Today is a huge day for fans of live music and economic justice. The sins of Ticketmaster and Live Nation are numerous. We’ve reported on them in the past. It was a merger that never should have been approved to begin with. The US Government overlooked the danger of letting a company that controls concert venues, merge with a company that sells tickets to concert venues. What could possibly go wrong? Many many, things in fact.
The Verdict
On Wednesday, April 15th, the jury in the case against Live Nation effectively ruled that the company exists as a monopoly. We’re not legal experts, but this was clearly the right call. Allegations were made that Live Nation effectively forced both artists and concert goers to use Ticketmaster In order to perform or go to various venues. What this means in turn, is that Ticketmaster had no competition in terms of price-setting.
If you want to go to a concert at a specific venue, generally, you can purchase tickets in various ways. Sometimes you can purchase directly from the box office of the location, other times you can buy from other avenues that the venue allotted tickets to. But if a venue owned by Live Nation only allows tickets to be sold by Ticketmaster, what other option does the consumer have? There’s no other seller so no competition for better prices.
The Aftermath
What happens next is yet to be determined. The worst case for Live Nation is undoing the merger and rendering them separate companies again. This could be done in addition to fees and penalties. Or, the judge might agree to let the company continue to exist as long as it makes changes to its corporate structure and pays fines. It really all depends on what the judge feels is right for the circumstances at hand.
Considering the number of other legal issues involving these companies over the years, the best option in our opinion is to break them up. Competition is to the benefit of the consumer. Live Nation has allegedly tried to skirt this for the sake of their own profits. It shouldn’t be allowed to stand.
This is breaking news with implications yet to come. We will continue to update you as we learn more.
