--- title: DOJ Sues Live Nation, Ticketmaster to Break up 'Monopolistic Control' of Ticket Prices description: The Department of Justice accused Live Nation of antitrust violations, arguing the company has become a monopoly at consumers' expense. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2024-05-23T17:54:04.000Z' modified: '2024-05-23T17:54:04.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 580 canonical: https://money.com/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Photo collage of two smartphones one showing the "Live Nation Entertainment" logo and the other showing the "Ticketmaster" Logo](https://img.money.com/2024/05/News-Lawsuit-Ticketmaster-Live-Nation.jpg) The U.S. Department of Justice sued Live Nation on Thursday over alleged antitrust violations, arguing the Ticketmaster parent company has become a monopoly at the expense of everyday consumers. The federal [lawsuit](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.621993/gov.uscourts.nysd.621993.1.0_1.pdf), which was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, doesn't mince words, starting off by saying, "One monopolist serves as the gatekeeper for the delivery of nearly all live music in America today." The government’s move to sue Live Nation is a long time coming for entertainment lovers frustrated with the system. Criticism intensified in 2022 after a botched [rollout of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour](https://money.com/taylor-swift-tickets-avoid-scams-ripoffs/), which is now the highest-grossing concert tour ever. ## Don't forget your boarding pass — or your Travel Insurance ### If you're traveling to see your favorite artists, make sure that your trip is covered with Travel Insurance. Click your state to get coverage. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/t013064abfec?ap_referrer=%2Fticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices%2F) Fans waited hours in online queues for the chance to get Eras tickets, many of which reportedly went to scalpers who sold them on secondary websites for thousands of dollars. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle threw support behind the fan push for the government to act, stating that the entertainment conglomerate is too big and too powerful. After investigating the company for more than two years, the Department of Justice is asking the court to force the sale of Ticketmaster and require additional relief to address the alleged harm. “It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday. ## Who's to blame for expensive concert tickets? The DOJ's lawsuit, which 29 states joined, alleges that Live Nation's exclusive contracts with venues for ticketing lead to higher prices for consumers. The complaint also mentions other alleged anti-competitive practices, like restricting musicians' access to venues unless they use Live Nation's promotion services. “We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anti-competitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators,” Garland said in the statement. For its part, Live Nation is pushing back against the allegation that it has violated antitrust laws. Responding to the lawsuit Thursday, the company said it's not at fault for expensive tickets. The DOJ complaint "blames concert promoters and ticketing companies — neither of which control ticket prices — for high ticket prices," Dan Wall, Live Nation's executive vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs, said in a [statement](https://www.livenationentertainment.com/2024/05/breaking-down-the-doj-lawsuit/). "It ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from increasing production costs to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary tickets cost." Live Nation and Ticketmaster used to be competing companies in the entertainment space until they merged in 2010. Live Nation had been primarily a concert promotion company, but the Ticketmaster acquisition gave it more power in ticketing: According to the Justice Department's complaint, "through Ticketmaster, Live Nation controls roughly 80% or more of major concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts and a growing share of ticket resales in the secondary market." Live Nation manages over 400 artists and owns about 265 U.S. venues, according to the complaint. In many cases, the company owns the venue where a concert is held, it books the artist, and it sells all the tickets. The Department of Justice says this needs to change so other companies can compete. With more competition, the theory goes, comes [lower prices](https://money.com/find-cheap-concert-tickets/). ### Quote, compare, and buy in minutes—best price guaranteed ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/28840/medium_dca16b05-03f8-4766-b735-a167b0e7c79d.png) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/7fbc0146ebd9?bidid=4033491835&pmeta=p129-c539-u24443&ptid=662782422&ptoken=72496cb4f6b97b50c8200d35fc40f6d2) ### Fast Claims & 24/7 Travel Support ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/24823/medium_475a7712-9b54-4b36-af8f-1ea2de63eb95.png) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/5485fbec200d?bidid=4033491838&pmeta=p129-c539-u24443&ptid=662782422&ptoken=f37c6edfb9338e4e351dc00db98d56c3) ### Travel concierge services with premium plans ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/37203/medium_ccee2cd0-9a93-479b-9b91-e6556173f7a6.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/1b47ba79d8ef?bidid=4033491834&pmeta=p129-c539-u24443&ptid=662782422&ptoken=5cc967fa14b8467c8f04754742876f88) ### Cancel-For-Any-Reason Coverage Options ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/37199/medium_f907be5a-b72c-4349-a7b7-3777f2c8ebcb.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/1ac5995c9ca3?bidid=4033491836&pmeta=p129-c539-u24443&ptid=662782422&ptoken=37dde7ed649ef55d411d3df442ddd0c5) ![View Rates](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/36540/medium_81b9bfac-0870-4abf-a1d5-f86d60d3c8e0.webp) Our Partner [View Rates](https://money.com/go/c93179e1c6bd?bidid=4033491837&pmeta=p129-c539-u24443&ptid=662782422&ptoken=14f1d4bee4c8474fe0c441838decc79a) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/28840/medium_dca16b05-03f8-4766-b735-a167b0e7c79d.png) Enjoy your trip worry-free with the help of Travel Insurance [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/v76af457ef6b?ap_referrer=%2Fticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "DOJ Sues Live Nation, Ticketmaster to Break up 'Monopolistic Control' of Ticket Prices" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices/", "name": "DOJ Sues Live Nation, Ticketmaster to Break up 'Monopolistic Control' of Ticket Prices", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-05-23T17:54:04.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/ticketmaster-live-nation-lawsuit-ticket-prices/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-23T17:54:04.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "DOJ Sues Live Nation, Ticketmaster to Break up 'Monopolistic Control' of Ticket Prices", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/05/News-Lawsuit-Ticketmaster-Live-Nation.jpg", "width": 2923, "height": 1949, "caption": "News-Lawsuit-Ticketmaster-Live-Nation" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. 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