The Justice Department on Thursday filed an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation, alleging an illegal monopoly over live events.

What You Need To Know

  • The Justice Department, along with 29 states and the District of Columbia, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation-Ticketmaster on Thursday

  • The suit alleges that the company's practices stifle competition and drive up prices for fans

  • The lawsuit is the culmination of an investigation into the company which began in 2022; the ticket selling juggernaut faced major scrutiny after a botched presale event for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour that year, which sparked widespread outrage and hearings on Capitol Hill

  • In a statement on Thursday, Live Nation said it's "absurd" to claim it has monopoly power, charging that the Biden administration has decided "to turn over antitrust enforcement to a populist urge that simply rejects how antitrust law works

The suit, filed in federal court in Manhattan and joined by 29 states and the District of Columbia, alleges that the company's practices stifle competition and drive up prices for fans. 

"We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long," Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference on Thursday. "It is time to break it up." 

The lawsuit is the culmination of an investigation into the company which began in 2022. The ticket selling juggernaut faced major scrutiny after a botched presale event for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour that year, which sparked widespread outrage and hearings on Capitol Hill. 

"In recent years, Live Nation-Ticketmaster's exorbitant fees and tehcnological failures have been criticized by artists and fans alike," Garland said. "But we are not here today because Live Nation-Ticketmaster's conduct is inconvenient or frustrating. we are here because, as we allege, that conduct is anticompetitive and illegal."

Garland said that the complaint "makes clear what happens when a monopoly dedicates its resources to entrenching its monopoly power and insulating itself from competition, rather than investing in better products and services."

The attorney general said that Live Nation "has made itself ubiquitous in the live ticket industry," detailing that the company controls roughly 80% of primary ticketing at major concert venues, owns more than 60% of large amphitheaters in the U.S., controls more than 60% of concert promotions nationwide and directly manages more than 400 artists.

"We allege that to sustain this dominance, Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States and over the fans, artists, independent promoters and venues that power the industry," Garland said. "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."

He went on to charge that the company locks out competition by utilizing long-term exclusive ticketing contracts with venues, which Garland said "can last over a decade," as well as by acquiring venues. Exclusive agreements, Garland said, cover 70% of ticket sales at major venues nationwide, which he said allows Ticketmaster "to impose a seemingly endless list of fees on fans," including tariffs labeled "ticketing," "service" and "convenience," among others.

Live Nation has denied utilizing monopolistic practices. In a statement on Thursday, the company said it's "absurd" to claim it has monopoly power, charging that the Biden administration has decided "to turn over antitrust enforcement to a populist urge that simply rejects how antitrust law works."

"Some call this 'Anti-Monopoly”, but in reality it is just anti-business,'" the company said, later alleging that the lawsuit attempts "to portray Live Nation and Ticketmaster as the cause of fan frustration with the live entertainment industry."

"It blames concert promoters and ticketing companies—neither of which control ticket prices—for high ticket prices," the company's statement reads. "It ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from increasing production costs to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary tickets cost. It blames Live Nation and Ticketmaster for high service charges, but ignores that Ticketmaster retains only a modest portion of those fees. In fact, primary ticketing is one of the least expensive digital distributions in the economy."

"The defining feature of a monopolist is monopoly profits derived from monopoly pricing," the statement continues. "Live Nation in no way fits the profile. Service charges on Ticketmaster are no higher than elsewhere, and frequently lower. And even accounting for sponsorship, an advertising business that helps keep ticket prices down, the company’s overall net profit margin is at the low end of profitable S&P 500 companies."

The lawsuit is the latest in aggressive antitrust enforcement undertaken since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in March against Apple, accusing the tech giant of creating an illegal monopoly over smartphones with its so-called "walled garden" ecosystem.