Live Nation sued by Department of Justice over alleged Ticketmaster ‘monopoly’

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to break up Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation, saying it harmed consumers and violated antitrust laws by exercising excessive control over the live events industry.

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York and supported by attorneys general from 29 states and 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 looking to break into the business. .

He says Live Nation directly manages more than 400 musical artists, controls 60% of concert promotions at major venues and, through Ticketmaster, controls approximately 80% or more of tickets at major venues – as well as a growing share of the resale market.

“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a press release. “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’s time to break up Live Nation.”

Among the allegations against Live Nation:

• That he worked with a venue management company called Oak View Group to get customers to sign exclusive contracts to use Ticketmaster. Founded by influential entertainment executive and former Live Nation president Irving Azoff, Oak View oversees dozens of arenas around the world. A representative for Oak View did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• That she tried to stifle competition in the concert promotion industry through threats of retaliation and took over upstart groups she perceived as a threat.
• That it signs long-term, “exclusionary” contracts that prevent venues from turning to alternative management companies and using multiple ticketing platforms.
• This Ticketmaster is becoming the default ticketing platform for many artists because Live Nation controls a large portion of the venues they would like to play.

In a statement, Live Nation said the Justice Department’s allegations were “baseless” and its actions would be counterproductive.

“The Department of Justice’s lawsuit will not solve fans’ concerns about ticket prices, service fees and access to in-demand programming,” it said. “Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR victory for the Justice Department in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores basic principles of the live entertainment economy, such as the fact that most service fees go to venues and that competition continually erodes share of the market and Ticketmaster’s profit margin.”

The company also disputed its claim to a dominant role, saying Ticketmaster’s market share has been declining for more than a decade.

The lawsuit also said the lawsuit ignores key factors that have hurt the quality of live entertainment and ticket purchasing for fans, such as rising production costs, the rising popularity of artists and 24/7 online ticket scalping.

“Live Nation can and has offered fans, artists, venues and the rest of the performance ecosystem better prices and better service than they would receive if these complementary businesses were separated,” he said. “Ticketmaster in particular is a much better company under Live Nation, more focused on artists and fans than it ever was as a standalone company. But that’s how the Department of Justice sees it.”

Ticketmaster has been struggling with complaints from fans and artists for years. The outrage peaked in 2022 after ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour failed. The Senate Judiciary Committee then held a hearing on the company’s role in the ticketing industry.

Thursday’s lawsuit joins several other major antitrust actions taken under President Joe Biden, who has made rooting out alleged monopolies a cornerstone of his presidency. In July 2021, he signed an executive order aimed at promoting competition. The largest actions of this type taken by the Biden administration include the Department of Justice’s lawsuit in March, accusing Apple of exercising monopoly power in the smartphone market, which Apple denies.

Biden said that while he is a “proud capitalist,” “capitalism without competition is not capitalism; it’s exploitation.”

Last year, several laws were introduced to address issues affecting ticket buyers. Last week, the House passed the Transparency of Fees for the Sale of Key Event Tickets (TICKETS) Act, which imposes an obligation on sellers to disclose all costs and fees up front when they put tickets up for sale.

Live Nation supported the move and said it supports ticketing reforms such as anti-bot legislation and banning speculative tickets or the sale of tickets that are not currently held by the seller.

“Bipartisan support for these reforms demonstrates that protecting fans and artists is in everyone’s best interest,” the company said in a statement. “We look forward to working with policymakers to bring these changes to life.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who introduced the BOSS and SWIFT Acts last year to combat fraudulent ticketing practices, called the lawsuit “one of the most fan-friendly moves by our federal government in many years.” He added that the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster should not have been allowed.

“This news is a victory for the millions of American fans who have been exploited, deceived, defrauded and simply robbed by this corrupt and greedy entity,” Pascrell said in a statement.

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More than 250 artists recently signed on to a letter supporting the Fans First Act, which was introduced in the Senate in December. The aim of the bill is to improve price transparency and consumer protection, as well as to prevent bad actors from charging excessive prices. It would also strengthen the Better Online Ticketing Act, passed in 2016, which prohibits fraudsters from using software to buy tickets in bulk, by further banning the use of bots to sell tickets.

Dan Wall, Live Nation’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, wrote on Live Nation’s website in March that Ticketmaster is wrongly perceived as “a massive ticket seller that acquires vast quantities of tickets and puts them on sale at prices set by Ticketmaster.” In fact, he said, ticket prices are set by artists and sports teams.

Consumer organizations have welcomed reports this year that the Department of Justice plans to sue Live Nation.

A case against the company would demonstrate “the seriousness of this situation and the need for action to protect fans,” Fan Integrity Coalition President Mark Meador, a Republican antitrust expert, said in an April statement.

“This will be a key step in holding Ticketmaster and Live Nation accountable for monopolistic, anti-competitive business practices that have undermined free market competition in the live event ticketing industry and harmed millions of fans,” he said.

In a statement, the group representing independent institutions praised the actions of the Department of Justice.

“We are hopeful that the lawsuit filed today will ultimately produce meaningful results that will benefit fans, artists, independent venues and festivals, and the businesses around us across the country,” said Stephen Parker, executive director of the National Independent Venue Association.

Ticketmaster argues that artists and their teams set the terms of ticket distribution. A website titled Ticketing Truths states that statutes are responsible for setting nominal ticket prices. In cooperation with managers, agents and promoters, artists also decide where to perform, when to put tickets on sale and how to sell them, he says.

As for service fees – a common target of criticism among fans – the company says they are set by venues, which also keep most of the fee revenue. “Some portion” of fare revenue goes to the ticketing company and to cover credit card fees.