The U.S. Justice Department has reached a tentative antitrust settlement with Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster. The proposed settlement includes a fine of up to $280 million for Live Nation and requires the company to divest at least 13 venues to increase competition.
However, a majority of the state attorneys general who joined the federal lawsuit oppose the settlement, arguing it fails to adequately address the core monopoly issues and does not sufficiently protect consumers and artists. These states are continuing their legal fight against the company.
Testimony during the trial highlighted allegations of Live Nation's coercive power, including a recorded call where its CEO allegedly made a threat to reduce concerts at a venue that switched ticketing companies.
Main Topics: Antitrust lawsuit and tentative settlement; state opposition to the settlement; allegations of monopolistic practices and coercive power.
After a high-profile antitrust lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday that it has tentatively settled with Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation.
After merging in 2010, the combined Live Nation and Ticketmaster control the majority of ticket sales and venue bookings in the U.S., leaving talent little choice but to work with these companies. Customers have been fed up for years with dynamic pricing issues that can drive up ticket costs by thousands of dollars (often without consulting the artists), as well as the process of buying tickets — the sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour were so widely aggravating that they triggered government scrutiny.
According to the AP, the settlement would have Live Nation pay a fine of up to $280 million and divest at least 13 venues to give competitors more opportunity. But several states’ Attorneys General involved in the lawsuit are not appeased by the settlement.
“The settlement recently announced with the U.S. Department of Justice fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “We cannot agree to it.”
Twenty-six out of thirty state attorneys general who sued the company alongside the DOJ chose to join Attorney General James in continuing the lawsuit against Live Nation.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown also said that the settlement “does not adequately remedy” the issue for concertgoers.
“For too long, Live Nation has raked in billions from a monopoly that has made it harder for consumers to see the artists they love, stifled artists, and increased the price of tickets for countless music fans,” he said.
The trial had gone on for less than a week by the time the DOJ and Live Nation agreed to this settlement. However, some interesting testimonies emerged during the trial.
John Abbamondi, former CEO of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center (where the Nets play), spoke about a decision he made in 2021 to work with a different ticket sales company, rather than Ticketmaster.
The phone call that followed between Abbamondi and Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino played in the courtroom, and according to The New York Times, the recorded conversation was adversarial and “expletive-laden.”
Abbamondi told the jury last week that Rapino made a comment on the call that he interpreted as a “veiled threat — maybe not-so-veiled threat” that Live Nation would put fewer concerts at the Barclays Center as a result of the ticketing change.
Live Nation reported last month that it sold over 646 million tickets last year and put on over 54,000 events internationally. Within the U.S., Live Nation owns 150 venues and invested $1 billion last year to build an additional 18 live music venues.
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