In a ground-breaking antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, the US government and numerous states are alleging the company “abused its industry dominance to harm concertgoers nationwide,” reports CNN. The lawsuit was filed in New York “by the Justice Department and 30 state and district attorneys general,” says CNN. Live Nation is the largest ticketing website and concert promoter in the US, with the governments saying in the lawsuit it was behind a plan to eliminate all competition. The governments are seeking a jury trial and a breakup of the company. The case could have dramatic effect on how live events are marketed and sold, which both raised questions in 2022 after problems at Ticketmaster blocked millions from purchasing tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. The Swift debacle revealed how a lack of competition has led to harms ranging from poor customer service to confusing pricing to expensive ticketing fees to restrictions on ticket resales, amounting to what many consumers complain of as death by a thousand cuts, as per CNN. It is alleged Live Nation’s goal was to be the only ticketing and live events company by making contracts with the largest venues in the US and that all live events at the venues were ticketed through Live Nation’s website. “We allege that 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,” said US Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. “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-Ticketmaster.” Performers have also complained about how Live Nation has conducted its business, which includes ticketing services and control of about 200 venues, which artists claim gives it the power to dictate all terms and fees to them. Swift was so annoyed with Ticketmaster in 2022 and how it enraged her fans that she wrote on Instagram the situation was “excruciating for me” and “pisses me off.” Other artists have weighed in about Live Nation. The Cure front man Robert Smith, said he was “sickened” by Ticketmaster’s fees and country singer Zach Bryan, who in 2022 released a collection of live performances entitled “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live at Red Rocks).” “The US government is opposing Live Nation’s economic power for the first time since the company merged with Ticketmaster in 2010,” says CNN. “Regulators chose to tolerate it at the time; rather than sue to block the deal, they imposed certain obligations on the company meant to anticipate potential harms that the merger might cause.” Even before the merger, antitrust advocates said it was not a good deal, including Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who, in 2019, called on the Justice Department to investigate the company’s failure to live up to its commitments. Other senators such as Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz have both put forth bills to regulate the ticketing industry. According to the lawsuit, Live Nation has control of 60% of concert promotions at venues in the country and control of more than 265 concert venues in North America, with direct management contracts with more than 400 artists. Additionally, the suit says Live Nation controls roughly 80% or more of major concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts. But CNN says fans hoping to save money will have to wait “as the suit will likely take years to make its way through the court system. Until then, the exorbitant fees they know all too well aren’t likely to be dramatically affected.”
