Attorney General Dana Nessel is supporting the United States Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and their subsidy Ticketmaster for accusations of operating an illegal monopoly that many say stifles competition and inflates ticket prices.
With Nessel now on board, Michigan’s AG now joins Attorneys General of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
“Michigan concertgoers deserve the chance to experience the thrill of seeing their favorite artist live, in a venue close to home, without breaking the bank,” Nessel said in an official statement. “Unfortunately, this dream is out of reach for many because of Live Nation’s illegal monopoly. A truly competitive marketplace is essential to providing consumers with choice. That’s why I, along with the Department of Justice and other states, are taking a stand against Live Nation’s practices that limit choice, hamper innovation, and unfairly inflate prices.”
Live Nation and Ticketmaster officially merged back in 2009 and the DOJ says that they control 60% of concert promotions at major venues around the country and around 80% of primary ticketing at major concert venues.
Live Nation has denied the allegations and pushes back against the idea of breaking up their company would result in lower ticket prices and/or fees, and a spokesman added the the lawsuit “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from increasing production costs to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary tickets cost.”
