The Justice Department might have bad blood with Live Nation. The lawsuit is likely to drop Thursday.
Down bad crying in the DOJ
April 13, 2024: WSJ reported that they are preparing to file an anti-trust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster for undermining competition with other concert venues and creating a monopoly in the live events space with their merger in 2010. While there is no confirmation of the exact details of the lawsuit, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been under fire for exorbitant ticket fees and faulty customer service. Scrutiny for the company was escalated during Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket sales in November 2022 when the site could not handle the amount of traffic from fans and bots trying to get tickets. Some artists have attempted to combat this by holding in-person ticket sales or canceled tickets for scalpers. Ticketmaster holds exclusive contracts with many of the country’s biggest venues and has allegedly threatened venues when they wouldn’t use their service. The lawsuit could be filed as early as next month.
Lawsuit Thursday, then New Music Friday
May 22, 2024: It looks like the Justice Department is ready to file its suit against Live Nation. The Washington Post reports that the DOJ is likely to an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation May 23, in conjunction with several state attorneys general. They’re expected to challenge the Ticketmaster parent company on its practices, and may even try to force the company to divest of some assets.