Music industry
The US Department of Justice is working on an antitrust lawsuit against concert organizer Live Nation for restricting free competition. The Wall Street Journal reports this.
The US Department of Justice is said to be preparing to sue Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of ticket seller Ticketmaster and concert organizer Live Nation, possibly as soon as next month. According to The Wall Street Journal, the department has the size, power and bargaining power in ticket sales and venue management of the concert giant examined.
Although no details are known about the complaint, it is said to revolve around the undermining of other concert organizations and the creation of a monopoly in the field of live events following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2010. There were already concerns about this before the merger the impact of the merger of the dominant ticket supplier and the largest concert promoter on free competition.
Such a lawsuit could lead to major changes. Three anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the intention would be to sell Live Nation Entertainment Inc. to divest its Ticketmaster branch.
Exorbitant prices, poor customer service
Since the merger, the company has repeatedly come under fire for exorbitant ticket prices, poor customer service and anti-competitive practices. The criticism reached a peak when the system crashed during ticket sales for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in late 2022, when the site could not handle the amount of traffic from fans and bots trying to get tickets. Critics say the company is nipping competition in the bud. The Wall Street Journal points to antitrust enforcers previously finding that Live Nation forced certain venues to work with Ticketmaster.
“Ticketmaster has more competition than it ever had,” a Ticketmaster spokeswoman said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. “The terms of the agreements with venues show that Ticketmaster does not have a monopoly.” The lawsuit could be filed as early as next month.
