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title: Justice Department Says Illegal Monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation Drives Up Prices for Fans | TIME
description: The Justice Department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment on Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America — squelching competition and driving up prices for fans. 
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og:description: The Justice Department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment on Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America — squelching competition and driving up prices for fans. 
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# Justice Department Says Illegal Monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation Drives Up Prices for Fans

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MsdBmIDX.m3u8" -->
## Video: Justice Department Says Illegal Monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation Drives Up Prices for Fans

[Watch (HLS stream): Justice Department Says Illegal Monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation Drives Up Prices for Fans](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MsdBmIDX.m3u8) (3:26)

![Justice Department Says Illegal Monopoly by Ticketmaster and Live Nation Drives Up Prices for Fans](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MsdBmIDX/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2024-05-23. The Justice Department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment on Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America — squelching competition and driving up prices for fans._


---

May 24, 2024 12:05 PM UTC

---

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---


## Transcript

Earlier today, the Department of Justice, joined by 29 states and the District of Columbia sued Live Nation entertainment and its wholly owned subsidiary Ticketmaster for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. In recent years, Live Nation Ticketmaster's, exorbitant fees, and technological failures have been criticized by fans and artists alike. But 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. Our complaint makes clear what happens when a monopolist dedicates its resources to entrenching its monopoly power and insulating itself from competition rather than investing in better products and services.

We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up. The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. Ticketmaster can impose a seemingly endless list of fees on fans. Those include ticketing fees, service fees, convenience fees, platinum fees, price master fees, per order fees, handling fees, and payment processing fees, among others. For fans in the United States, this illegal conduct means higher prices.

In other countries where venues are not bound by ticket masters, exclusive ticketing contracts, venues often use multiple ticketing companies for the same event. And fans lower fees and more innovative ticketing products as a result. As detailed in our complaint, Live Nation suffocates its competition, using a variety of tactics from acquisitions of smaller regional promoters and venues to threats and retaliation, to agreements with rivals designed to neutralize them. I still remember as a senior in college going to a Bonnie Rate concert and seeing a then up and coming musician named Bruce Springsteen play as a warm up act.

We all knew that we had just seen the future of Rock and roll. The Justice Department filed this lawsuit on behalf of fans who should be able to go to concerts without a monopoly standing in their way. We have followed this lawsuit on behalf of artists who should be able to plan their tours around their fans and not be dictated by an unlawful monopolist. We have filed this lawsuit on behalf of the independent promoters and venues which should be able to compete on a level playing field. It is time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation's monopoly. It is time to restore competition and innovation in the entertainment industry.

It is time to break up Live Nation ticket master. The American people are ready for it.

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