Concert tickets are often sold through Ticketmaster. The US government sees this market power as a monopoly – and wants to take action against it.
The US government accuses the concert organizer Live Nation of unfair competition and wants to have it broken up. Above all, the Ministry of Justice wants Live Nation to separate from the Ticketmaster platform, through which tickets for various events are sold online.
The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that Live Nation is using anti-competitive practices to gain control of the industry in the United States and can therefore impose excessive fees on consumers. The company has denied the allegations.
No fair competition
Live Nation, along with Ticketmaster, is “ubiquitous” in the live events business and has built an “illegal monopoly,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the lawsuit. The authority points out, among other things, that Live Nation controls numerous concert arenas and has also taken over management of more than 400 musicians.
Live Nation is “stifling competition” through, among other things, threats and deals with potential rivals, Garland said. The government points out that fees are lower in other countries with more competition. In Germany, Ticketmaster competes with Eventim, among others.
In its initial reaction, Live Nation denied that it had a monopoly. The Justice Department ignored the fact that higher costs and resellers were among the reasons for the price increases for concert tickets. In addition, Ticketmaster only kept a small portion of the additional fees. The company also pointed out that the merger with Ticketmaster in 2010 was approved by US competition authorities because they did not expect any negative consequences for the concert market.
Source: Stern
