This passage discusses the issues surrounding Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster, two major players in the live entertainment and ticketing industry.
In the beginning, the user expresses frustration about a website issue related to ticket purchases. The passage then provides background information on Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster, explaining that they merged in 2010 and currently dominate the ticketing and live event venues market.
It mentions that this monopoly isn't necessarily illegal in the U.S., similar to Google's dominance in search. However, there have been allegations of antitrust violations, particularly regarding Live Nation's retaliation against venues for not using Ticketmaster.
The passage goes on to discuss various legal actions and controversies related to Ticketmaster's ticket fees, service charges, and exclusive contracts with venues. Artists often receive a small portion of ticket sales, and some have tried to find alternatives to Ticketmaster.
There's also a debate about whether Live Nation Entertainment constitutes a monopoly and the difficulties in bringing monopolization cases to court.
In summary, this passage highlights the complex issues surrounding Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster, and the live entertainment industry, including concerns about monopolization, ticket fees, and artists' earnings.
1. The text discusses an issue with the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger, which was allegedly illegal and should have been blocked by the government.
2. Live Nation controls an estimated 70% of the ticketing and live event venues market, which might sound like a monopoly.
3. Ticketmaster's position with over 80% of the ticketing market is not very different from Google with nearly 90% of search volumes.
4. The Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger was approved in 2010 under the condition of a consent decree, forbidding Live Nation from retaliating against a venue for using a ticketer other than Ticketmaster.
5. In 2019, the Justice Department alleged that Live Nation had repeatedly violated this provision of its decree.
6. In 2022, Ticketmaster is facing an Anti-Trust investigation.
7. Live Nation has the majority of the market share in the live entertainment industry, but it does have some competition, such as AEG, Eventbrite, IMG, ASM, Global, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation, and others.
8. Ticketmaster is a ticketing platform, and it does both ticket sales and resale.
9. The text discusses a class action lawsuit filed against Live Nation in January 2022, claiming that the company has created a barrier to entry in the primary and secondary ticketing markets.
10. The text mentions that Ticketmaster started asking consumers to register as verified fans in an attempt to keep out scalpers and bots.
11. The text discusses a switch by the Barclay Center to Ticketmaster as its ticketer after making a switch to SeatGeek a competitor in 2021.
12. The text mentions that Ticketmaster controls more than 80% of the ticketing market.
13. The text discusses the debate over whether Live Nation entertainment is a monopoly.
14. The text mentions that in 2019, the Justice Department made its most significant enforcement action of an Anti-Trust decree in 20 years, alleging that Live Nation entertainment violated the 2010 decree.
15. The text discusses Ticketmaster's service fees, which can make a ticket more expensive than what a fan is planning on spending.
16. The text mentions that Lawrence and other artists get a settlement sheet from the promoter or Live Nation, which often includes a facility fee already deducted from the ticket price.
17. The text discusses the possibility of Ticketmaster and Live Nation being broken up, and the challenges involved in such a process.
18. The text discusses proposed changes to the industry, such as permitting artists to sell more tickets directly to fans, transparency around ticket fees, and allowing artists to perform at venues owned by Live Nation without having to use a particular promoter or ticketer.