The DOJ, which filed the antitrust lawsuit alongside 30 state and district attorneys general, argues that Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s anti-competitive behavior deprives U.S. music fans of ticketing innovation and forces them to pay more than fans in other countries.
“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said 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,” he added. “It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”
Live Nation and Ticketmaster have faced increased public scrutiny since Ticketmaster suffered a meltdown during singer Taylor Swift’s online presale in 2022, preventing thousands of fans from purchasing tickets for her “Eras Tour.”
In a statement Thursday, Live Nation argued that the “lawsuit won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows.”
“Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment, such as the fact that the bulk of service fees go to venues, and that competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster’s market share and profit margin,” the company said.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
