Abstract
In November 2022, millions of Taylor Swift fans were angry. For the first time since 2018, Swift was going on tour. Demand was through the roof. But the process of getting tickets was a disaster. Fans waited in a queue for hours before being kicked out and were prevented from buying tickets until the general public sale, which was then canceled. Nor is that unique, as many fans have suffered a “Ticketmaster horror story” of disappearing tickets and “jumping” prices.
Live Nation Entertainment, the combination of promoter Live Nation and ticketing company Ticketmaster, blamed unexpected demand.
The company had every reason to cast blame elsewhere. But it also had no reason to care about quality. As a monopolist, it was not subject to a competitive marketplace. It could offer a bad product and not worry about customers fleeing from bots and cyberattacks. In fact, it could continue raising price.
Ticketmaster has had control over the ticketing market for decades. And after its merger with Live Nation, the top U.S. entertainment provider, in 2010, its power expanded into promotion, where it has relationships with many of the top artists. Together, the combined company appears to have engaged in multiple antitrust violations.
For starters, Ticketmaster harmed ticketing rivals by locking venues into multiyear contracts to take its ticketing services. This is “exclusive dealing.” For any venues not part of these arrangements, the company threatened: “You want our artist? You must take our tickets.” This is a classic “tying” violation.
It engaged in deception when it used “deceptive bait-and-switch tactics” in selling tickets to fans that led to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Putting together all of these—and other—actions presents an overall course of conduct that constitutes monopolization.
The typical remedies for antitrust violations lean toward the modest rather than aggressive side, such as an injunction to stop engaging in particular conduct like tying or exclusive dealing. This case is different. The 2010 merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation required the company to do certain things, like not forcing venues wishing to book Live Nation artists to use Ticketmaster’s ticketing. But there were so many breaches that the consent decree was extended. Given its numerous blatant violations, the company cannot be trusted to undertake actions a court might compel. For that reason, a breakup of Ticketmaster and Live Nation should be the preferred remedy. Additional remedies could require the company to sell venues and end the exclusive dealing arrangements, include injunctive relief against deceptive conduct, and address behavior that is part of the overall course of conduct.
Taylor Swift fans rightly were upset when Ticketmaster bungled the rollout of tickets for her 2022 tour. We should all be upset. This Article highlights the strong antitrust case against the company and remedy that can fix this.