The United States requires the division of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in an antitrust lawsuit | Culture | EUROtoday

Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster merged in 2010 in a deal that raised considerations about its impression on competitors. This Thursday, the United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in courtroom requesting the group's breakup, accusing the corporate of exercising an unlawful monopoly on reside exhibits, one thing the group denies. Thus opens a protracted authorized battle, the result of which can depend upon the way forward for the multimillion-dollar sector of musical live shows, sporting occasions and different exhibits.

Political strain on Live Nation (the group's mum or dad firm, devoted to the promotion of exhibits) and Ticketmaster (the now subsidiary, specialised in ticket gross sales) had grown because of this not solely of the skyrocketing costs of live shows, but additionally of managing ticket gross sales for a few of them. Problems shopping for tickets for Taylor Swift's tour took the case to Congress final yr in a session filled with nods to the singer during which promoters and artists denounced the hurt brought about to them by the dominance of the merged large. “The only way to regain competition in this sector is to separate Live Nation and Ticketmaster,” Jack Groetzinger, the pinnacle of competitor SeatGeek, mentioned on the time.

That is exactly what the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, and the prosecutors of 29 States plus the District of Columbia are asking for. “In recent years, Live Nation and Ticketmaster's exorbitant fees and technological failures have been criticized by fans and artists alike. But we're not here today because Live Nation's conduct is inconvenient or frustrating. “We are here because, as we allege, this conduct is anti-competitive and illegal,” Garland mentioned at a press convention in Washington. “We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized the live concert markets in the United States for too long. It is time to dismantle it,” he added.

The lawsuit contends that Live Nation Ticketmaster has turn into ubiquitous within the reside leisure trade. It controls at the very least 80% of main ticket gross sales at main live performance venues, instantly manages greater than 400 artists, and controls greater than 60% of live performance promotions nationwide. At the identical time, it owns or controls greater than 60% of the massive venues within the United States. It processes 500 million tickets a yr in additional than 30 nations.

“We allege that to maintain this dominance, Live Nation relies on unlawful anti-competitive conduct to exert its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States and over the fans, artists, independent and local promoters who drive the industry. The result is that fans pay more. Artists have fewer opportunities to give concerts. “Smaller promoters are pushed out and venues have fewer real options for ticketing services,” Garland mentioned.

The Justice Department accuses Live Nation of practices similar to utilizing long-term unique contracts to forestall venues from selecting rival ticket sellers, blocking venues from utilizing a number of ticket sellers, and threatening venues that they might lose. cash and followers in the event that they don't select Ticketmaster. “Live Nation stifles its competition using a variety of tactics, from acquisitions of promoters and smaller regional venues, to threats, retaliation and deals with rivals designed to neutralize them.”

With unique agreements that cowl greater than 70% of live performance ticket gross sales on the nation's main venues, Ticketmaster can impose a seemingly limitless record of commissions on followers, Garland expenses. He has cited ticketing, service, comfort, Platinum, grasp value per order, administration and cost processing charges. The lawsuit refers to these surcharges as a “Ticketmaster tax.” The group has additionally been accused of failing to facilitate equal distribution and implementing dynamic pricing programs that result in exorbitant quantities for entry.

Abuses of a dominant place, based on the lawsuit, additionally work in the wrong way. Long-term agreements with venues and its direct management of lots of them enable it to illegally strain artists to simply accept its promotional companies. In reality, based on the Justice Department, the group usually sacrifices income as a venue proprietor, preferring to depart venues empty quite than open them to artists who don’t use Live Nation's promotional companies, even throughout peak live performance season, based on the demand.

“The Department of Justice has filed this lawsuit on behalf of fans, who should be able to go to concerts without a monopoly standing in their way,” Garland mentioned in his speech this Thursday. “We have filed this lawsuit on behalf of artists, who should be able to plan their tours around their fans, and not be dictated to by an illegal monopolist. We have filed this lawsuit on behalf of independent promoters and venues, who should be able to compete on equal terms. And we have filed this lawsuit on behalf of the American people. It's time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation's monopoly. It's time to restore competition and innovation to the entertainment industry. “It is time to end the Live Nation-Ticketmaster union,” he concluded.

In his look in Congress final yr, the president of Live Nation Entertainment, Joe Berchtold, assured that Ticketmaster has not gained market share, however has misplaced it for the reason that merger and admitted that the corporate had issues to enhance, however assured that it didn’t act as a monopoly. He apologized for his mismanagement of ticket gross sales for Taylor Swift's tour, which accurately broke the field workplace. Berchtold blamed the bots of the collapse of their system.

This Thursday, the corporate responded with a press release during which it mentioned that the lawsuit “will not reduce ticket prices or service rates.” According to the corporate, “there is more competition than ever in the live events market, which is why Ticketmaster's market share has decreased since 2010.” Furthermore, it signifies that the group's income and margins point out that it doesn’t train monopolistic energy. “This lawsuit diverts attention from real solutions that would lower prices and protect fans, such as allowing artists to limit resale prices,” he says.

According to Live Nation, the lawsuit “ignores everything that is really responsible for the increase in ticket prices, from rising production costs to the popularity of artists, to the 24/7 online ticket resale that reveals the willingness of the public to pay much more than the primary tickets cost.” The Department of Justice “blames Live Nation and Ticketmaster for high service fees, but ignores that Ticketmaster only keeps a modest portion of those fees,” the corporate says.