THE BIG STORY: It ain’t over yet. A week after the U.S. Department of Justice reached an abrupt settlement in its blockbuster antitrust case against Live Nation, a coalition of more than two dozen states resumed a jury trial after refusing to sign onto the deal struck by the feds.
The DOJ settlement calls for Live Nation to change certain practices that have allegedly stifled competition in live music. But it does not require the company to divest Ticketmaster — the original stated aim of the case filed by the DOJ and more than 40 state attorneys general.
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As a result, a group of 26 states was back in court on Monday (March 16) to take the lawsuit forward without the help of the feds. “Any resolution in this case must actually serve consumers, the marketplace and the law,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. To handle the case without the DOJ, the states hired veteran antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, who has won landmark cases against the NFL and NCAA.
The states’ resolve to keep fighting was no doubt helped last week when a trove of embarrassing internal Live Nation messages was unsealed on the docket. The trove revealed two company execs bragging about how much they could charge fans, including a message that said they were “robbing them blind” and another that read, “These people are so stupid.”
The messages even drew blowback from Kid Rock, a strong supporter of the Trump administration that struck the deal with Live Nation: “THIS IS WHAT THE F**K I HAVE BEEN SCREAMING ABOUT FOR YEARS,” the rocker wrote on X. Being social media, his post was quickly met with responses like: “Wait until you find out who let them off the hook.”
Also on Monday, Senate Democrats released a report calling for Live Nation and Ticketmaster to be broken up and harshly criticizing the DOJ settlement. The report detailed alleged ways in which Ticketmaster has “abused its monopoly power,” including its push for dynamic pricing. Live Nation criticized the report, saying it “misrepresents how the live events industry works.”
As the case moves ahead, the jury is expected to hear testimony for several more weeks. Stick with Billboard for updates — we’re providing weekly trial recaps each Friday covering all the major action in the courtroom and why it matters.
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