Consumer advocates praise antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation

Immediately after the lawsuit was filed in New York, USA vs. Live Nation Entertainment has seen an outpouring of support for the Justice Department’s actions against the allegedly monopolistic company and its Ticketmaster subsidiary. Consumer advocates quickly joined the chorus of praise for the lawsuit, which many say is necessary to restore competition in the live entertainment and ticket sales markets.

“America’s live music industry is broken because Live Nation-Ticketmaster has an illegal monopoly,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in announcing the lawsuit Thursday morning. “Our antitrust lawsuit seeks to break up the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly and restore competition to the benefit of fans and artists.”

FURTHER READING | DOJ, 30 AGs File Antitrust Lawsuit to Break Up Live Nation and Ticketmaster

Statements in Support of the Live Nation/Ticketmaster Antitrust Lawsuit

Statements by the leadership of the Department of Justice
Statement from the Progressive Policy Institute
Statement from the Coalition for Fan Integrity
Statement from the Coalition for Ticket Integrity

Statements by the leadership of the Department of Justice

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopoly control over the live events industry in the United States at the expense of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators.” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As a result, fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play shows, smaller promoters are squeezed out and venues have less real choice in ticketing services. It is time to part ways with Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

“Today’s announcement reflects the Department of Justice’s latest efforts to combat corporate misconduct.” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “Our fight against corporate misconduct includes an intense focus on anti-competitive behavior that harms consumers, workers and businesses of all kinds. Today’s complaint alleges that Live Nation-Ticketmaster engaged in anti-competitive conduct to assert its dominance in the live concert market and serve as a gatekeeper for the entire industry. Today’s action is a step forward in making this era of live music more accessible to fans, artists and the industry that supports them.”

“The department is committed to competition across the economy, including in live music,” he added. said Acting Deputy Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “According to our complaint, Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopolizes the concert and other live event markets at the expense of fans, venues and artists across the country. The Department is proud to bring this case to restore competition in this industry.”

“America’s Live Music Industry Is Broken Because Live Nation-Ticketmaster Has an Illegal Monopoly” said Deputy Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. “Our antitrust lawsuit seeks to break up the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly and restore competition to the benefit of fans and artists.”

Statement from the Progressive Policy Institute

“PPI applauds the Department of Justice for bringing enforcement of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly law to the front lines of the antitrust fight. A successful lawsuit would bring justice to millions of American consumers who pay a high price for Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s continued dominance of live events. The company’s wingspan spans the entire live events supply chain, where it engages in exclusionary practices that have long stifled competition, to the detriment of fans, artists and smaller competitors. These practices repeatedly brought business back to Ticketmaster, where it reaped its monopoly “harvest” in the form of exorbitantly high ticket fees. Antitrust enforcement against Live Nation-Ticketmaster is long overdue.

“In 2010, Live Nation and Ticketmaster were allowed to merge, but that decision represented an abject failure in antitrust enforcement. Instead of blocking the merger, the Department of Justice imposed an obligation on the company, which then had an 80% share in the ticket market, to meet ineffective conditions. Live Nation-Ticketmaster violated these anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation requirements by consolidating its dominance and keeping smaller live event competitors in fear and control.

“Thirty states joined the Department of Justice in its complaint, expressing strong support for the serious harm caused to consumers, artists and smaller rivals by the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly. The complaint is noteworthy because it uses every tool in law enforcement’s arsenal to hold Live Nation-Ticketmaster accountable for its illegal conduct. This includes claims under Section 1 and Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Moreover, structural relief – achieved by dividing the company – is the only effective way to fully restore competition.

“PPI’s ticketing industry analysis clarified what a solution to the Live Nation-Ticketmaster problem might look like. Restoring competition in live event markets would require separating Ticketmaster from Live Nation and splitting it into smaller companies. Greater competition would create stronger incentives to compete on ticket fees, quality of service, protection of ticket purchasers’ privacy and data, and improvements in ticketing platform technology.

“PPI has also been a leading voice opposing Live Nation-Ticketmaster-backed legislation that targets the resale market. The only place where you can see some semblance of competition in ticket sales is resale, but some state and federal legislative proposals would give Live Nation more market power, making the resale market more difficult.

Statement from the Fan Integrity Coalition

“We applaud the Department of Justice’s decision to take the necessary action and address Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopolistic and anticompetitive business practices. In the months since our bipartisan coalition was formed, we’ve seen momentum build to protect fans by cutting ties with Ticketmaster and Live Nation.

“This lawsuit is a response to the tens of thousands of live event fans who – with the help of the Fan Fairness Coalition – have spoken out and called on federal officials to dismantle a platform that has for too long dominated ticket sales and prevented competition from driving the industry forward.

“The Department of Justice is taking a critical step to hold Ticketmaster accountable for undermining free market competition and harming millions of live event fans across the country. The only way to ensure fair competition, greater access and better service for fans and artists is for the Department of Justice to complete this Live Nation-Ticketmaster process.”

Statement from the Coalition for Ticket Integrity

The Ticket Integrity Coalition welcomed the recent announcement that the Department of Justice is pursuing an antitrust lawsuit against live event giant Live Nation. Today’s mainstream ticketing market is dominated by one company, which by some estimates holds 70-80 percent of the market share. They have used this dominance to pressure venues to agree to ticketing contracts that often last up to ten years, isolating them from any competition and ensuring control over ticket prices. The exercise of this power is not limited to fans either, bands and artists are forced to show their support to eliminate any issues related to internal dysfunction or dissatisfaction with the status quo. If anyone doubts that they have a monopoly, just note that Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino’s 2022 salary was $139 million.

This news from the Department of Justice is encouraging and we believe underscores the need for federal legislation to address near-monopoly and its negative impact on fans. It should be noted that Live Nation has also changed its strategy by pushing for legislation at the state level. The bills were lobbied aggressively in several states, including Maryland, California and Colorado, where state lawmakers were told they were “fan-friendly” and better for the artist when the opposite was true. The truth, of course, is that in the live event ticket market, allowing more competition and lower prices is always best for fans. We will continue to advocate for legislation at the federal and state levels that focuses on fan rights, while keeping a close eye on the Department of Justice lawsuit.