A year after the launch of the #BreakUpTicketmaster campaign and with a reported investigation into Live Nation-Ticketmaster by the Department of Justice, the American Economic Liberties Project released a new policy and legal brief, ”The Case Against Live Nation-Ticketmaster,” to provide a roadmap to finally rein in this monopoly amid renewed scrutiny.
The brief also comes alongside a new video from the #BreakUpTicketmaster Coalition to recap the movement’s grassroots momentum in the year since its creation.
“With an investigation of Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s anticompetitive and monopolistic practices already underway, there are a number of legal options the Justice Department can use to finally return competition to the live events industry,” said Katherine Van Dyck, senior counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “A toothless consent decree and lax oversight have allowed Live Nation-Ticketmaster to become a caricature of monopoly power, strong-arming venues and artists and ripping off fans on its way to record profits. “
“The solution is clear: the Justice Department must pursue the divestment of not just Ticketmaster but also Live Nation’s venue operations, concert promotions, and artist management businesses into independent entities, so that it can no longer leverage its monopoly power to freeze out competitors from any part of its empire,” said Van Dyck.
“Despite promises of increased competition and consumer benefit, since Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010, they now control 70 percent of the primary ticketing and live event venues market,” said New Jersey consumer advocate Lisa McCormick. “The corporate behemoth is raising ticket prices, charging rip-off junk fees, and exploiting artists, independent venues, and fans.”
McCormick said New Jersey lawmakers have a mixed record, passing a law that prohibited the use of misleading websites to sell event tickets a year after they eliminated important consumer protections.
Live Nation’s monopoly has faced widespread criticism over its central role in the consolidation of the live events industry, allegations that it actively engages in anti-competitive practices, poor handling of the ticket sale process for highly popular events, and injuries and deaths that have occurred at many of its events.
“In the case of Live Nation-Ticketmaster, the obvious remedy is the best remedy: break it up,” said Lee Hepner, a lawyer at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Live Nation controls each layer of the live events industry—we won’t see true competition in any of those markets until each of those layers is separated and measures are put in place to prevent exclusive dealing.”
“While critics might say it’s impossible to unscramble eggs, there is ample precedent for successful breakups, as well as unique factors—such as the fact that Live Nation and Ticketmaster remain incorporated separately and have kept their distinct branding—that can make a break up clean in this case,” said Hepner. “There is no reason the Justice Department can’t step up to break the grip of this monopoly on artists, venues, and fans.”
The 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster combined the nation’s largest concert promoter, venue operator, and artist manager with the nation’s largest ticketing service.
The merged firm proceeded to leverage its control over each layer of the live event industry to block competitors to any part of its empire and self-deal at the expense of artists, independent venues, and fans—for example, by threatening to boycott venues unless they used Ticketmaster.
Although these behaviors clearly violated the court-ordered consent decree Live Nation submitted to at the time of the merger, the government has punted on opportunities to implement stronger remedies, allowing Live Nation’s anti-competitive and illegal behavior to continue into the present.
Many fans reached a breaking point over eye-popping monopoly prices for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in the fall of 2022 (as the company reported record profits), leading to calls for the Justice Department to take action once again.
It argues the Justice Department must pursue full divestment of Ticketmaster and its critical software and intangible assets, as well as the spinning off of Live Nation’s other core businesses into independent entities.
Additionally, these structural remedies must be reinforced by behavioral remedies, such as ending Ticketmaster’s venue exclusivity agreements and restricting Live Nation’s re-entry into ticketing. Finally, the brief lays out the specifics of the Justice Department’s legal options for instituting these improved remedies, from requesting a modification of the consent decree to filing a new lawsuit alleging violations of the Sherman Act.
In October 2022, a broad coalition of allies launched #BreakUpTicketmaster, a campaign to urge the Department of Justice to investigate and unwind the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger of 2010.
The Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition has since organized over 100K concerned fans, artists, and independent venue owners who want to break Ticketmaster’s power over live events ticketing, artist promotion, and venue ownership.