Live Nation-Ticketmaster Sued by Justice Department for Market Monopoly Across the Live Concert Industry
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As a result of its actions, music fans in the United States are deprived of ticketing innovation and forced to use outdated technology while paying more for tickets than fans in other countries. At the same time, Live Nation-Ticketmaster exercised its power over independent artists, venues, and promoters in ways that harmed competition. Live Nation-Ticketmaster also imposes barriers to competition that restrict entry and growth.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation
In particular, Live Nation-Ticketmaster engaged in various tactics to eliminate competition and monopolise the market:
- Relationship with Oak View Group: Live Nation-Ticketmaster exploited its long-standing relationship with Oak View Group, a potential competitor-turned-partner that described itself as a ‘hammer’ and ‘protector’ for Live Nation. In recent years, Oak View Group has avoided bidding against Live Nation for talent and influenced venues to sign exclusive agreements with Ticketmaster. For example, Live Nation has scolded Oak View Group several times for trying to compete. In one instance, Live Nation asked, ‘who would be so stupid to... play games with [artist agencies],’ and on another occasion, Live Nation stated, ‘let's make sure that we don't let [artist agencies] start playing games with us.’
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- Retaliation Against Potential Participants: Live Nation-Ticketmaster successfully threatened financial retaliation against a company unless it stopped one of its subsidiaries from competing for a foothold in the US concert promotion market.
- Threatening and Retaliating Against Venues that Co-operate with Competitors: Live Nation-Ticketmaster's power in concert promotion means that any venue knows that choosing another promoter or ticket seller risks an adverse reaction from Live Nation-Ticketmaster that will result in lost concerts, revenue, and fans.
- Locking Out Competition with Exclusion Contracts: Live Nation-Ticketmaster locks concert venues into long-term exclusive contracts so that venues cannot consider or choose a rival ticket seller or switch to better or more cost-effective ticketing technology. These contracts allow Live Nation-Ticketmaster to reduce competitive pressure to improve its ticketing technology and customer service.
That's a brief discussion about Live Nation-Ticketmaster Sued.
