The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against concert colossus Live Nation, accusing it of repeatedly violating U.S. antitrust laws and seeking a breakup of the company. The filing alleges the entertainment giant uses its market dominance to suppress competition by locking concert promoters and entertainment facilities into exclusive agreements and retaliating against artists and venues that seek to do business with rivals.
The DOJ was joined by a bipartisan collection of 29 states and the District of Columbia. The states signing onto the action cross political boundaries and include California and New York, as well as Tennessee and Florida. Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsome on the same page?
According to the lawsuit, Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, an 1890 law that makes it unlawful to form or attempt to form a monopoly in restraint of commerce or trade. The Biden administration has been more aggressive in pursuing antitrust cases than its recent predecessors, but in this case, many observers agree the company has demonstrably impeded competition, raising prices and ancillary fees by exercising its market dominance.
Live Nation already didn’t have many friends among concertgoers, but anger boiled over in 2022 when Taylor Swift fans got locked out of the Ticketmaster system during presales for the superstar’s tour. The meltdown led to a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and the reopening of a DOJ investigation. Hell hath no fury like a Senator’s granddaughter scorned.
Live Nation began its life in 1993 as SFX Broadcasting, a media company founded by Robert F. X. Sillerman to acquire and operate radio stations in the Northeast. In 1996, Sillerman entered the concert promotion business, using his radio properties to publicize the live events his company was staging. SFX expanded into sports marketing and talent management and continued aggressively snapping up competitors.