Citing Violations, U.S. to Toughen Live Nation Accord on Ticketing
The revised decree would be designed to make clearer the restriction that Live Nation is not allowed to threaten venues in any way, and may not retaliate against venues that decide to use a system other than Ticketmaster.
The Justice Department said it would appoint an independent monitor to investigate and report on Live Nation’s activities, and the company agreed to appoint an internal antitrust compliance officer. In the future, Live Nation will pay an “automatic penalty†of $1 million for each violation, the government said.
Live Nation has long denied violating the decree, saying that it had not threatened venues and faces a vigorous field of competition in ticketing. It did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the agreement with the government.
But competitors had complained to the Justice Department about several incidents over the years in Louisville, Ky.; Oakland, Calif.; Los Angeles, and other cities, where they said Live Nation had used its power over concert tours by major stars to strong-arm venues into using Ticketmaster.
In the incident in Louisville, in 2014, managers of the KFC Yum! Center, a 22,000-seat arena, were considering replacing Ticketmaster with a system run by Live Nation’s biggest rival, AEG. But officials at AEG told The New York Times last year that they had received a warning from a Live Nation executive, saying the Louisville arena was likely to lose concerts if it dropped Ticketmaster. AEG said it had reported this to Justice investigators.
Live Nation disputed the account and supplied data showing that since 2012, the number of tours it has sent to the KFC Yum! Center has increased.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/arts/music/live-nation-ticketmaster-settlement-justice-department.html?emc=rss&partner=rss