Live Nation has tentatively settled the antitrust lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice and joined by 30 states. The agreement was announced at a hearing on Monday, per Bloomberg, but still requires the judge’s approval.
The DOJ sued Live Nation in 2024, claiming that the entertainment conglomerate maintains a monopoly on live events. The current company was formed following the 2010 merger of concert promoter Live Nation and ticketing platform Ticketmaster, and it now roughly controls 80% or more of primary ticketing for concerts at major venues and 60% of concert promotions at those venues, according to the 2024 lawsuit. The merged entity also owns hundreds of entertainment venues across North America, including more than 60 of the top 100 amphitheaters.
The lawsuit claimed that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have used this power over the entertainment industry to lock artists into exclusive promotion deals and new concert venues into long-term exclusionary contracts. The result, according to the DOJ, has been higher costs to fans, fewer opportunities for artists, squeezed out smaller promoters, and fewer real choices for venues on which company to go with for ticketing.
This business model came under intense scrutiny following the botched rollout for tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in 2022. Due to a surge of demand from users and bots alike, fans wanting to buy tickets to Swift’s concerts were instead met with site disruptions, long wait times, poor customer service, and exorbitantly inflated ticket prices on resale sites. Prices for the U.S. shows were so steep that many fans flew to see Swift in other countries, saying that the tickets still came out to be cheaper even after international travel costs.
Following the Eras Tour debacle, senators called on the DOJ to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The 2024 lawsuit aimed to do just that, but the settlement deal reportedly will not involve that possibility.
The details of the agreement weren’t immediately made public, but Bloomberg cited anonymous sources who said it will involve structural changes to the company’s operations, including opening parts of the ticketing arm to rival third-party sellers and making it easier for other promoters to put on shows at venues that Live Nation owns. Live Nation will also have to pay roughly $200 million in damages to the states that decide to participate in the settlement deal, put limits on the exclusivity contracts the company signs with venues, divest more than 10 amphitheaters, and cap Ticketmaster service fees at remaining amphitheaters at 15% of ticket price, according to Politico.
Original Source: https://gizmodo.com/live-nation-reaches-a-settlement-with-the-doj-over-alleged-ticketing-monopoly-2000731322
Original Source: https://gizmodo.com/live-nation-reaches-a-settlement-with-the-doj-over-alleged-ticketing-monopoly-2000731322
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