The US Department of Justice, in cooperation with a group of states, plans to take legal action against Live Nation Entertainment, the owner of Ticketmaster.
The charge involves maintaining an illegal monopoly in the live entertainment industry, according to three people familiar with the case.
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The government intends to defend the lawsuit alleging that Live Nation enhanced its power through Ticketmaster's exclusive ticketing contracts with concert venues, as well as through its dominance of concert tours and other businesses such as venue management, according to two people who asked to remain anonymous because the lawsuit was still private. That allowed the company to maintain the monopoly by increasing prices and fees for consumers, limiting innovation in the ticketing industry and harming competition, the sources said.
Η Government would argue that the tours promoted by the company were more likely to take place in venues where Ticketmaster was the exclusive ticketing service, one of the sources said. In addition, Live Nation artists played more often at the company's privately owned venues.
Live Nation is a giant in the concert world, deeply impacting the lives of musicians and fans alike. Its scale and reach far exceeds that of any competitor, covering concert promotion, concert management, concert promotion, and concert management. version ticketing, artist management and the operation of hundreds of venues and festivals worldwide.
The Ticketmaster division annually sells 600 million tickets for events worldwide. By some estimates, it manages the ticketing for 70% to 80% of the major concert venues in the United States.
Lawmakers, advocates and competitors have accused the company of practices that harm rivals and raise ticket prices and fees. At a congressional hearing early last year, prompted by pre-sale tickets for the tour of Taylor Swift through Ticketmaster, which left millions of people unable to buy tickets, senators from both parties called Live Nation a monopoly.
The company denied any responsibility for the high prices and fees, claiming that these are determined by the artists and other factors, such as large venues.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department and a spokeswoman for Live Nation declined to comment. According to Bloomberg News, the lawsuit is expected soon. Two people with knowledge of the matter said the lawsuit will be filed in the Southern District of New York.
In recent years, U.S. regulators have filed lawsuits against large corporations, testing a century of antitrust laws against the growing power wielded by large businesses
to consumers. In March, the Department of Justice sued Apple, claiming that the company is making it difficult for customers to abandon its products. In addition, it has already filed two cases against Google, alleging that it violated antitrust laws. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission launched an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon for damages to sellers of its platform and also prosecutes Meta, in part due to its acquisitions of Instagram, of Facebook and the WhatsApp.Read also: Dolce & Gabbana customer sued the company
The Department of Justice allowed Live Nation, the world's largest concert promoter, to acquire Ticketmaster in 2010, under certain conditions set out in a legal agreement. For example, if venues did not use Ticketmaster, Live Nation could not threaten to cancel tours.
In 2019, however, the Department of Justice found that Live Nation had violated these terms and amended and extended the agreement.
The last Justice Department investigation into Live Nation began in 2022. Live Nation boosted its lobbying efforts, spending $2.4 million on federal lobbying in 2023, up from $1.1 million in 2022, according to data from the nonpartisan website OpenSecrets.
In April, the company co-hosted a lavish party in Washington, D.C., on the occasion of the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. The party included a performance by country singer Jelly Roll and cocktail napkins that touted positive facts about Live Nation's impact on the economy, such as the billions it claims to pay artists.
Under pressure from the White House, Live Nation announced in June that it would begin displaying prices for performances at privately owned venues, including all fees, including surcharges. The Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule that would ban hidden fees.
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The commission's former chairman, Bill Kovacic, said Wednesday that the lawsuit against company would be a rebuke to the previous competition officials who allowed the company to reach its current size.
Source: nytimes