Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s Time Is Up

Open Markets Institute Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan released the following statement on the Department of Justice and state attorneys general suing to break up the entertainment and ticketing monopoly, Live Nation-Ticketmaster (formally “Live Nation Entertainment”).

“The antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice and 30 state attorneys general strikes a critical blow on behalf of the American public against Live Nation’s suffocating monopoly over live music. Through a series of acquisitions and coercive tactics, Live Nation has unfairly dominated the promotion, hosting, and ticketing of concerts for years to the great detriment of artists, fans, and independent businesses. Critically, rather than attempt to remedy this monopoly through surgical fixes, the government wisely seeks to terminate Live Nation’s control of the industry through a breakup of this behemoth.”

In July 2020, the Open Markets Institute led a coalition that petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to ban exclusive dealing by dominant firms—a practice used by many monopolists, including Live Nation and Google, to unfairly maintain market control.

In January 2023, Open Markets Senior Legal Analyst Daniel Hanley wrote an article in The Sling explaining this monopoly problem and recommending a set of solutions, including breaking up the monopoly as well as implementing a new rule banning monopolistic and unfair uses of exclusive arrangements, like those employed by Live Nation-Ticketmaster.

This February, Open Markets applauded the Justice Department’s investigation into LNE and condemned the conglomerate’s refusal to fully cooperate with antitrust enforcers.