Live Nation could be in trouble with the feds for jacking up ticket prices, reports say
Anyone who has been to a big concert in the past decade probably has had to buy tickets through Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster. The company could be facing new legal troubles over its ticketing practices and rising prices, according to multiple reports.
First revealed in a Wall Street Journal report, sources told the newspaper that the Department of Justice is preparing legal action against Live Nation Entertainment for trying to force venues to use Ticketmaster to sell tickets.
When Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, the combined company agreed to a 10-year settlement with the Department of Justice to keep ticket prices from getting too expensive and not to retaliate against concert venues that use a different ticketing company.
The Department of Justice wants to extend those conditions in the Live Nation settlement that are set to expire next year, according to Reuters.
Reuters reports: “The department believes the concert promoter’s conduct has violated the merger settlement Live Nation and Ticketmaster reached with the government in 2010 and plans to file a decree enforcement action, the source said.”
Over the last 10 years, ticket prices have gone up by more than 50%, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Los Angeles Times, which also confirmed the possible legal action over the weekend, said: “The combination of the two companies made Live Nation a colossus with tentacles in multiple areas of the music industry, including concert promotion, ticketing and artist management.”
Live Nation has not commented on the possible legal action.
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have been calling for the Justice Department to investigate Live Nation over ticket prices.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said over the weekend: “Americans purchase millions of tickets each year and shouldn’t be forced to pay sky-high prices because of corporate greed in a broken ticketing industry.”
“Live Nation’s dominance in the sector raises serious antitrust concerns,” said Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights.
