It’s time for “Look What You Made Me Do” (The Justice Department’s version).
Over a year after Ticketmaster crashed, preventing rabid Taylor Swift fans from purchasing tickets to her concert tour, the DOJ has announced an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment. The suit accuses the ticket sales giant of unlawfully dominating the market.
“We are not here today because Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s conduct is inconvenient or frustrating. We are here because, as we allege, that conduct is anti-competitive and illegal,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference on Thursday. “It is time to break it up.”
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In its lawsuit, the Justice Department says that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have used “power and influence to insert themselves at the center and the edges of virtually every aspect of the live music ecosystem,” allowing them to stifle innovation and exert control over how fans can purchase tickets and where artists can perform.
“This has given Live Nation and Ticketmaster the opportunity to freeze innovation and bend the industry to their own benefit. While this may be a boon to Live Nation’s bottom line, there is a real cost to Americans,” the Justice Department says in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit comes after Ticketmaster fumbled a pre-sale event in late 2022 for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour as fans competed with bots for a limited number of tickets.
“It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them,” Swift said following the release.
A spokesperson for Swift did not immediately respond to Business a request for comment from Business Insider.
In response to the antitrust suit, Live Nation said that “calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court.”
“The DOJ’s lawsuit won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows,” the company said in a statement. “Our growth comes from helping artists tour globally, creating lasting memories for millions of fans, and supporting local economies across the country by sustaining quality jobs.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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