Department of Justice and 29 States File Antitrust Lawsuit Alleging Illegal Monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation Is Driving Up Prices

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department filed a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit Thursday against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment, accusing them of having an illegal monopoly on live events in America – stifling competition and driving up prices for fans.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, was brought before 29 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia and seeks to break up a monopoly that they say crowds out smaller promoters, harms artists and drowns fans in endless fees.

“It’s time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation’s monopoly,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday. “It’s time to restore competition and innovation to the entertainment industry. It’s time to part ways with Live Nation, Ticketmaster. The American people are ready for this.”

The Department of Justice accused Live Nation of a range of tactics – including threats and retaliation – that Garland said allowed the entertainment giant to “strangle competition” by maintaining a stronghold in virtually every aspect of the industry, from concert promotion to ticket sales. The impact on consumers can be seen in the “endless list of fees charged to fans,” the attorney general said.

“Live music should not be available only to those who can afford to pay the Ticketmaster tax,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “We are here today to fight for competition so that we can reopen the doors to the live music industry to everyone.”

Live Nation has for years denied violating antitrust laws and said Thursday that the lawsuit “will not solve fans’ concerns about ticket prices, service fees and access to popular programming.”

“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 the basic principles of the economics of live entertainment,” Live Nation added, stating that most service fees go to venues and out to competitors. “continuously reduces” Ticketmaster’s market share. The company said it would defend itself “against these baseless allegations” and push for other reforms.

The Justice Department found that Live Nation’s anticompetitive practices include using long-term contracts to prevent venues from selecting competing ticket providers, blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, and threatening venues that they could lose money and fans if they did not choose Ticketmaster. The Justice Department says Live Nation also threatened retaliation against one company if it did not stop its subsidiary from bidding for artist promotion contracts.

The states involved in the lawsuit are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, joined by the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit is the latest example of the Biden administration’s aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement targeting companies accused of engaging in illegal monopolies that exclude competitors and raise prices. In March, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Apple, maintaining that the tech giant has monopoly power in the smartphone market. The Democratic administration has also attacked Google, Amazon and other tech giants.

Ticketmaster, which merged with Live Nation in 2010, is the world’s largest ticket seller. Last month in its annual report, the company said Ticketmaster distributed more than 620 million tickets through its systems in 2023.

About 70% of major U.S. concert hall tickets are sold through Ticketmaster, according to a federal lawsuit filed by consumers in 2022. According to records, the company owns or controls more than 265 concert halls in North America and dozens of premier amphitheaters. to the Department of Justice.

The ticket seller sparked outrage in November 2022 when its website crashed during the pre-sale of Taylor Swift’s stadium tour. The company said its site had been overwhelmed both by fans and attacks by bots posing as consumers looking to get their hands on tickets and sell them on secondary sites. The debacle prompted congressional hearings and bills in state legislatures aimed at better protecting consumers.

The Justice Department allowed the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, provided Live Nation agreed not to retaliate against concert venues for using third-party tickets for 10 years. In 2019, the department conducted an investigation and found that Live Nation had “repeatedly” breached that agreement and extended its ban on retaliating against concert venues through 2025.

Ticketmaster has repeatedly clashed with artists and fans over the years. Pearl Jam targeted the company in 1994, although the Justice Department ultimately declined to prosecute. Recently, Bruce Springsteen fans were furious over the high cost of tickets due to the platform’s dynamic pricing system.

Ticketmaster also had disputes with its industry competitors. In 2015, StubHub sued Ticketmaster and the Golden State Warriors, claiming it was unfairly requiring fans looking to resell tickets to use the Ticketmaster resale exchange. In the lawsuit, StubHub alleged that the organizations prevented fans from deciding how tickets were resold and artificially inflated ticket prices.

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Grantham-Philips reported from New York. AP reporters Michelle Chapman and Maria Sherman also contributed from New York.