Mariah Cain, Staff Writer
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Thursday against Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster alleging antitrust violations. The suit states, “One monopolist serves as the gatekeeper for the delivery of nearly all live music in America today: Live Nation, including its wholly owned subsidiary Ticketmaster.” The suit claims that Live Nation directly manages more than 400 musical artists, controls around 60% of concert promotions across the country, controls more than 265 concert venues in North America, and controls 80% of concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts.
In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators.” He continued, “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. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”
