Live Nation and Ticketmaster Sued by U.S. Justice Department: ‘It Is Time to Break It Up’
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As expected, the United States Department of Justice sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for antitrust violations on Thursday, a move that could change the shape of the multibillion-company that is the world’s largest live entertainment organization and owns Ticketmaster, North America’s biggest ticket vendor.
The antitrust lawsuit claims that the company has a monopoly on ticketing through its Ticketmaster division, and that it illegally uses monopoly power to dominate the ticketing business and quash competition. “It is time to break it up,” said attorney general Merrick B.
Garland in a press conference on Thursday morning. An official statement from him continued: “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.
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.” The complaint, filed today in the U.S.
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