This Thursday, upon appeal from the U.S. government, the Justice Department (JD) sued Live Nation along with one of its mergers, Ticketmaster.
The company was charged with unauthorized monopolistic behavior or tactics regarding live events in the U.S, such as issuing long-term contracts and threats to prevent venues from switching over to other competing ticketers or choose multiple ticketers, while also keeping competing firms at bay.
Furthermore, the company not only undertook 70 percent of American ticket sales but also controlled almost the entirety of the industry from event promotion to its booking.
Live Nation was also accused of quashing competition with other firms and steadily raising prices for customers, especially through the use of fees. The JD thus requested the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to order “the divestiture of, at minimum, Ticketmaster,” that would obstruct anti-competitive practices.
“It’s time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation’s monopoly,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland “It is time to restore competition and innovation in the entertainment industry. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster. The American people are ready for it.”
The monopolistic behavior, according to 30 district and state lawyers pushed smaller sponsors out of the ticket-booking market, adversely affecting artists while simultaneously raising prices for customers.
Artists previously in a rift with the company include global pop culture icon Taylor Swift, whose fans’ ticket-booking experiences for her 2022 Eras Tour caused an uproar, bringing the problems in the American booking system to light.
Live Nation refutes accusations of monopolistic behaviour
On the other hand, Live Nation refutes the above accusations, emphasizing that the trial “won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows.”
Their say is that service fees directed to venues along with outside competition have “steadily eroded” the firm’s market share, leading to surcharging.
Live Nation’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, Dan Wall has cited “intense political pressure” as a reason for the lawsuit adding that the government “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from increasing production costs to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary tickets cost.”
The anti-trust lawsuit is within a larger push to curb corporate power, as seen through other trials against giant corporations such as Apple, Google, Meta, and more.
Even so, given that the lawsuit has just begun, it may take years until sufficient action is taken to protect ticket buyers, given how the complaint specifically advocates a breakup, not to mention the probability of multiple appeals, which could stretch the trial for even longer.
Fans also support the possibility of Live Nation’s breakup, with Representative Bill Pascrell who has already opposed the merger since 2009, stating “This news is a victory for the millions of American fans who have been taken advantage of, screwed, ripped off, and outright robbed by this corrupt and greedy entity.”
