While Pearl Jam have done business with Live Nation and Ticketmaster (which Live Nation now owns) recently, the legendary Seattle band were at war with Ticketmaster in the 1990’s, as they believed the company had monopolized the ticketing market. Pearl Jam eventually lost their legal battle, but now over 20 years later the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating monopolistic behavior by Live Nation/Ticketmaster, so Pearl Jam’s initial argument from the 90’s may finally get the last laugh.
“Now Department of Justice officials are looking into serious accusations about Live Nation’s behavior in the marketplace,” a New York Times article published on Sunday claims. “They have been reviewing complaints that Live Nation, which manages 500 artists, including U2 and Miley Cyrus, has used its control over concert tours to pressure venues into contracting with its subsidiary, Ticketmaster.”
The report continues, “The company’s chief competitor, AEG, has told the officials that venues it manages that serve Atlanta; Las Vegas; Minneapolis; Salt Lake City; Louisville; and Oakland were told they would lose valuable shows if Ticketmaster was not used as a vendor, a possible violation of antitrust law.”
The Times quotes Beau Buffier, the chief of the New York Attorney General’s Antitrust Bureau: “The Consent Decree was supposed to prevent Live Nation from using its strength in live entertainment to foreclose competition in ticketing,” he explained. “But it is now widely seen as the poster child for the problems that arise when enforcers adopt these temporary fixes to limit the anticompetitive effects of deeply problematic vertical mergers.”
Ticketmaster president Jared Smith posted a response:
“The New York Times article suggests that any benefits of being a vertically integrated company are, in and of themselves, anticompetitive They insinuate that we “condition” content. That we “retaliate” when Ticketmaster is not selected as a venue’s ticketing partner. In short, they say we have stifled competition.
The reality is that none of these things are true. It is absolutely against Live Nation and Ticketmaster policy to threaten venues that they won’t get any Live Nation shows if they don’t use Ticketmaster. We also do not re-route content as retaliation for a lost ticketing deal. Live Nation is the most artist-focused company in the world, and misusing our relationship with artists to ‘settle scores’ with venues would be both bad business and counter to our core beliefs.”
