‘It is time to break up Live Nation’: DOJ sues Ticketmaster parent over alleged monopoly – By Daysia Tolentino and Rob Wile (NBC News) / May 23, 2024
Outrage over the company’s practices hit a fever pitch in 2022 after a Taylor Swift ticket sale fiasco led to a Senate hearing.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to break up Live Nation, alleging that the parent company of Ticketmaster has hurt consumers and violated antitrust laws by exercising outsize control over the live events industry.
The suit, filed in the Southern District of New York and backed by attorneys general for 29 states plus Washington, D.C., alleges that Live Nation has engaged in practices that harm the entire live entertainment industry — from artists and fans to venues and startups seeking to break into the business.
It says Live Nation directly manages more than 400 musical artists, controls some 60% of concert promotions at major venues and, through Ticketmaster, controls roughly 80% or more of major concert venues’ ticketing — plus a growing share of the resale market.
“Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release. “The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation.”
