Concert tickets are often bought by means of Ticketmaster. The US authorities sees market energy as violence – and needs to crack down on it.
The US authorities accuses live performance organizer Live Nation of unfair competitors and needs it dissolved. Above all, the Justice Department desires Live Nation to divest from the Ticketmaster platform, the place tickets for varied occasions are bought on-line.
The lawsuit alleges, amongst different issues, that Live Nation makes use of anti-competitive practices to guard business regulation within the USA and thereby overcharge shoppers. The firm denied the allegations.
Unfair competitors
Live Nation, together with Ticketmaster, is “far and wide” within the reside occasions enterprise and has constructed an “illegal empire,” Attorney General Merrick Garland mentioned in saying the lawsuit. The authority factors out, amongst different issues, that Live Nation controls many live performance venues and has taken over the administration of greater than 400 artists.
Live Nation “prevents competitors” through the use of, amongst different issues, threats and collusion with potential rivals, Garland mentioned. The authorities factors out that the charges are decrease than different international locations with extra competitors. In Germany, Ticketmaster competes with Eventim, amongst others.
In an preliminary response, Live Nation denied that it had a monopoly. The Department of Justice ignores the truth that excessive prices and resellers, amongst different issues, are chargeable for the rise in live performance ticket costs. In addition, Ticketmaster solely retains a small portion of the surcharges. The group additionally identified that the merger with Ticketmaster was authorised by US competitors authorities in 2010 as a result of they didn’t count on damaging results on the live performance market.