Coming clean with one of Wall Street's worst-kept secrets, event promoter Live Nation (NYSE:LYV) and ticketing giant Ticketmaster (NASDAQ:TKTM) will be combining in a merger of equals.

Shareholders will now have to pay a $4 fee to have their proxies mailed out and a $7 fee for parking their certificates at the transfer agent. If investors can't locate their shares, they can scalp replacements directly from the company, at a 10% premium. Bring your reading glasses, because you'll have to decipher a practically illegible Captcha before you're even allowed to vote.

I'm kidding, of course. It's what Ticketmaster gets for its history of outrageous surcharges.

In reality, the combination will create a company worth $2.5 billion in enterprise value. It's a true merger of equals, with each company being combined at 50% of the deal's value, like Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) last year. What is it with music companies and perfect harmony?

Ticketmaster shareholders will receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock to balance things out. Will both companies truly be equal? We'll see. The new name of the merged company -- Live Nation Entertainment -- would indicate that the event promoter is getting the better of the ticketing specialist, but it's probably just more reflective of the more diversified nature of the new company.

Live Nation Entertainment projects $40 million in synergy savings.

The market isn't impressed. It's marking down both stocks today. Then again, it's also been a sorry day for the market in general. It could also be that several news sources have been reporting on the buyout since last month.

Maybe Wall Street hasn't warmed up to the model. Live Nation turned heads when it signed Madonna away from Warner Music Group (NYSE:WMG) and went on to sign a few more massive "360 deals," which include participation in various aspects of a musical artist's revenue stream, such as merchandising and CD releases.

One has to feel that if the recession deepens, attending rock concerts and sporting events will be harder to justify. Then again, that's probably the best justification for getting this deal done, so the company can begin realizing the tens of millions in annualized operating efficiencies.

As for Ticketmaster, the merger will complete a short-lived return as a stand-alone publicly traded company. It was spun off by IAC (NASDAQ:IACI) this past summer. It was a short set, but now Live Nation and Ticketmaster get to tour around the country as double-billed headliners.

Let's hope they make sweet music and not a sea of cacophony.

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