A jury has ruled on the industry practices of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
CNN reports the U.S. Department of Justice and 39 state attorneys general, including those from New York and Washington, D.C., sued Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, in 2024. Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 and now controls 86% of the market for concerts and 73% overall when sports are included, according to Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for the states, per The Boston Globe.
Live Nation’s dominance is at the center of a court case. It owns or controls more than 265 concert venues and generated $22 billion in annual revenue at the time of the lawsuit, according to court records. The lawsuit states that its presence in the live-events sector was harmful to attendees, performers, and small promoters and venue operators.
The lawsuit also alleges that Live Nation established a “self-reinforcing ‘flywheel,” charging customers, and then using the revenue to book artists for long-term deals to secure more tickets, CBS News reports.
“Live Nation’s monopoly, and the anticompetitive conduct that protects and maintains its monopoly, strikes a chord precisely because the industry at stake is one that has for generations inspired, entertained, and challenged Americans,” the complaint said, per the outlet. “Conduct that subverts competition here not only harms the structure of the live music industry and the countless people that work in that industry, but also damages the foundation of creative expression and art that lies at the heart of our personal, social, and political lives.”
The lawsuit was filed seeking lower ticket prices for eventgoers and more pathways for musicians to perform at venues, according to USA Today.
“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 at the time of the filing, according to the outlet. “It is time to break up Live Nation.”
“This is a fantastic outcome for the American people,” Omeed A. Assefi, the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement, according to NBC News. “DOJ and some states settled their case and got instant relief. The remaining states received a liability finding and will now move on to the next phase of a remedies trial. Everyone but Live Nation wins with this scenario.”
Live Nation said in a statement that it will renew its motion for judgment, which “addresses all liability theories.” It also said there is a pending motion to “strike the damages testimony on which the jury’s award was based.”
“Live Nation can and will appeal any unfavorable rulings on these motions,” the statement further read.
