Live Nation Settles With Dept. Of Justice To Extend Consent Decree

Live Nation and the Department of Justice’s antitrust division have reached an agreement to extend the 2010 consent decree governing the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation to 2025 and clarified the rules on threatening and retaliating against venues that don’t ink with the ticketing behemoth.

“We have reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice to extend and clarify the consent decree,” Live Nation said in a released statement. “We believe this is the best outcome for our business, clients and shareholders as we turn our focus to 2020 initiatives.”

As part of the settlement, Live Nation’s ban on threatening retaliation against venues has been tightened and Ticketmaster sales reps are not allowed to discuss content bundle deals with venues or detail how Ticketmaster facilities receive preference for shows. Live Nation can still give Ticketmaster’s venues priority, but can’t punish clients that don’t renew their deals.

The DOJ’s antitrust division will also select a monitor to help ensure Live Nation’s compliance with antitrust orders. Live Nation will also select an internal compliance monitor.

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Lorie Hollabaugh

Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.

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