11/6/2022

Metal Sucks

“Ticketmaster merging with Live Nation back in 2010 created a monopoly in the concert sector...” Read More.

11/4/2022

Metal Injection

“Which is only sort of the problem. Let's break up Ticketmaster?” Read More.

10/22/2022

Metal Injection

“Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing was intended to weed out scalpers, but has ultimately caused tickets for bands like Blink-182 to reach the four-figure mark…” Read More.

10/20/2022

Digital Music News

“Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary have long faced criticism over the price of tickets to popular concerts. Now, fed-up activists are calling on the federal government “to investigate and unwind” the companies’ 2010 merger…” Read More.

10/20/2022

The Washington Times

“They argue Democrats have neglected antitrust issues for too long and intend to force the Biden administration to take action against the ticket distributor…” Read More.

10/20/2022

Celebrity Access

“A coalition of advocacy organizations, led by the American Economic Liberties Project, has launched a campaign calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to unravel the merger between entertainment giant Live Nation and their ticketing subsidiary Ticketmaster…” Read More.

10/20/2022

VICE News

“Or: Why you are not ever getting an inexpensive ticket to a popular concert ever again…” Read More.

10/20/2022

Music Ally

“Live Nation and Ticketmaster completed their merger in January 2010, after receiving regulatory approvals. Now a group of activist organizations want the US Department of Justice to “investigate and unwind” the merger…” Read More.

10/20/2022

Paste Magazine

“Between exorbitant fees, surge pricing and overwhelming queues, the company’s live music monopoly has turned the process of buying concert tickets into a source of dread, rather than joy…” Read More.

10/20/2022

Ticket News

“The #BreakUpTicketmaster campaign asks the Department of Justice to use its power to reverse the merger’s approval. Such action would force the massive promotional giant and the massive ticketing vendor to operate independently once more, would restore some level of competition to an industry that many argue is being destroyed by the monopolistic giant at its center…” Read More.

10/19/2022

The Hollywood Reporter

“The 2010 merger has been subject to scrutiny for allegedly leading to higher ticket prices and claims that Live Nation Entertainment is abusing its market power over venues and artists…” Read More.

10/19/2022

Bloomberg Law

“Live Nation Entertainment Inc. is facing a new consumer advocacy campaign that calls on the Justice Department to unwind the company’s 2010 merger with Ticketmaster…” Read More.

10/19/2022

Breaking Points

“There’s a new effort to unwind the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation…” Watch.

6/7/2023

NPR

“Moe Tkacik and Krista Brown are researchers at the American Economic Liberties Project, a left-leaning think tank which is part of a consortium that is pushing for the DOJ to break up the Live Nation monopoly…” Listen.

6/15/2023

The Verge

“‘Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s announcement today is a half-hearted attempt to ward off a looming DOJ investigation into addressing the real issue — its monopoly power over live events,’ the Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition said in a statement Thursday…” Read More.

6/15/2023

Reuters

“The Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition was unimpressed with the agreement that Ticketmaster made, saying the company needed to be broken up to stop ‘exorbitant fees on top of the actual ticket, with multiple reports of fees that cost more than a ticket itself…’” Read More.

06/15/2023

Rolling Stone

Live Nation’s decision doesn’t appear to have quelled some of its harshest critics. The Break Up Ticketmaster coalition, which for months has been advocating for antitrust measures to separate Live Nation and Ticketmaster through antitrust measures, called the announcement ‘a half-hearted attempt to ward off a looming DOJ investigation into addressing the real issue — its monopoly power over live events.’

‘Our own research has shown that Live Nation-Ticketmaster wields its market dominance to charge exorbitant fees on top of the actual ticket, with multiple reports of fees that cost more than a ticket itself,’ the coalition said. ‘Make no mistake: Being fully transparent about extorting consumers is still extortion in an anti-competitive market. Breaking up Live Nation-Ticketmaster is necessary to restore competition and fairness to event-goers, artists, independent venue owners, and the entire live events industry…’” Read More.

6/15/2023

MarketWatch

“That still won’t be enough to fully protect customers, who often face a bundle of extra charges right when they were checking out after thinking they would pay a lower up-front sticker price for live events, said Morgan Harper, director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. Though all-in pricing is a positive for consumers, especially when combined with efforts from federal regulators to crack down on junk fees overall, the companies still hold a lot of power over their customers, she said.

‘When we’re looking at the live events space, that is an anti-competitive market where Live Nation, Ticketmaster, dominate,’ Harper told MarketWatch.

‘Transparency is not going to solve the problem,’ she added…“ Read More.

6/15/2023

New York Times

“The Justice Department is continuing to investigate Live Nation’s market position. And the American Economic Liberties Project gave DealBook a first look at new data that it says show the firm holding a lock on the 100 top event venues in the U.S. and 100 arenas worldwide. The group said it hoped the data would “accelerate efforts to break up this monopoly.” Live Nation did not respond to a request for comment…” Read More.

6/15/2023

Jam Bands

“Despite Live Nation’s decision, some of its strongest critics remain unsatisfied. The Break Up Ticketmaster coalition, which has been advocating for antitrust measures to separate Live Nation and Ticketmaster, considers the announcement a half-hearted attempt to avoid a potential Department of Justice investigation into Live Nation’s monopoly power over live events. The coalition argues that Live Nation-Ticketmaster exploits its market dominance to charge excessive fees on top of the ticket price, with numerous reports of fees surpassing the ticket’s cost. They emphasize the necessity of breaking up Live Nation-Ticketmaster to restore competition and fairness in the live events industry for eventgoers, artists, and independent venue owners.” Read More.

6/15/2023

Iowa Starting Line

“‘Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s announcement today is a half-hearted attempt to ward off a looming DOJ investigation into addressing the real issue–its monopoly power over live events,’ The Break Up Ticketmaster Coalition said in a statement. ‘Make no mistake: being fully transparent about extorting consumers is still extortion in an anti-competitive market. Breaking up Live Nation-Ticketmaster is necessary to restore competition and fairness to event goers, artists, independent venue owners, and the entire live events industry…’” Read More.

6/16/2023

The American Prospect

“‘I like to compare [the all-in pricing pledge] to sticker shock at the start of the checkout process versus the end, with no actual difference in the overall experience,’ said Krista Brown, senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project.

AELP along with the Break Up Ticketmaster coalition blasted the announcement for failing to address the core issue with the platform: its monopoly power. One benefit supporters of all-in pricing claim is the ability to comparison shop on an apples-to-apples basis. But transparency in fees alone won’t fix rampant price-gouging, if for most live music shows there’s only one platform to purchase tickets from. That eliminates the comparison-shopping advantage.

At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this year, Live Nation’s CEO refused to say how many venues the platform holds under contract, but claimed that there was plenty of competition. A new report from AELP rebuts that, revealing the extent to which Live Nation has rolled up the live concert business into its orbit and crushed competitors. The report gathers data on ticket sales and other information from the top 300 concert amphitheaters and arenas, totaling around half of all concert revenues from 2022. The findings show that Ticketmaster dominates contracts for ticketing and other services for each venue category. Live Nation controls operations for 64 percent of the top-grossing U.S. amphitheaters, 77 percent of ticketing services, and nearly 80 percent of ticketing for arenas. No other competitor serves more than a small handful.

‘This analysis leaves no room for doubt: Live Nation-Ticketmaster maintains monopoly control over concert venues,’ said Brown in a press release…” Read More.

6/16/2023

Numlock News

“A new study argues that Ticketmaster owner Live Nation exercises enormous control over the live music industry, which is responsible for 95 percent of artist income as of 2022. When grilled by Congress, Live Nation didn’t give any information on arena ticketing in its written response, but the study found that of the top 100 arenas worldwide, 68 are in the U.S., and of those 68 arenas Live Nation and Ticketmaster serviced 78 percent of them. Those 68 arenas generated $2,911,651,970 in revenue, and Ticketmaster’s arenas were responsible for an even more disproportionate 83 percent of that revenue. Similar data is seen among amphitheaters: Ticketmaster was the sole ticketing provider for 77 percent of the top amphitheaters worldwide, and 82 percent of the top domestic amphitheaters in the U.S. The report dropped on the same day that Ticketmaster made limp promises about being more transparent about the manner in which they intend to screw you out of money, as if that’ll fix it.

Krista Brown, American Economic Liberties Project…“ Read More.

Business Insider

6/17/2023

“When one company has such a stranglehold on an industry, it has the power to manipulate ticket prices and make it difficult for other similar services to effectively compete in the market. According to Krista Brown, the report's author and senior policy analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project, Live Nation Entertainment has such a hold on the industry because it's vertically integrated very effectively.

Live Nation Entertainment, she explained, is a ticketing service, a concert promoter, and an artist management company. By controlling so much of the entertainment space, ‘they can essentially call the shots on who survives in the industry and what the industry looks like as it develops….’“ Read More.

2/1/2023

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12/27/2022

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11/30/2022

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11/4/2022

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11/18/2022

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