On Monday, Live Nation-Ticketmaster agreed to settle a federal antitrust lawsuit with the Department of Justice. Eight states so far have indicated they plan to join the settlement, a district attorney said in court, and four others remain unclear on their status. The case alleged that it illegally monopolized parts of the live events industry, leading to higher ticket prices for consumers and locking venues into exclusive deals. Under the terms of the settlement shared by Live Nation, the deal won’t force it to split off from Ticketmaster.
27 states and DC will continue pushing their case, and have already filed for a mistrial.
The deal includes up to $280 million in damages to resolve states’ claims, though a DOJ official who spoke to reporters on background said the sum could be lower if not all of the state plaintiffs sign on, Bloomberg reported. Live Nation would open its amphitheaters to “all promoters,” according to its press release, and let them choose their preferred service to sell half of the event tickets, capping service fees at 15 percent. It would also divest its exclusive agreements to book acts at 13 amphitheaters, and all amps it owns and operates would become “open venues” so other promoters could book into them. Venues that choose to enter non-exclusive contracts for ticketing with Ticketmaster could distribute a portion of their tickets through other vendors.
”We have never relied on exclusivity to drive our ticketing business, it has simply been the result of having the best products, services and people in the industry,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “We are happy to take greater steps to empower artists and venues in their ticketing decisions, and are confident we will continue to succeed on the quality of what we deliver.”
The deal comes a week into a trial in a New York federal court.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, policy director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, said in a statement on Monday that “Donald Trump threw Swifties under the bus by settling with the corporate monopoly that cost them tickets to the Eras Tour. He should know ‘all too well’ that siding with a giant monopoly over the American people makes him look like ‘the smallest man who ever lived.’”
“Donald Trump threw Swifties under the bus by settling with the corporate monopoly that cost them tickets to the Eras Tour”
Taylor Swift and her legions of fans have been at the epicenter of the lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster after the ticketing platform infamously crashed in 2022 during the presale for Swift’s Eras Tour, which Ticketmaster said had “historically unprecedented demand.” The incident not only sparked outrage from Swifties, but also drew renewed attention on Ticketmaster’s stranglehold on the live entertainment industry.
Judge Arun Subramanian indicated there are three options for how to move forward: let the government continue examining the AEG COO who the DOJ was partway through questioning on Friday, give states a few days to “rearrange the chairs,” or grant their motion for a mistrial and figure out the rest from there. The court went with something close to option two — he dismissed the jury until Monday, giving him a chance to review the motion for mistrial and the states an opportunity to see if they can get what they need to continue at trial.
The judge was displeased about how the settlement came about. He said it was “outrageous” that neither party mentioned the possibility of a settlement until after jury selection. Even lead DOJ counsel David Dahlquist did not know that there was a signed term sheet indicating the details of the settlement until Monday morning, at the same time that the judge was informed. “You’re a lead counsel for the United States and you didn’t receive this term sheet until I did at 6:30 AM this morning?” Subramanian asked. “Correct,” Dahlquist said.
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