In a historic antitrust case filed on Thursday, the US government and numerous states accused Live Nation of abusing its market dominance for years in order to damage concertgoers across the country.

The Justice Department, along with thirty state and district attorneys general, filed the much-awaited case in New York, challenging the nation’s largest ticketing website and concert organizer, which regulators claim was the brainchild of a scheme to suppress competition. The governments want the corporation broken up and to go to a jury trial.

Several Live Nation detractors pointed to the Swift scandal as evidence of how a lack of competition has resulted in negative effects such as poor customer service, unclear pricing, high ticketing costs, and limitations on ticket resale—what many customers refer to as “death by a thousand cuts.”

The goal, according to the prosecution, was for Live Nation to become the sole provider of tickets for live events nationwide by securing exclusivity agreements with the biggest venues, guaranteeing that all of their upcoming events would be sold through the company’s website.

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a statement, “We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators.”

As a result, ticket prices go up for fans, artists get fewer chances to perform live, smaller promoters lose out, and venues have fewer actual options for ticketing services. It’s time to end the Live Nation-Ticketmaster partnership.

An inquiry regarding Live Nation’s stance on the case was not immediately answered by them.

ill will

Musicians have also expressed dissatisfaction with Live Nation’s highly integrated business model, which mixes event ticketing services with the management of about 200 well-known US venues. Critics claim that this allows the company to impose terms and costs on musicians.

Swift said on Instagram in 2022 that the Ticketmaster incident was “excruciating for me” and “pisses me off,” in response to the outcry from her followers.

The company is also at odds with a number of other artists who have criticized Live Nation’s policies. These artists include country singer Zach Bryan, who in 2022 released a live album titled “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live at Red Rocks)” and front man of The Cure Robert Smith, who declared he was “sickened” by Ticketmaster’s fees.

Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, sued in groundbreaking monopoly lawsuit

Other stories

• As a means of luring back consumers sick of inflation, Target is slashing prices on up to 5,000 items.

• SpaceX’s satellite internet service is launched in Indonesia by Elon Musk.

• For the first time ever, the Dow closes above 40,000.

• Bursary for International Students at Emmanuel Bible College

• Recognizing Insurance’s Place in Financial Planning