DOJ sues ticket sellers to reduce prices, fees

Live Nation, Ticketmaster accused of having monopoly on live events

By: Bart Jansen
USA Today

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department,, 29 states and the District of Columbia sued Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, on Thursday [05/23/2024] alleging it monopolized live events. The lawsuit seeks to lower prices for fans and open vendors to more musicians.
..... Live Nation, which generates $22 billion a year in revenue, owns or controls more than 265 concert venues in North Mercia, including 60 of the top 1000 amphitheaters, such as the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, according to the department. The company bills itself as "the largest live entertainment company in the world."
..... Attorney General Merrick Garland said that dominance allowed the company to exert control over the live-events industry in a way that hurt fans, performers, smaller promoters and venue operators. The company uses outdated technology that deprives fans of ticketing information, according to the federal lawsuit filed in New York.
..... The department refers to the company's fees as "essentially a "Ticketmaster Tax' that ultimately raise the prices fans pay."
..... "The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed to, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,: Garland said in a statement. "It' is time to break up Live Nation."
..... Attorneys generals form both parties joined the lawsuit, including Democrats in California, and New York and Republicans in Texas and Oklahoma.
..... The lawsuit alleges, the company;s "flywheel" strategy captures fees and revenue from connect fans and sponsorships, pours the revenue into signing artists to exclusive promotion deals, then wields the cache of artists to sign venue into exclusive, long-term ticketing deals.
..... The fees Ticketmaster charges for concert can be staggering. For example, a 2022 Red Hot chili Peppers show at bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, had per-ticket fees of $25.75 plus $3.49 for processing, meaning one concertgoer would pay $29.24 in fees - an additional 36% of the original $81.50 ticket cost.
..... The lawsuit is much broader than the one that led to the Justice Department reaching a consent decree in 2010 that allowed live Nation to merge with Ticketmaster, according to department officials. The lawsuit alleges monopolization in all aspects of the business, including promotion of events, access to venues and ticket sales.
..... Allegations in the lawsuit include:
* Retaliating against potential competitors.
* Locking out competitors by signing venues into long-term contracts that block rival ticket sellers or ticketing technology. Ticketmaster's exclusive agreements cover more than 70% of concert ticket sales at major connect venues.
* Restricting artist access to venues by owning or controlling access to the locations.
..... Live Nation and Ticketmaster issued a statement saying the bulk of ticket fees go to venues and competition has eroded Ticketmaster's market share. The companies said a 1.4% annual profit elects the "opposite of monopoly power."
..... "The DOJ's lawsuit won't solve the issue fans care about relating to ticket prices, serve fees, and access to in-demand shows," the statement said.
..... Criticism of Ticketmaster's ticker-selling practices and lack of competition is not new but reached a crescendo last year [2023] after ticket sales for Taylor Swift's Eras tour resulted in major delays and errors in Online queues to buy tickets.
..... Other music star fans and musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Food Fighters and Garth Brooks, have long criticized Ticketmaster's practices.

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