William Simpson
The Justice Department is expected to file an antitrust case against entertainment conglomerate Live Nation as early as Thursday, multiple sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.
The federal government will be joined in its legal challenge by several state attorneys general. Promoters are expected to challenge the practices of Ticketmaster’s parent company and may try to force a change in the way the company does business, the sources said. In many cases, when the Justice Department sues over antitrust issues, it seeks to have a judge force divestitures within a company or change the way it operates.
The Justice Department declined to comment. Live Nation did not respond to a request for comment from CBS News.
News of the antitrust action was first reported by the Washington Post.
The move follows a years-long investigation by the Justice Department’s antitrust division. In 2022, CBS News confirmed that the Department of Justice was already looking at the company and its Ticketmaster unit prior to the disastrous mishandling of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
In November 2022, the Ticketmaster website dropped during a pre-sale period for the Eras Tour, sparking outrage from fans who waited hours to get tickets, only to be disappointed.
The department’s investigation focused on whether Live Nation was abusing its market dominance in the ticketing industry.
The Justice Department’s antitrust division has contacted music venues and ticketing industry participants to learn more about Live Nation’s methods, focusing on whether the company has had a monopoly about the industry, according to The New York Times, which first reported the investigation.
At a Senate hearing in January 2023, artists testified about Live Nation’s hold on them. Clyde Lawrence of the band Lawrence testified that Live Nation is both a promoter, a venue and a ticketing company.
“Because Live Nation owns the venue, funds the money for the show and sells the tickets, they have outsized power when negotiating with the artists,” he told the panel, offering an example: For one show, Lawrence set the price for the tickets. tickets at $30. After Ticketmaster added a 40% fee, fans paid $42 per ticket. After paying for facility costs, the band earned $12 per ticket – about half of which went to cover tour costs.
“That leaves us with $6 for an eight-piece band, before taxes, and we also have to pay for our own health insurance,” Lawrence said.
