Weiser joins Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster

PRESS RELEASE
ATTORNEY GENERAL PHIL WEISER
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DENVER – Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined the U.S. Department of Justice and other states in filing an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., the owner of Ticketmaster, alleging it illegally monopolized the live entertainment industry, specifically concert ticket sales.

According to the federal lawsuit, Live Nation has involved itself in almost every aspect of the live music industry, including ticket sales, promotions, marketing and venues. Live Nation maintains its illegal monopoly through a network of agreements and other anti-competitive activities to make greater profits, stifle competition and innovation in the industry, and thereby harm concert-goers.

For example, Live Nation maintains its anticompetitive monopoly on ticket sales and resale by closing venues in Colorado and across the country under restrictive, long-term, exclusive contracts and threatening that venues will lose access to tours and artists if they sign with a competing ticketing company. Live Nation also uses its extensive network of amphitheaters to force artists to choose Live Nation as a promoter over its rivals, thereby maintaining a monopoly on promotions. For this reason, fans attending concerts in Live Nation-controlled amphitheaters are exposed to fewer performances and see fewer artists than would otherwise be the case. Meanwhile, artists are forced to go through Live Nation to reach music lovers, even if they are unhappy with the way Live Nation treats fans.

Weiser said that because Live Nation has little competition, fans suffer by paying more for concerts, incurring higher fees when purchasing tickets on the primary and secondary markets through Ticketmaster and missing out on choice and innovation in the marketplace.

“Ticketmaster is the dominant ticketing service provider in the United States, and fans and artists alike are under extraordinary pressure to take advantage of its monopoly,” Weiser said. “As a result, fans pay exorbitant prices. This lawsuit calls for opening up competition in ticketing services and preventing Live Nation from using other assets in a way that undermines competition. It is time to end Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s anti-competitive tactics and iron grip on this market.”

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, asks to restore competition in the live entertainment industry by enjoining Live Nation from engaging in anti-competitive practices and, among other things, ordering Live Nation to divest Ticketmaster.

Also joining the Justice Department lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Pennsylvania , Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.

Click here for a copy of the complaint.

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