Photo Credit: Harold Mendoza
At a congressional hearing this week on Capitol Hill, lawmakers and industry advocates argued that the antitrust verdict against Live Nation was simply wrong.
On Monday, lawmakers, artists, promoters, and independent venue operators used a congressional forum to argue for widespread structural changes across the live entertainment industry in light of the antitrust verdict against Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The broader takeaway was that the court should consider a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, not just another conduct decree or monetary settlement that the company can simply absorb.
Convened by Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the forum honed in on the Trump administration’s so-called sweetheart deal that settled the federal government’s claims against the live events and ticketing giant. Speakers repeatedly urged the court to consider a breakup of the two companies while also looking beyond the ticketing industry to Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s control over artist management, concert promotion, venues, tour routing, and related businesses.
“Behavioral remedies have proven inadequate,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office helped continue the case after the Department of Justice settled its federal claims. “It’s time for structural remedies.”
Those remedies, according to Bonta, could include “a divestiture of Ticketmaster and a full breakup of the two companies,” or “a potential separation of the venue and artist management components of the industry.”
Bonta added that the states expect to submit their remedy requests by the end of the month, with final resolutions possible later this fall. The court will also review the DOJ’s proposed settlement under the Tunney Act, which requires a judicial review of major antitrust settlements to determine whether they are in the public interest.
“With his sweetheart settlement for Ticketmaster, Donald Trump took the side of an illegal monopoly whose employees bragged about, quote, ‘robbing fans blind,’” argued Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who opened the forum by calling the verdict against Live Nation/Ticketmaster “a victory for concertgoers, for musicians, independent venues,” and “a devastating defeat for the illegal monopoly,” which he said had driven up prices.
“Another slap on the wrist isn’t going to be enough,” Schumer added. “We need to break up the monopoly.”
“If the structure of Live Nation/Ticketmaster virtually guarantees anti-competitive conduct, then structural remedies must obviously be on the table, including divestiture, including breakup,” said Raskin. “The remedy must address the scope and the magnitude of the violation.”
Blumenthal echoed Raskin’s sentiment and pointed out that Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s current power was the result of a merger that many lawmakers and industry experts cautioned against years ago—beginning with Pearl Jam’s 1994 testimony before Congress, and before the merger was made official in 2010.
“They didn’t get there by working harder and building from the ground up,” said Blumenthal. “They did a merger that many of us opposed, and we’ve urged for years that it be broken up.”
Notre Dame law professor Roger Alford, a former senior official in the Trump DOJ’s Antitrust Division, levied sharp criticism of the federal settlement process, asserting that the DOJ “abused its prosecutorial discretion” by reaching a settlement that he believes will not be found to be in the public interest. His main argument was that politically connected lobbyists and allies have gained an unprecedented amount of influence over antitrust enforcement decisions.
Raskin closed the forum by doubling down that lawmakers want to see the court victory lead to “meaningful change.” Whether the Live Nation/Ticketmaster verdict will actually lead to structural change across the entertainment industry, or whether the company will walk away with little more than a slap on the wrist, remains to be seen.
