US sues Live Nation for anti-competitive practices

The US Department of Justice takes live entertainment giant Live Nation Entertainment to court on Thursday, accusing it of anti-competitive practices in the organization of concerts and in its ticketing system, carried out through its subsidiary Ticketmaster .

The methods of Live Nation allow it to exercise monopolistic control over the live entertainment industry in the United Statessaid the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, quoted in a press release published Thursday.

The result is that fans pay higher fees, artists have fewer opportunities to perform, small promoters are sidelined, and [lieux de diffusion] have fewer choices when it comes to ticketinghe continued.

An iron grip on the industry

Live Nation Entertainment is the entity born from the merger between the concert promoter Live Nation And Ticketmasterin 2010.

The time has come to split Live Nation And Ticketmaster.

The largest player in live entertainment in the world, the group achieved, in 2023, a turnover of 22.7 billion US dollars (31.1 billion Canadian dollars). It says it organized more than 50,000 events last year, which attracted more than 145 million spectators.

Live Nation owns, manages, is a shareholder in or has exclusive contracts with 373 performance venues around the world, according to its annual report.

For the delegated minister Lisa Monaco, this company seeks, illegally, to cement its dominance of the concert market and act as the gatekeeper of an entire industry.

Competitors threatened, according to the government

The government accuses the group in particular of having threatened competitors in the promotion of concerts, but also venues which worked with rivals of Live Nationaccording to the subpoena filed in a Manhattan federal court.

Also denounced as anti-competitive are the numerous exclusivity contracts negotiated Live Nation with rooms and stadiums, which require them to use Ticketmaster for ticketing.

The Ministry of Justice also mentions the obligation imposed on artists to use promotion and ticketing services when they perform in a venue controlled by Live Nation.

The company argued that there was no basis for the lawsuit, which it said was the result intense political pressure and a lobbying campaign from rivals and ticket scalpers.

The world is better thanks to this merger [entre Live Nation et Ticketmaster]no less good.

Ticketmaster : a dominant position criticized several times

The dominant position of Ticketmaster on the ticketing market has been denounced several times by artists and politicians. The most striking example is that of the grunge group Pearl Jamwho tried to circumvent the operator during his 1993 tour, before finally giving up.

More recently, Ticketmaster has been criticized for its management of the sale of tickets for the tour of American singer Taylor Swift in November 2022.

Overwhelmed by requests, the operator saw his site malfunction, without being able to filter the botsor robots, this software allows tickets to be purchased in large quantities, to then resell them.

The affair gave rise to public criticism of Taylor Swift, but above all to a hearing before the Judiciary Committee of the American Senate, during which one of the group’s leaders was roundly reprimanded.

To have a solid capitalist system, you need competition. […] You can’t have too much concentration.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster have monopoly power is absurd”,”text”:”Saying that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have monopoly power is absurd”}}”>Say that Live Nation And Ticketmaster have monopoly power is absurdinsisted the group on Thursday, affirming that the commissions and fees collected by Ticketmaster were not no higher than elsewhere and frequently lower.

The Biden government is being much more aggressive than its predecessors on the competition front. The Justice Department has already sued Google and Applebut also managed to thwart several mergers, notably between airlines Spirit And JetBlue or between publishers Penguin Random House And Simon & Schuster.