Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino Ethan Miller via Getty Images Logo text Live Nation Entertainment has been found liable in its bombshell monopoly lawsuit a major move that could drastically shake up the live music landscape as a judge now decides the penalty Live Nation and Ticketmaster should face.
After a weeks-long trial that featured testimony from the likes of Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino as well as other major industry stakeholders like AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano and Drake’s manager Adel Nur, jurors ruled on Wednesday that Live Nation functions as a monopoly that has squashed competitors and driven up ticket costs for fans. The bulk of the claims jurors focused on were related to requirements for artists at Live Nation’s amphitheaters, as well as claims that Live Nation strong-armed concert venues to use Ticketmaster if they wanted access to Live Nation’s concerts.
The verdict comes two years after the DOJ and nearly 40 plaintiff states had first announced a lawsuit against the live music giant in May of 2024, with the department taking an aggressive and rare call to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster over a decade after the DOJ had originally allowed the merger over a decade prior.
The DOJ, however, surprised the court after confirming it had reached a settlement with Live Nation just days after the trial started. A few of the plaintiff states joined in settling alongside the federal government, but over 30 states — including market leaders California, New York and Texas — decided to keep litigating on their own, enlisting prominent antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler as their counsel.
As part of the DOJ settlement, Live Nation had already agreed to some concessions far less severe than a breakup, which included ending booking agreements with 13 amphitheaters across the country and opening its remaining amphitheaters for all other concert promoters. Live Nation also agreed to another extension to the consent decree it had originally entered when Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged, which stipulated that Live Nation couldn’t withhold concerts from venues that used other ticketing providers than Ticketmaster. (The DOJ had previously sued Live Nation in 2018 on claims of violating the decree, with Live Nation denying the violation and settling out of court and extending the decree back then as well.)
Beyond the claims itself, evidence released in the trial had revealed some unflattering conversations between Live Nation representatives, perhaps most notably a set of exchanges between two regional employees bragging to each other about gouging concertgoers on ancillary fees and parking spaces. “Robbing them, blind, baby, that’s how we do,” one of the employees wrote.
Rapino had disavowed the exchange during his testimony, saying “It’s disgusting, it’s not the way we operate.”
With the verdict decided, the next question remains what remedies Judge Arun Subramanian will deem necessary, and if that would include a breakup. While a divestment of Ticketmaster and Live Nation was the solution the DOJ had originally sought, without the DOJ’s involvement, it’s unclear how realistic that remedy would be. States have the same authority to pursue certain remedies, including a breakup, under the Clayton Act.
Gail Slater, the former assistant attorney general for anitrust who had stepped down before the Live Nation trial began, tweeted out praise to the plaintiff states on Wednesday, writing that they had You “made antitrust history today.”
California attorney general Rob Bonta called the decision “a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them.”
“In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans,” Bonta said. “We are incredibly proud of today’s outcome — and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation’s illegal conduct.”
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