Live Nation calls monopoly claims ‘absurd’ and administration ‘anti-business’ – The Center Square

Entertainment giant Live Nation reacted sharply on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Justice accused it of illegally maintaining a monopoly on the live concert industry.

Beverly Hills company called claims he maintains a monopoly, “absurd,” and said the Biden administration has been “anti-business.”

“We are yet another victim of this administration’s decision to hand over antitrust enforcement to a populist pressure that simply rejects how antitrust law works,” said Dan Wall, executive vice president of Live Nation. “Some people call it ‘anti-monopoly,’ but in reality it’s just anti-business.”

US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Thursday, a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. He said the company stifles competition through illegal and anti-competitive practices that harm the entire industry – concert-goers, artists and venues.

Garland claims that Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster control at least 80% of primary ticket sales at major concert venues, manage more than 400 artists and control more than 60% of concert promotions nationwide. Garland says the company also owns or controls more than 60% of large U.S. amphitheaters.

“Rather than investing in better products and services, we maintain that Live Nation has illegally monopolized the U.S. live music markets for far too long,” Garland said during a news conference. “We allege that, to maintain this dominance, Live Nation relies on unlawful anti-competitive conduct to exercise monopoly control over the live events industry in the United States. And the fans, artists, independent promoters and venues that drive the industry. As a result, fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play shows, smaller promoters are squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices in ticketing services.”

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. owns or controls more than 265 concert halls in North America, including more than 60 of the top 100 amphitheaters in the United States. It generates more than $22 billion in annual revenue worldwide from three business segments: concerts, ticket sales and sponsorships and, according to the Department of Justice, advertising. Ticketmaster LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Live Nation. Ticketmaster sells concert tickets to fans and operates resale platforms that allow buyers to resell these tickets.

Live Nation says performers set prices. Wall said during Live Nation and Ticketmaster connected in 2010, it did so under an agreement with the Department of Justice.

“The Obama administration saw it differently. “This was made possible by the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and in defending this position he admitted that there was no legal basis to question the vertical aspects of the merger – in particular, allowing a large concert promoter to merge with a large ticketing company,” Wall wrote. “In one of its filings, it stated that it “determined that it could not prove that the vertical integration resulting from the merger would significantly harm competition in the concert promotion market.” Currently, there is no factual basis to believe otherwise. The world is a better place because of this merger, not a worse place.”

Live Nation said limited supply had driven up ticket costs.

An example was Beyonce’s 2014 concert at the 3,200-seat Roseland Ballroom in New York. Beyonce’s fan site titled it “4 Intimate Nights with Beyonce” and reported the first date sold out in 22 seconds, and the remaining three shows sold out within a minute of going on sale.

“The real explanations for high ticket prices are well known and have little to do with Live Nation or Ticketmaster,” Live Nation said on its website. “They start with the economic conditions that explain most prices: supply and demand. For a small percentage of concerts – the high-profile ones – consumer demand far exceeds the supply of available tickets. This is obvious at the top of the industry, where stars like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen and Harry Styles can easily sell out far more shows than they can realistically play. But it’s not just them. For the top 5-10% of touring artists, demand regularly far outstrips ticket supply. We are fortunate that artists in this category do not fully exercise their pricing power; otherwise they would charge the much higher prices we see in resale markets. However, basic economics also apply to concert tickets, so high demand naturally leads to higher ticket prices.”