The U.S. Department Of Justice Sues Live Nation

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), alongside a group of 30 states including Tennessee, has filed a antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation. The suit accuses the live music giant of market dominance, and calls for its split from Ticketmaster.

“We allege that Live Nation has repeatedly wielded its powers to keep its rivals from expanding in the U.S. concert promotions market through threats and retaliation,” shared Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday (May 23) during the lawsuit’s announcement.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010. Their combined dominance in live music has been scrutinized since then, but concerns increased significantly during the ticketing issues that arose with Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour.”

The DOJ alleges that Live Nation has used its market power to stifle competition. In Garland’s remarks on Thursday, he shared that the government will present evidence taken from Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke as well as Rapino and equity firm Silver Lake capital.

“The threats ultimately succeeded and Silver Lake has tried to sell TEG altogether,” Garland said. “We allege that Live Nation does not maintain its dominance in the live industry by staying ahead of its competition on the merits. It does so by unlawfully eliminating its competition. We allege that Live Nation controls the live entertainment industry in the United States because it is breaking the law.”

Live Nation has rejected the accusations.

“The DOJ’s lawsuit won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices,” the company shared in a statement. “Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment, such as the fact that the bulk of service fees go to venues, and that competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster’s market share and profit margin. Our growth comes from helping artists tour globally, creating lasting memories for millions of fans and supporting local economies across the country by sustaining quality jobs. We will defend against these baseless allegations, use this opportunity to shed light on the industry and continue to push for reforms that truly protect consumers and artists.”

Click here to see the DOJ’s full complaint.

This is a developing story.

LB Cantrell
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