Photo by Yvette de Wit on Unsplash
Ticketmaster To Face Justice Department Antitrust Lawsuit
April 16, 2024
Ticketmaster will face an antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department after the company was widely criticized for dominating the ticketing industry.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Live Nation, the parent company in the suit, is involved in an antitrust challenge that could eventually change how concert and live event tickets are bought and sold.
The issue came to national attention during Taylor Swift’s online presale in 2022. Thousands of fans were prevented from accessing tickets for her “Eras Tour.” Swift fans later sued Live Nation for “unlawful conduct” in the pop star’s tour ticket sale, with the plaintiffs claiming that the ticketing giant violated antitrust law, according to CNN.
Thus, questions about Live Nation and whether it has engaged in anticompetitive practices in the ticketing industry have been raised. The company shared a statement regarding this accusation in November 2022.
It says that Live Nation takes its responsibilities under the antitrust laws seriously and does not engage in behaviors that could justify antitrust litigation, let alone orders requiring it to alter fundamental business practices.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster may finally face a federal antitrust lawsuit after years of criticism from fans and politicians over how the entertainment giant may have abused its power as the dominant force in the live music industry.
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) April 16, 2024
Story: https://t.co/SmuMBy7DNb pic.twitter.com/peUUpmDP86
The statement explains, “For the past 12 years Live Nation has operated under a Consent Decree that among other things seeks to prevent anticompetitive leveraging of Live Nation promoted content to advantage Ticketmaster. Pursuant to the Amended Decree voluntarily entered in 2020, Live Nation’s compliance is monitored by a former federal judge.”
It continues, “There never has been and is not now any evidence of systemic violations of the Consent Decree. It remains against Live Nation policy to threaten venues that they won’t get Live Nation shows if they do not use Ticketmaster, and Live Nation does not re-route content as retaliation for a lost ticketing deal.”
Live Nation’s head of Corporate Affairs, Dan Wall, claims that artists and teams price tickets. “It’s their show, they get to decide what it costs to get in,” he said. “The NFL tickets on Ticketmaster were priced by the home teams, concert tickets were priced by the performer’s business teams, Monster Jam tickets were priced by its producer (Feld Entertainment), and so forth.”
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010.
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