The U.S. Department of Justice and a collection of states has filed an antitrust suit against Live Nation and is seeking to break up the company behind Ticketmaster.
The suit seeks to effectively undo the merger, with Attorney General Merrick Garland saying “It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster.”
Ticketmaster, the suit claims, uses unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise a monopolistic control over the live events industry. The suit accuses the company of retaliating against firms that try to compete with it and has threatened and retaliated against venues that work with other ticket companies.
Additionally, it said, concert venues are locked into long-term contracts that do not allow them to work with other ticket companies and artists are restricted to performing at Live Nation-owned venues.
“The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,” Garland said.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, was filed in conjunction with 30 state and district attorneys general.
Shares of Live Nation were down 5% on the news Thursday morning.
