The Department of Justice sued Live Nation in federal court over its multi-armed monopoly in the industry. In Teen Vogue, Ron Knox explains the case and why it could mean a better music industry.
“Given that Ticketmaster is essentially the only live-event ticket seller in America, the company is shockingly bad at what it does. Of the many times America’s virtual live-event ticketing monopoly has thoroughly screwed up, the botched presale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stands out. But that is just one example that got splashed across the headlines; ticket sales for Bruce Springsteen and Ed Sheeran suffered the same fate, and The Cure’s lead singer, Robert Smith, said he was “sickened” by the outrageous fees Ticketmaster charged fans to get into their shows. A cacophony of cries from artists and fans alike has been ringing out since seemingly forever: Ticketmaster sucks!
The Swift debacle was so public and so outrageous, it triggered a cascade of spite and venom that flew at Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, from every direction, including Swifties, anti-monopoly groups, and lawmakers. Whether folks thought Ticketmaster was malicious for charging wildly high fees or incompetent for repeatedly flubbing ticket sales and failing to stop scalpers from jumping to the front of the line, it didn’t matter; in every instance, the company appeared too powerful and unaccountable, and the chorus called for the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monster to be broken up.
In late May, the cries of that chorus were finally answered. The Department of Justice sued Live Nation in federal court over its multi-armed monopoly in the industry, with the explicit goal of breaking up the company being part of its ultimate goal to “restore competition to this industry.” (Live Nation blamed the lawsuit on “political pressure,” claiming the case “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.”)”
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