Uncle Sam’s is fed up with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, suing to end monopoly • The Register

The U.S. Department of Justice, joined by 30 state and district attorneys general, today filed a civil antitrust complaint against Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, alleging that the entertainment giant stifled competition by monopolizing the concert market.

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopoly control over the U.S. live events industry at the expense of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement .

“As a result, fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play shows, smaller promoters are eliminated and venues have less choice in ticketing. It is time to part ways with Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

The Justice Department says Live Nation owns or controls approximately 265 concert venues in North America and generates more than $22 billion in global revenue annually from concerts, online ticket sales and sponsorships/advertising.

The government’s complaint made various allegations of unlawful conduct intended to eliminate competition and monopolize markets. The allegations include: Colluding with competitors to avoid bidding on each other’s artists and venues; retaliation against potential competitors and facilities collaborating with rivals; exclusionary agreements; preventing venues from using multiple ticketing services; preventing artists from using facilities if they have not signed up for promotional services; and acquiring competitors.

Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ-09) welcomed the lawsuit, citing his long opposition to the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger, which was approved in 2010 by the Obama administration.

“Live Nation and Ticketmaster should under no circumstances be allowed to merge,” Pascrell said in a statement. “I begged the Obama administration to block it, and I have spent the last 15 years trying to right this wrong. If ever a company was the corporate embodiment of a combination of Darth Vader and Lord Voldemort, it is Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”

There were other acquisitions during this period, such as Meta’s (Facebook) purchase of Instagram (2012) and WhatsApp (2014), which have since raised concerns from regulators.

For its part, Live Nation says the lawsuit is simply anti-business populism, unsupported by antitrust law and encouraged by rivals. The giant insists that “it is absurd to claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster exercise monopoly power.”

Sure, ticket prices are high, says the biz, but Live Nation and Ticketmaster are not to blame for that.

The government’s complaint “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from rising production costs to the popularity of artists to 24/7 online ticket scalping, which reveals the public’s willingness to pay significantly more than the cost of original tickets,” the company said in its filing. writing. statement on its website. “It blames Live Nation and Ticketmaster for high service fees, while ignoring the fact that Ticketmaster only keeps a modest portion of those fees.”

…rising production costs, the popularity of artists, 24/7 online ticket scalping that exposes the public’s willingness to pay much more…

The entertainment giant insists it is barely profitable, noting that its “overall net profit margin ranks among the bottom of profitable S&P 500 companies.”

The seemingly profit-hungry biz reports a net profit margin of just 1.4 percent in February and, in a fit of whataboutism, points to the net profit margins of Alphabet (24 percent), Apple (25.3 percent) and Meta (29.8 percent). ). We note that each of these technology platforms is also subject to antitrust proceedings.

On March 28, Pascrell released “a previously secret report detailing the rampant corruption and abuses of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly.” In a letter aimed at encouraging antitrust intervention, it highlights the corporation’s “suspicious accounting practices,” alleging that they allow Live Nation to record financial losses on events while reporting profits to shareholders. This may have something to do with Live Nation’s low net profit margin.

Either way, Live Nation’s Q3 2023 reported its “best quarter ever,” and its Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 reports weren’t too shabby either. ®