U.S. Calls for Breakup of Ticketmaster Owner

Accused of violating antitrust laws, Live Nation Entertainment faces a fight that could reshape the multibillion-dollar live music industry.

The Justice Department on Thursday sued Live Nation Entertainment, the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster, asking a court to break up the company over claims it illegally maintained a monopoly in the live entertainment industry.

In the lawsuit, which is joined by 29 states and the District of Columbia, the government accuses Live Nation of dominating the industry by locking venues into exclusive ticketing contracts, pressuring artists to use its services and threatening its rivals with financial retribution.

Those tactics, the government argues, have resulted in higher ticket prices for consumers and have stifled innovation and competition throughout the industry. The suit asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to order “the divestiture of, at minimum, Ticketmaster,” and to prevent Live Nation from engaging in anticompetitive practices.

“It is time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation’s monopoly,” Merrick Garland, the attorney general, said on Thursday. “It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster. The American people are ready for it.”

The suit is part of a broader push by American regulators to rein in the growing power of companies in the internet age, testing century-old antitrust laws against new power wielded by major corporations over consumers. The Justice Department has sued Apple and brought two cases against Google, while the Federal Trade Commission has brought antitrust suits against Amazon and Meta.

The Justice Department’s latest lawsuit is a direct challenge to the business of Live Nation, a colossus of the entertainment industry and a force in the lives of musicians and fans alike. The case, filed 14 years after the government approved Live Nation’s merger with Ticketmaster, has the potential to transform the multibillion-dollar concert industry.