New States Join the Fight Against Live Nation
Ten more states have decided to join the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Live Nation, bringing the total to 39 states plus Washington, D.C.
Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont hopped on board Monday. Meanwhile, Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Montana, and North Dakota are still holding back.
This update comes almost three months after the DOJ first went after Live Nation at the end of May, aiming to undo the 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.
“We are not here today because Live Nation-Ticketmaster‘s conduct is inconvenient, or frustrating. We are here because as we allege that conduct is anti-competitive, and illegal,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up.”
Jonathan Kanter, from the antitrust division, added, “The live music industry in America is broken because Live Nation-Ticketmaster has an illegal monopoly. Our antitrust lawsuit seeks to break up the Live-Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly, which will restore competition to the benefit of fans and artists alike.”
Fans hope this will make concert tickets more affordable.
The DOJ claims Ticketmaster’s exclusive deals with venues prevent competition, forcing higher fees on fans because there are no other choices. They also accuse Live Nation of bullying venues that don’t use Ticketmaster and working with Oak View Group to avoid competition.
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In the new complaint, the DOJ says Ticketmaster’s exclusivity limits options for venues and artists, leading to higher fees for fans. They argue this lack of competition means worse experiences for fans and less investment in better ticketing systems.
Live Nation responded to Rolling Stone, saying, “There is nothing new in the Amended Complaint – the lawsuit still won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. We look forward to sharing more facts as the case progresses.”
Live Nation denies the DOJ’s claims. Dan Wall, their executive vice president, called the accusations attempts to blame them for fans’ frustrations. He said rising production costs and ticket scalping are the real issues. He also argued that the DOJ ignored data proving Live Nation isn’t a monopoly.
“The data conflicted too much with their preconception that Live Nation belongs in the ranks of the other ‘tech monopolists’ they have targeted,” Wall said. “It is also clear that we are another casualty of this Administration’s decision to turn over antitrust enforcement to a populist urge that simply rejects how antitrust law works. Some call this ‘Anti-Monopoly,’ but in reality it is just anti-business.”
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The lawsuit likely means a long battle between Live Nation and the DOJ. Last month, the federal judge issued a protective order to limit what confidential documents Live Nation’s lawyers could see. Companies like AEG, SeatGeek, and ASM Global worried about Live Nation accessing their sensitive info given to the DOJ.
“Giving Defendants access to ASM’s materials about ASM’s dealings with Defendants’ competitors would risk the very retaliation of which Defendants are accused,” wrote ASM attorney Marcus Asner.
