Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, is facing a major lawsuit.
On Thursday, the U.S.’ Justice Department (DOJ) and a group of 30 states and the District of Columbia sued to break up Live Nation over its “monopolistic control over the live events industry.”
In the lawsuit, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland argues that Live Nation is guilty of “unlawful, anti-competitive conduct” that leads to higher fees for consumers and fewer opportunities for smaller artists and promoters.
“Live music should not be available only to those who can afford to pay the Ticketmaster tax,” added Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, referring to the often exorbitant fees fans have to pay to get tickets from scalpers after they rapidly sell out on Ticketmaster.
Many consumers have been calling for Live Nation to be broken up for years now, with Taylor Swift fans, in particular, leading the charge. Since the launch of the popstar’s ongoing Eras Tour, thousands of “Swifties” have blasted Ticketmaster for being the concert’s sole ticket vendor. With so much demand for the Eras Tour, Ticketmaster’s site quickly crashed in the U.S. once tickets went live, and Swift herself said the whole ordeal was “excruciating” to watch.
The Eras Tour ticket fiasco also led to greater political scrutiny over Live Nation. Last year, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that following a meeting with Live Nation, Ticketmaster must disclose all of its fees upfront. Other politicians, like U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have also pushed for Ticketmaster to be dismantled.
In response to the lawsuit, Live Nation denied being a monopoly and said the DOJ “will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment.” The concert promoter argues that most fees go to venues and outside competition has already “steadily eroded” Ticketmaster’s market share.
It remains to be seen what, if anything, will come out of the lawsuit. For now, the Canadian government hasn’t committed to any similar legal action against Live Nation. When asked by reporters in Ottawa on Thursday, Industry Minister Francois Philippe Champagne simply said Canada is “taking more steps” towards fair competition legislation.
“We have new tools in the toolbox to have more competition and to be able to also conduct investigations,” Champagne said. “So we’re going to be looking into that, and obviously this is something that I know is of concern to Canadians and obviously it’s a concern to me.”
Image credit: Ticketmaster
Via: CBC News
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