How Live Nation's Monopoly Works

[Passages]

President Biden's Anti-Trust Division figting for justice for all

A Justice Department lawsuit alleges a repeated strategy of intimidation tactics, retribution, and all-around thuggish behavior.

BY LUKE GOLDSTEIN MAY 24, 2024

SNIP
Live Nation controls more than 80 percent of major concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts and an increasing share of ticket resales in the secondary market. The company has exclusive arrangements with 265 concert venues, including deals with more than 60 of the top 100 amphitheaters in the United States. It also has a controlling interest in 338 venues worldwide. Over 400 big-name artists are locked into Live Nation’s management services. No other competitor comes close to having that scale across any of these market segments.

As the current head of the Antitrust Division, Jonathan Kanter, put it at a press conference on Thursday, “Collectively, these practices forge an impenetrable corporate barrier around the live music industry. That’s why today we seek to hold them accountable.”

In response to the lawsuit, Live Nation hit back with a blistering statement denying the charges that it holds monopoly power and attacking the DOJ’s perceived agenda. “At bottom, we are another casualty of this Administration’s decision to turn over antitrust enforcement to a populist urge that simply rejects how antitrust law works. Some call this “Anti-Monopoly”, but in reality it is just anti-business.”

Kanter coined the term “Ticketmaster tax” at the announcement, referring to the long list of fees that consumers find at checkout for concert tickets, among them “service or convenience fees,” “payment processing fees,” and “facility fees.”
https://prospect.org/power/2024-05-24-how-live-nations-monopoly-works/

[LauraInLA]

1. Would breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster actually lower concert ticket prices?

“ Several industry observers who spoke to The Times expressed doubt that the lawsuit would significantly reduce prices for consumers.

Brandon Ross, an analyst at research firm LightShed Partners, said that artists decide how much they want to charge for a tour and then the promoter buys the tour from them. Due to Live Nation’s large scale, it is able to take a lower profit margin, with most of the money going back to the artist, Ross added.

“There is an efficiency in having a large player in the industry,” Ross said. “If that goes away, then that’s going to come out of either the artist’s take, or the artists are going to charge consumers even more.”

Artists like Swift and Bruce Springsteen are able to charge big sums for tickets because the concerts are one-time events, and some people are willing to pay. Because of supply and demand, tickets resold on the secondary market can be much higher than face value.”


From LA Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-05-23/would-breaking-up-live-nation-and-ticketmaster-actually-lower-concert-ticket-prices

https://archive.ph/yyVIR

[Passages]

2. LightShedPartners would like people to believe

Lina Khan is lost but I am confident the department will provide ample legal support in their pursuit.


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftc-chair-khan-does-not-understand-the-media-biz-warns-analyst-6cbc4519