The US is suing festival organizer Live Nation

The US Department of Justice is suing Live Nation over its monopoly status. Live Nation is the world’s largest concert and festival organizer, the Dutch branch is called Mojo and organizes the likes of Lowlands, Pinkpop and Down the Rabbit Hole.

Live Nation has long been criticized, especially in the United States Big failure On Taylor Swift’s last tour and A Queue around dynamic ticket prices With Bruce Springsteen. The company has been criticized for being too powerful because they not only organize events but also own the ticketing company Ticketmaster and many event venues.

In the case, the Justice Department and 29 states (including New York, California and Texas) alleged that Live Nation and Ticketmaster engaged in a variety of anti-competitive conduct, including retaliating against other advertisers and venues that cooperated with competitors; excluding competitors with long-term, exclusive ticket deals; restricting musicians’ access to live event venues and strategically purchasing smaller, independent companies that Live Nation saw as threats to its dominance.

In the US, Live Nation and Ticketmaster can no longer be the same entity, the ministry said. The request comes 14 years after the two merged. This was agreed at the time on the condition that Live Nation would not pressure concert venues to conduct ticket sales through Ticketmaster. But, according to the authorities, it is true.

Netherlands

In the United States, Live Nation/Ticketmaster owns an estimated 80% of the ticketing industry, and 60% of all concert and festival venues. These percentages are lower in the Netherlands, but here too the company has a very powerful position.

Live Nation operates here under the name Mojo and organizes festivals such as Pinkpop, Lowlands and Down the Rabbit Hole. They also own Ticketmaster and venues like AFAS Live and Zigo Dome. Here too, there is growing criticism from the industry that it is very difficult for outside parties to arrange something due to the exclusive contracts artists or venues have with Mojo. For example, last year when Ticketmaster charged higher service fees to resell Lowlands tickets, or during the company’s ongoing battle with resale platform TicketSwap, public tensions have periodically risen.

In Belgium, Rock Verture and Bukkelpop are organized by Live Nation Belgium. They also own Sportpaleis and Lotto Arena.