Senior reporter Karina Montoya and senior legal analyst Daniel Hanley co-authored a piece amplifying the DOJ’s landmark case against Live Nation and Ticket Master as a turning point of American antitrust regulators turning a blind eye to coercion by market-dominant firms.

At the end of May, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and 30 states filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, the world’s largest event promoter, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Ticketmaster. Part of US President Joe Biden’s anti-monopoly push, the case has generated extensive media coverage, not least because of the outcry that followed botched ticket sales in recent years, including for Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour.

Most reports have focused on the fact that the DOJ is seeking to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster, the product of a disastrous merger that was approved in 2010. But the suit also signals the end of an era when US antitrust regulators turned a blind eye to coercion by dominant firms. Equally important, a victory for the federal government could reshape the global live entertainment industry, given Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s international reach and influence.

Over the last few decades, US antitrust regulators have been in the habit of dwelling on technicalities and relying on legal jargon. By contrast, this lawsuit emphasizes the adverse effects of corporate dominance and coercion in blunt terms. The government described Live Nation as an “oppressive” corporation that “wields its power” to expand “its scope and reach into every crevice of an increasingly more complex and interconnected [entertainment] ecosystem, eliminating rivals, continuing to increase barriers to entry, and inhibiting competition on the merits.”

It’s an accurate depiction: Live Nation’s widespread use of exclusionary contracts with venues and artists has allowed the company to exert near-total control over tour schedules and ticketing. Under these agreements, artists can neither sell tickets directly to their fans through presale windows, nor use ticket sellers other than Ticketmaster. As a result, fans pay more in fees, while smaller promoters and ticket outlets have been squeezed out, cementing Live Nation’s stranglehold on the market.

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