Is Live Nation a monopoly?
That is the question facing a jury as the Department of Justice took the company to court in what is being called the biggest legal case the music industry has faced in years.
The New York Times called Live Nation “a colossus of the music industry” that was built over the past 16 years.
What happened 16 years ago? The government allowed Live Nation and Ticketmaster to merge in 2010.
Last year alone, the company had 55,000 events and sold 646 million tickets globally. It also owns or has control of 460 venues and manages more than 300 artists, the Times reported.
The lawsuit, filed in 2024, was inspired by the issues that Swifties had trying to get tickets for her Eras Tour. A majority of states joined the lawsuit, Reuters reported.
Presale queues crashed in 2022, causing the entire site to crash and forcing Ticketmaster to cancel the presale. Swift called the meltdown “excruciating,” NBC News reported.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Ticketmaster’s control in 2023 and several fans of Swift have also filed their own lawsuits against Ticketmaster. One class action lawsuit was dropped but another is awaiting trial.
The Justice Department said it is a monopoly, writing in court documents, “Live Nation and its wholly owned subsidiary, Ticketmaster, have used that power and influence to insert themselves at the center and the edges of virtually every aspect of the live music ecosystem. This has given Live Nation and Ticketmaster the opportunity to freeze innovation and bend the industry to their own benefit.”
The agency said, “Through interconnected agreements associated with Live Nation’s various roles as ticketer, promoter, artist manager, and venue owner,” the complaint says, “Live Nation has created a feedback loop that pushes ticketing and ancillary fees higher while allowing Live Nation to be on all sides of numerous transactions and thereby double-dip from the pockets of fans, artists, and venues.”
The DOJ says that because it has control over almost all of the music industry, it blocks smaller companies from getting their share.
Live Nation said the allegations are not true in the lawsuit filed in 2024, NBC News reported.
“If there was a lick of truth,” then the government would have presented “mountains of evidence demonstrating monopoly power and the anticompetitive effects of Live Nation’s conduct.” But the company said the government has presented “barely a molehill” of evidence of a monopoly, the Times reported.
Live Nation told NBC News, the lawsuit “won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows.”
“Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment, such as the fact that the bulk of service fees go to venues, and that competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster’s market share and profit margin,” the company said.
Some of those who could testify include Kid Rock, Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino, Mumford & Sons keyboardist Ben Lovett and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez.
NBC News noted that Kid Rock testified in front of the Senate Commerce Committee in January that the ticketing industry is “full of greedy snakes and scoundrels,” while his “Freedom 250″ tour tickets are being exclusively sold through Live Nation.
The trial started on March 2 with jury selection and is expected to last six weeks, NBC News reported.
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