Live Nation Is In Trouble With The Justice Department And What That Means For Concert Ticketing
The huge concert promoter Live Nation owns Ticketmaster and 80% of the concert business, and that can lead to some unsavory practices. That’s apparently the conclusion of the U.S. Justice Department as it prepares to take action against the company for practices that ultimately have meant higher ticket prices for consumers.
When the company purchased Ticketmaster in 2010 it made promises that it would operate in a way to maintain competition in the ticketing marketplace so that prices wouldn’t increase for ticket buyers. Reportedly, the Justice Department believes that because of its practices, ticket prices for concerts have actually increased by 50%, with an average ticket price now at $92.42, according to concert industry magazine Pollstar.
The consent decree signed in 2010 by the Live Nation is set to expire next year, but the government wants this extended to be sure that the company behaves under its terms.
The problem is that it appears that despite the consent decree, ticket prices continue to rise, and while some of that is due to the demands of artists (who enjoy most of the proceeds from the face value of a ticket), the ever-unpopular “service charges” continue to pile up.
Just about every consumer hates these additional charges as the price of the ticket can rise as much as 50% over face value. The buyer is deceived as to the exact price they’ll have to pay.
About the only thing that will change these practices is either a consumer revolt, which is unlikely to happen, or a forced abstinence from ticket purchases do to a recession (which is predicted to happen soon).
Even if the Justice Department wins its case when it’s brought, we probably won’t see any roll back of ticket prices anyway. About the best we can expect is that the line on pricing is held for a few more years.
Still, the grumbling about ticket prices is heard only before the concert. It’s all forgotten in the aftermath.
