After fighting the Swifties, Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation face a new court battle with the Department of Justice.
Hidden service fees, egregious wait times and price fixing are par for the course when buying concert tickets. Eager to see our favs live, the extra “handling fee” may pass us by.
But these practices are now at the centre of a federal antitrust trial in Manhattan, beginning yesterday with a litany of damning evidence.
Department of Justice attorney David Dahlquist’s opening statement began “the concert ticket industry is broken… It is controlled by a monopolist. It is controlled by Live Nation.”
He referenced the company’s handling of the now infamous Taylor Swift Era’s tour tickets, a controversy so great it has earned its own Wikipedia article, which details the numerous lawsuits filed against Ticketmaster.
Alongside Dahlquist are the attorneys general of New York and 38 other states seeking compensation damages for fans, claiming that Ticketmaster’s chokehold on the industry is driving out competition from the market and hurting the wallets of their greatest asset; the fans.
An attorney for New York state claimed that Ticketmaster keeps more in fees than other competitors, such as ASX, pocketing an average of $7.58 of the price of each ticket.
Live Nation attorney David Marriott refuted the claims, stating the true number was being exaggerated. According to Marriott, Ticketmaster actually takes $5 and clears less than $2 after expenses.
“We’ll let the numbers do the talking, we do not have monopoly power” he said, though Live Nation’s international control over concert venues leaves artists feeling they have no choice but to work with the company (but sure, that isn’t monopoly power).
Live Nation is accused of forcing venues into signing these exclusive contracts, which are intentionally long-term to block competition from gaining access.
Most recently, Ticketmaster beat out Ticketek to a major $100 million contract with Venues NSW, giving them access to venues like the SCG, Allianz Stadium, and Accor Stadium for 7 years (definitely not a monopolistic move).
Dahlquist later revealed internal messages between Live Nation staff mocking attendees, even stating Ticketmaster was “robbing them blind, baby.” Ouch.
For a first day of hearings, the evidence is stacking up. Behind the scenes, it’s clear to many that Ticketmaster has been pulling the strings to maintain its live entertainment monopoly*
*Metaphorically speaking…
