Ticket Master's Turn to in the Anti-Trust Ring

[Zorba]

The DOJ is preparing to sue Ticket Master. As someone that has always been very pro-anti-trust enforcement and as someone that really hates Ticket Master, I am very much for this. Further, I really really like Biden's FTC.

U.S. Plans to Sue Ticketmaster Owner, Accusing It of Defending a Monopoly

Live Nation Entertainment, the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster, faces a fight that could reshape the multibillion-dollar live music industry.

www.nytimes.com

 

[K1052]

Everybody who isn't a Live Nation stockholder hates this company. Good luck in court assholes.

 

[Pens1566]

Pearl Jam was right.

 

[nakedfrog]

I will definitely be curious to see how this one plays out.

 

[iRONic]

My wife, my kids, and myself, have spent untold thousands of dollars in the last 20 years on concerts. Some of them Ticketmaster because they're pretty much ubiquitous Believe me it chaps my ass every time we click that button to accept the charges but we still go because we love to rock 'n' roll. *shrug*

I can't see myself gaining anything even if they're found guilty of violating antitrust laws. They won't send me a check. Ticket prices CERTAINLY won't go down! 🤣🤣

They'll be forced to put a disclaimer or some such lawyer-eez wording on their website and ticket stubs.

 

[nakedfrog]

My wife, my kids, and myself, have spent untold thousands of dollars in the last 20 years on concerts. Some of them Ticketmaster because they're pretty much ubiquitous Believe me it chaps my ass every time we click that button to accept the charges but we still go because we love to rock 'n' roll. *shrug*

I can't see myself gaining anything even if they're found guilty of violating antitrust laws. They won't send me a check. Ticket prices CERTAINLY won't go down! 🤣🤣

They'll be forced to put a disclaimer or some such lawyer-eez wording on their website and ticket stubs.

Don't be so sure about that.

The Justice Department allowed Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, to buy Ticketmaster in 2010 under certain conditions laid out in a legal agreement. If venues did not use Ticketmaster, for example, Live Nation could not threaten to pull concert tours.

In 2019, however, the Justice Department found that Live Nation had violated those terms and modified and extended the agreement.

The Justice Department’s latest investigation of Live Nation began in 2022. Live Nation simultaneously ramped up its lobbying efforts, spending $2.4 million on federal lobbying in 2023, up from $1.1 million in 2022, according to filings available through the nonpartisan website OpenSecrets.

In April, the company co-hosted a lavish party in Washington ahead of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner that featured a performance by the country singer Jelly Roll and cocktail napkins that displayed positive facts about Live Nation’s impact on the economy, like the billions it says it pays to artists.

 

[MrSquished]

Maybe this policy will help push Biden to victory in November!

 

[Zorba]

My wife, my kids, and myself, have spent untold thousands of dollars in the last 20 years on concerts. Some of them Ticketmaster because they're pretty much ubiquitous Believe me it chaps my ass every time we click that button to accept the charges but we still go because we love to rock 'n' roll. *shrug*

I can't see myself gaining anything even if they're found guilty of violating antitrust laws. They won't send me a check. Ticket prices CERTAINLY won't go down! 🤣🤣

They'll be forced to put a disclaimer or some such lawyer-eez wording on their website and ticket stubs.

Hopefully, they will be broken up. Or at least be banned from entering into exclusive agreements with venues. I am sure at a minimum they will have to show the all in price upfront, not at the very end.

 

[Zorba]

Don't be so sure about that.

LOL that they "pay artists," they skim so much money off the top it is insane.

This is also why all of these agreements to allow mega mergers are/were so stupid, they are immediately ignored.

 

[Stokely]

Eh, I stopped going to concerts mainly due to tracks. Hell bands on the same local level as my own (read: small clubs with some corporate shows mixed in) run them shamelessly.

Not going to pay a lot of money to watch karaoke. There's still a few shows I'll go see, but mainly on the smaller side and not big pop/rock things anymore.

Anyway, sounds like this needs to happen.

 

[hal2kilo]

Last concert I went to was a Dave Mathews concert at the Coma Dome. I wish they had advertised it as a female sing along, otherwise I would not have gone.

 

[nakedfrog]

Last concert I went to was a Dave Mathews concert at the Coma Dome. I wish they had advertised it as a female sing along, otherwise I would not have gone.

You know, I can't say I'm surprised at all.