Posted on 05/23/2024 7:39:48 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
U.S. plans antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster parent Live Nation
The Department of Justice and a group of U.S. state attorneys general on Thursday plan to sue ticketing giant Live Nation on antitrust grounds, a source familiar with the DOJ's plans told Axios.
Why it matters: The outcome of the legal battle with one of the largest ticketing and live events companies in the U.S. could fundamentally upend the industry.
Details: The DOJ plans to announce in a midday press conference on Thursday that it is suing Live Nation alongside several states for illegally abusing its monopoly power in live ticketing through its 2010 acquisition of Ticketmaster. It will argue that Live Nation leveraged Ticketmaster's exclusive contracts with concert venues to maintain a monopoly in the live entertainment industry and will recommend that the two companies be separated, the source confirmed to Axios.
The DOJ declined to comment, and Live Nation did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Catch up quick: The DOJ declined to sue to sue to block Live Nation's acquisition of Ticketmaster in 2010, but said the company is not allowed to pressure concert venues to use its ticketing software through a legal order called a consent decree. The 10-year consent decree, Axios reported, was extended for more than five years in 2020, giving the DOJ more power to go after the company for abusing its market dominance.
Between the lines: Live Nation faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups over botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in late 2022. That fiasco highlighted the firm's dominance, although the DOJ was reportedly already investigating the company.
The big picture: The Biden administration has aggressively gone after big businesses, particularly in tech, for antitrust over the past three years, suing suing Apple in March and suing Google multiple times since 2020.
Related Posts:
Senators grill Live Nation leader over Ticketmaster's Taylor Swift ticketing. Posted on 1/24/2023
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4125822/posts
How Taylor Swift Changed the Course of the Concert Ticketing Businesses (What led up to the Ticketmaster fiasco). Posted on 11/3/2022
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4110381/posts
I went to an EWF concert a few years ago. After that I swore off attending any concert venue. Problem solved.
You know what would bring pricing down? If folks didnt fight each other over 1000 dollar concert tickets. Can we look into the debt and inflation instead?
Ping
Humorous what DOJ goes after but fails to touch Hunter Biden’s & his laptop.
You can apply your theory to pro sports as well. But as long as a majority of white people are living their lives vicariously through their favorite sports team or player the status quo will remain in place......and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
We’re $35 trillion in debt, and these idiots are worried about concert ticket prices?
We’re so effed.....
Brilliant.
This might not matter to an old fuddy-duddy who last paid $25 to see the Stones back in the 1970’s, but it’s *HUGE* to people from teens to early 30’s who go to (or would like to go to) multiple concerts a year.
Ultimately merely symbolic, but probably of more meaning to a demographic the current administration is courting and counting on than capital gains cuts or Chinese infrastructure hacking.
Monopolies are bad, breaking them up is good, at least to all but a very few people.
I don’t think it will do all that much, since the REAL reason for high costs is that the artists and venues are merely charging what people would have otherwise paid scalpers.
I mean folks like Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, or Dream Theater might as well get the $1000 directly, instead of getting $150 for a ticket that a scalper resells for $1000.
They should be. This is an Obama monopoly that was put in place, not naturally grown. Any such monopoly needs to be dismantled.
As for the national debt, while government spending needs to be reduced, monopolies such as this reduce the amount the government collects.
And Live Nation either is or has the same parent company as “Liberty Media”. So? Who are they you ask? They own the commercial rights to Formula 1. The SAME Formula 1 that’s keeping American team Andretti from being able to join. So, this might have something to do with THAT as well.
Except scalpers have to compete with each other and as much as one might raise prices, others would undercut them. Ticketmaster has no competition and could fix the prices.
Also, scalpers couldn't charge too much for tickets if an artist was playing additional shows nearby. Livenation controlled who venues could book. Venues and artists were forced into the Livenation/Ticketmaster monopoly that wasn't going to compete with itself.
Good. Ticketmaster has been a scummy organization for decades. High time they were completed put out of business.
L
Having failed to control the price of bread, fedgov now turns its attention to the ticket prices of the circuses.
Good points. Quite true.
I attempted being a full time musician; life intervened, but put myself through college and gigged a few times a month until Covid (killed most of the clubs and one of my bandleaders). Ticketbastard is truly a nasty organization, they screw the artists and the audience.
Fregards
You owe me a new keyboard for that one! Only the Truth is funny.
Monopolies are never good, when will they go after the government school monopoly?
It’s gotten to the point that it is almost impossible to se a concert for under $200. I was looking at seeing Styx and Foreigner at the PBC Arts Center and Lawn Seating was about $140 per person, add in Live Nation/Ticket Master fees and Parking you are easily at $200 to sit in the mud with almost no view of the stage. Decent tickets were $180 up. I guess I will be listening to my old albums which will sound better anyway.
I’d rather watch a concert DVD at home than watch the big screen from a crappy seat at a venue.
I did go to see King Crimson last year, but that was the final tour of a band that had a lot of meaning for me for 40+ years and the bassist I most modeled myself after.
I’d rather go see friends play at a local bar. Keep the money in the local economy, have a fine time, spend a lot less.
Saw Styx back in the day for their Grand Illusion tour. Was a great show and since I never saw Foreigner live thought it could be fun. I’m with you, would rather see live music in a local bar most days.
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