to be broken up, a remarkable claim in an antitrust lawsuit the department is expected to file in New York Thursday morning, a source familiar with the matter tellsA DOJ suit has been one of the most anticipated potential legal actions in the live music industry since news of the regulators’ investigationhave faced significant scrutiny from fans, competing concert and ticketing companies, and regulators since the two companies merged in 2010, with critics saying the merger has made it difficult...
Frustration toward the company — and toward the ticketing marketplace as a whole — was brought back into the national spotlight following the infamous on-sale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which left thousands of Swifties irate due to technical difficulties and long lines as they attempted to secure tickets. The DOJ’s investigation into the company began prior to Swift’s on-sale.
Beyond the DOJ, lawmakers including Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn, Richard Blumenthal and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have all called for heightened regulation toward Live Nation in recent years. Speaking withlast year, Klobuchar called out the volume of venues Ticketmaster serves, the exclusive deals the company carves out, and growing fees among other issues.
“That makes them a vertically integrated giant,” Klobuchar said. “They book the concert, sell the tickets and own the venue that makes for little competition. And despite the consent decree which they o amend a consent decree the company had been beholden to since the Ticketmaster merger in 2010, extending the consent decree through 2025.
“Statements to the effect that Live Nation and Ticketmaster ‘keep ticket prices high’ are just flat wrong,” Wall wrote. “Anyone with a basic understanding of the industry knows this. Those who perpetuate this falsehood are cynical at best. They do a disservice to consumers and to rational political discourse.