The U.S. Department of Justice and 30 states including California filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday seeking the breakup of Beverly Hills-based Live Nation Entertainment and its Ticketmaster unit over what they allege is the company’s unlawful dominance over the concert ticket sales industry.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York, accuses the company of creating a monopoly over the live entertainment market that has harmed music fans, artists and promoters around the United States through higher prices and frustrating consumer experiences.
“The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “It is time to break up LiveNation.”
On a website called “Breaking Down the DOJ Lawsuit,” Live Nation denied the company wields monopoly power. The company said the lawsuit “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from increasing production costs to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary tickets cost.”
“It blames Live Nation and Ticketmaster for high service charges, but ignores that Ticketmaster retains only a modest portion of those fees. In fact, primary ticketing is one of the least expensive digital distributions in the economy.”
The complaint stems from a probe into the company following a debacle over the November 2022 presale of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Ticketmaster, which controls more than 70% of the market for ticketing and live events, crashed during the first day of sales, leaving millions of fans ticketless or left to seek higher-priced tickets on the secondary market.
The lawsuit accuses Live Nation of seeking to lock out competitors by using restrictive contracts and exclusive agreements with venues, allegedly preventing concert halls from switching to rival ticketing systems.
“For too long, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have unfairly and illegally run the world of live events, abusing their dominance to overcharge fans, bully venues, and limit artists,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “When companies like Live Nation control every aspect of an event, it leads to bad blood — concertgoers and sports fans suffer and are forced to pay more. Everybody agrees, Live Nation and Ticketmaster are the problem and it’s time for a new era. Today, we are taking this important action to protect consumers and force big companies to stop abusing their influence and get in formation.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the company has hampered competition in the ticketing and promotions of concerts. Live Nation’s “strong domination” over ticketing and promotions markets has allowed it to engage in “a wide variety of anticompetitive behaviors,” the AG said.
“As the fifth largest economy in the world, California knows that vigorous competition is essential to a well-functioning economy,” Bonta said in a statement. “Live Nation imposed its dominance of the live concert industry by manipulating the marketplace — sending ripples of economic injustice throughout our state. While this illegal conduct benefits Live Nation’s bottom line — it hurts artists, their fans, and our economy. This lawsuit sends a clear message: Here in California, we’re committed to protecting consumers, holding industry accountable, enforcing antitrust laws, and ensuring a fair and competitive market.”
Among other remedies, the lawsuit seeks to force Live Nation to divest Ticketmaster, and to have the company ordered to compensate fans who were allegedly overcharged for tickets, leading fans to pay more than they would have in a different market for tickets.