A federal judge has denied Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster’s motion to dismiss two major parts of the antitrust lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice, along with 40 state and district attorneys general, allowing the case to proceed.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2024, alleging “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry.”
Live Nation had said that “The complaint — and even more so the press conference announcing it — attempt to portray Live Nation and Ticketmaster as the cause of fan frustration with the live entertainment industry.”
US District Judge Arun Subramanian rejected Live Nation’s arguments against prosecutors’ “tying” claim, which accuses the company of forcing artists to use its concert promotion services if they want to perform at Live Nation-owned venues.
The judge also upheld the states’ standing to seek damages on behalf of consumers, according to a court document filed Friday (March 14).
“The complaint explains that due to Live Nation’s monopoly power in the large-amphitheater market, artists are effectively locked into using Live Nation as the promoter for a tour that stops at large amphitheaters,” Subramanian wrote in a seven-page opinion, which can be read in full here.
“If the evidence shows that… artists are coerced into using Live Nation as their promoter if they want access to Live Nation’s amphitheaters, plaintiffs may have a viable tying claim.”
Arun Subramanian, US DIstrict Judge
The ruling addresses Live Nation’s argument that it isn’t directly forcing artists into “tying” because promoters, not artists, rent venues.
Live Nation had earlier argued that its refusal to deal with rival promoters was “legally protected behavior.” However, the judge found that the complaint alleges coercion of artists, not just a refusal to deal with competitors.
“If the evidence shows that promoters book venues on behalf of specific artists, that artists are the driving force behind which venues to book and when, and that artists are coerced into using Live Nation as their promoter if they want access to Live Nation’s amphitheaters, plaintiffs may have a viable tying claim,” Judge Subramanian wrote.
The complaint cites a Live Nation executive’s direction to employees not to increase guaranteed payments to artists seeking amphitheater tours because “they will need to sign with Live Nation as their promoter” to play at the venues.
In the second part of his decision, Judge Subramanian ruled that state attorneys general had established their standing to represent consumers who claim they were overcharged due to Live Nation’s alleged anticompetitive practices in the primary ticketing market.
“Whatever market definitions one employs, where a defendant unlawfully maintains its monopoly over a product through a course of exclusionary conduct focusing on that product, consumers of that product alleging that they were overcharged suffer a cognizable injury,” the judge said.
The lawsuit seeks to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging the company has monopolized markets across the live concert industry. The complaint alleges that Live Nation controls about “80% or more of major concert venues’ primary ticketing for concerts and a growing share of ticket resales in the secondary market.”
When filing the lawsuit last year, former Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up.”
The case now proceeds as the Justice Department transitions to new leadership under the Trump administration. Gail Slater, President Donald Trump’s pick to replace former Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, was confirmed on Tuesday (March 11) as the department’s new Antitrust Division lead.
Slater spent 10 years at the Federal Trade Commission, bringing cases to block mergers including Whole Foods’ acquisition of organic grocer Wild Oats, and represented big tech firms like Amazon and Google at the now-defunct trade group Internet Association. She also worked at Fox Corp. and Roku.
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