The Department of Justice is expected to file a lawsuit in New York on Thursday (May 23) in an attempt to breakup Live Nation and Ticketmaster, citing antitrust laws, according to various reports.
This comes after a two-year investigation by regulators examining the live music industry. Since Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010, the companies have come under fire from fans as well as competing concert and ticketing companies who complain about high prices, unfair business practices, and a lack of competition in the marketplace.
The problems with ticketing came to a head and received national attention after fans complained about the difficulty they had obtaining tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, as fans were shut out due to technical difficulties and long waits to get tickets.
In recent years, several lawmakers including Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn, Richard Blumenthal and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have called for new regulations for the company. Klobucher pointed out that Ticketmaster has exclusive deals and continually raises fees.
"That makes them a vertically integrated giant," Klobuchar told Rolling Stone. "They book the concert, sell the tickets and own the venue [and] that makes for little competition. And despite the consent decree which they agreed to extend, we don't see the competition that we should."
Still, Live Nation president Joe Berchtold recently stated that he was optimistic the company could avoid a legal battle with the DOJ.
"These are always serious discussions. We wouldn't get to this point if they didn't have concerns, but the good news is we're still talking and they've said they have an open mind," Berchtold told attendees at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston on Tuesday (May 21), according to Billboard.
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