Live Nation settles antitrust lawsuit with Justice Department
By Jordan Valinsky, Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
New York (CNN) — Live Nation and Ticketmaster have reached a settlement with federal authorities over its practices that accused the ticket giant of monopolizing the live events music industry, according to a source familiar with the matter.
No details of the settlement were initially announced and a judge still needs to approve it. A trial began last week in New York.
Monday’s announcement brings an end to a two-year legal battle stemming from a lawsuit that was filed against the company during the Biden administration as well as more than 30 state and district attorneys general.
Prosecutors accused Live Nation of monopolizing the ticketing and live events industry by cutting exclusive deals with the country’s largest venues, ensuring that all their future events were ticketed through the company’s platform.
The industry came under intense scrutiny in 2022 after glitches at Ticketmaster blocked millions from purchasing tickets for Taylor Swift’s tour. The debacle revealed how a lack of competition has led to harms ranging from poor customer service to confusing pricing to expensive ticketing fees to restrictions on ticket resales — amounting to what many consumers complain of as death by a thousand cuts.
The Justice Department also wanted the company to split up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010.
However, Politico, which first reported the news, said the company won’t be split up and will have to pay millions of dollars in damages.
Last year, Live Nation named Richard Grenell, who is one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers to its board of directors. Antitrust advocates immediately connected that his appointment to Live Nation’s efforts to avoid the company from being split up.
Live Nation didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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