The Antitrust Case Against Live Nation Entertainment.

One of many "Ticketmaster horror stories" is the ticketing fiasco of the 2022 Taylor Swift tour, with tickets removed from baskets and fans kicked out of the queue, unable to buy tickets. Live Nation Entertainment, the combination of promoter Live Nation and ticketing company Ticketmaster, blamed unexpected demand. But while the company had an incentive to cast blame elsewhere, it also had no reason to care about quality. As a monopolist, it was not subject to a competitive marketplace. It could offer a bad product and not worry about customers fleeing from bots and cyberattacks. Ticketmaster has had control over the ticketing market for decades. And after its merger with Live Nation, the top U.S. entertainment provider, in 2010, its power expanded into promotion, where it has relationships with many of the top artists. Together, the combined company appears to have engaged in multiple antitrust violations. For starters, Ticketmaster harmed ticketing rivals by locking venues into multiyear contracts to take its ticketing services. This is "exclusive dealing." For any venues not part of these arrangements, the company threatened: "You want our artist? You must take our tickets." This is a classic "tying" violation. It engaged in deception when it used "bait-and-switch tactics" in selling tickets to fans that led to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Putting together all of these--and other--actions presents an overall course of conduct that constitutes monopolization. The typical remedies for antitrust violations lean toward the modest rather than aggressive side. This case is different. The 2010 merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation required the company to not force venues wishing to book Live Nation artists to use Ticketmaster's ticketing. But there were so many breaches that the consent decree was extended. Given its numerous blatant violations, the company cannot be trusted to undertake actions a court might compel. For that reason, a breakup of Ticketmaster and Live Nation should be the preferred remedy. Taylor Swift fans rightly were upset when Ticketmaster bungled the rollout of tickets for her 2022 tour. We should all be upset. This Article highlights the strong antitrust case against the company and remedy that can fix this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]