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Live Nation offices in Wedgewood-Houston

 Photo: Eric England

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit alleging that ticketing and touring giant Live Nation, which also owns dominant ticketing firm Ticketmaster, has engaged in an illegal monopoly. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and co-signed by the attorneys general of the District of Columbia and 30 states (including Tennessee), the suit recommends forcing Live Nation to divest itself from Ticketmaster, which it merged with in 2010.

In November 2022, the DOJ confirmed it was conducting an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive practices by Live Nation. Though that announcement came at a time when there was great public outcry about the botched sale of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the department was careful to note that the investigation predated the incident.

The Beverly Hills-based Live Nation, which has offices across the country including a local outpost in Wedgewood-Houston, has exclusive booking deals with or owns outright an extensive array of venues of varying sizes. The suit alleges that the company has used its leverage to become practically the only game in town. Effectively, the suit says, it has intimidated venues into restrictive agreements, forced artists to do business with them if they want to do big enough tours to make a living, and created conditions that artificially inflate ticket prices. 

The allegations correlate with grievances that fans, artists, talent bookers and venue owners and proprietors have been voicing for many years. A release from Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office notes that Tennesseans spent more than $765 million on tickets sold by Ticketmaster between 2019 and 2022.

“Since Ticketmaster’s Taylor Swift ticketing debacle in 2022, my AG colleagues and I have relentlessly sought justice for Americans wanting to attend concerts without having their pocketbooks pillaged by Live Nation’s monopoly,” Skrmetti says in a statement. “I will continue to fight on behalf of the artists, venues, and concertgoers in Tennessee, and I am glad to partner with the DOJ in the bipartisan effort to break up the Live Nation/Ticketmaster monopoly.”

This is the latest action in which Skrmetti joins other state AGs, having also recently joined challenges against the Biden administration's policies on gun-show loopholes and protections for transgender students.

Update: Live Nation responded to the suit with an extensive statement, which reads in part:

“The DOJ's lawsuit won't solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. 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.”