Antitrust Violations are Not Rock n’ Roll: Live Nation Entertainment Abused Its Dominance in the Marketplace and Hurt Consumers

We don’t blame the government for our inability to get tickets to the hottest concert in town, but maybe we should start. In the past few years, fans were unable to purchase tickets to Taylor Swift[1], Bad Bunny[2], and Oasis[3] concerts around the world. The public and politicians[4] called for a government investigation into Ticketmaster and Live Nation[5], pointing to violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act[6] in the United States, as well as violations of the consumer protection acts in Mexico[7], Ireland[8], and the United Kingdom.[9]

Live Nation Entertainment dominates the market for live performances, both in the United States[10]  and abroad.[11] The question under investigation around the world is whether Live Nation Entertainment uses that monopoly power to hurt consumers. I believe the best way to determine Live Nation Entertainment’s liability is to refocus American antitrust law on consumer welfare by incorporating the lower the abuse of dominance threshold from EU antitrust law.[12] American antitrust law tolerates a higher degree of market power before it finds corporate actions unlawful.[13] This means that many activities that would be challenged under the EU antitrust law are tolerated and unregulated in the United States, allowing dominant players to hurt consumers.

Allegations against the live entertainment giant include boycotting venues that use competing ticket retailers and creating dynamic pricing for tickets.[14]  “Dynamic pricing” allegedly happens when Ticketmaster increases prices of tickets when the number of tickets gets low.[15]

These behaviors seemingly bar competition in the marketplace and have a negative impact on consumers who have fewer choices of performance venues, higher ticket prices both on the primary and resale market[16], and lack of tickets due to sold-out shows. Maybe enforcement agencies should look to the EU’s practice of banning restrictive pricing as a countermeasure to Live Nation Entertainment’s dynamic pricing and resale market.[17] As investigations continue around the world, enforcement agencies should broaden their focus to include the impact on the marketplace and consumers.

 Alexandra Korcz is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVIII.

[1] See Rachel Treisman, The Senate's Ticketmaster hearing featured plenty of Taylor Swift puns and protesters, NPR, https://www.npr.org/2023/01/24/1150942804/taylor-swift-ticketmaster-senate-hearing-live-nation (last visited Nov. 3, 2024).

[2] See Thania Garcia, Ticketmaster Mexico to be Fined Millions of Dollars for Bad Bunny Ticket Fiasco, Variety, https://variety.com/2022/music/news/mexico-bad-bunny-ticketmaster-1235458355/ (last visited Nov. 3, 2024).

[3] See K.J. Yossman & Naman Ramachandran, Oasis Tickets’ ‘Dynamic Pricing’: U.K. Competition and Markets Authority Launches Investigation Into Ticketmaster, Variety,  https://variety.com/2024/global/global/ticketmaster-dynamic-pricing-oasis-uk-government-investigation-1236127481/ (last visited Nov. 3, 2024).

[4] Rachel Tillman, Lawmakers Slam Ticketmaster After Taylor Swift Presale Struggles, Spectrum News (Nov. 16, 2022, 6:27 PM), https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2022/11/16/taylor-swift-tour-ticketmaster-lawmakers-call-for-ftc-doj-investigation [https://perma.cc/7TGD-G7GJ].

[5] Hereinafter referred to by the merged company name, Live Nation Entertainment.

[6] See generally, Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2; see also Complaint at 200, United States of America et al v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. et al, 1:24-CV-03973 (S.D.N.Y. 2024).

[7] See PROFECO Procuraduría Federal Del Consumidor [Federal Consumer Protection Agency], https://www.gob.mx/profeco [https://perma.cc/T8QQ-TZAQ]

[8] CCPC, CCPC opens investigation into Ticketmaster sale of Oasis tickets, Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/2024/09/06/ccpc-opens-investigation-into-ticketmaster-sale-of-oasis-tickets/ (last visited Nov. 3, 2024).

[9] Antonia Kendrick & Stephen Smith, What’s the story: CMA launches investigation into Ticketmaster over Oasis debacle, Inquisitive Minds Bristows, https://inquisitiveminds.bristows.com/post/102jiw7/whats-the-story-cma-launches-investigation-into-ticketmaster-over-oasis-debacle#page=1 (last visited Nov. 3, 2024).

[10] See Amended Complaint at 2–3, United States v. Ticketmaster Ent., Inc., No. 1:10-cv-00139- RMC (D.D.C. Jan. 29, 2010).

[11] See Ticketmaster Business, Our Story, Ticketmaster Business (2022), https://business.ticketmaster.com/our-story [https://perma.cc/KEJ8-R6CC] (last visited Nov. 3, 2024) (stating that Ticketmaster conducts business in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.).

[12] See Anu Bradford et al. “The Global Dominance of European Competition Law Over American Antitrust Law.” 16 J. of Empirical Legal Stud. 731–766 (2019). 

[13] See id.

[14] See United States v Ticketmaster Ent., Inc., No. 1:10-CV-00139, 2010 WL 5699134 (DDC July 30, 2010), amended by 1:10-CV-00139-RMC, 2020 WL 1061445 (D.D.C. Jan. 28, 2020).

[15] See id.

[16] See id.

[17] See Bradford, supra note 12 at 737.

This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.