and Live Nation’s archrivals) Jam Productions.

Together, Corgan and Jam have worked hard to explore alternative means of ticketing, thwarting Ticketmaster and that mysterious problem of how tickets wind up in the hands of scalpers instead of fans. But Corgan also is managed by Azoff. So it appears he’s chosen sides.

Corgan’s letter has not yet been published as part of the Congressional record of the subcommittee hearings, and he declined to share it with the Sun-Times or to talk about the issue. “I am loathe from here and ever on to talk about the music business. So

honestly I’d rather not comment,” he wrote in an email.

According to the Reuters blog, Eddie Van Halen wrote a letter to the Congressional subcommittees that met earlier this week, supporting the merger. It reads in part:

Has-been rockers Journey also waxed rhapsodic about the merger:

As did Seal, one of the few stars supporting the merger who is not managed by either Live Nation or Ticketmaster. He wrote:

On the other side, of course, is… the Boss. And, um… er… uh, there have to be more, no? Or, as yesterday’s House subcommittee asserted, are they all really too intimidated to speak out? (Is it really better to play on Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s farm than to not play at all?)

E.V. phone home! The time is now. Mr. Vedder, to finally even Pearl Jam’s score with Ticketmaster.