At present on Decoder, we’re speaking concerning the main antitrust lawsuit towards Reside Nation, and what it’d imply for antitrust and competitors legislation usually now that the Justice Division below Trump has determined to settle its a part of the case. That’s at the same time as many states — together with New York, California, and Texas — keep it up the struggle.
To interrupt all of it down, I’m joined by Verge senior coverage reporter Lauren Feiner. Lauren is our resident court docket professional, by which I imply she’s been within the courtroom herself and chronicling this trial from the start.
You may be unfamiliar with the identify Reside Nation, however you’ve nearly actually encountered one among its many, many subsidiaries — probably the most notorious of those is known as Ticketmaster. Longtime Decoder listeners would possibly recall an episode we did on Ticketmaster again in 2023, within the wake of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour fiasco. That was when Ticketmaster’s web site crashed in the course of the first main rush for Eras Tour tickets. It was such a scandal, and Swifties are so politically highly effective, that Reside Nation was then dragged in entrance of Congress after widespread backlash spilled over into the mainstream.
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In 2024, the Division of Justice launched an antitrust lawsuit towards the corporate, in search of to interrupt it up — to separate Ticketmaster off from Reside Nation to attempt to fight predatory practices and growing ticket charges.
This appeared like an actual slam dunk case towards Reside Nation, no matter political affiliation — no person likes Ticketmaster, and breaking apart the corporate would rating political factors for whoever lastly pulled the set off. It was additionally purported to be an indication of robust bipartisan antitrust assist.
The lawsuit was filed below the Biden administration. So although Trump has since changed Biden’s antitrust leaders, there was good purpose to consider the brand new individuals in cost, specifically DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, would sustain the stress, particularly towards tech corporations. You would possibly keep in mind that JD Vance used to go round calling himself a fan of former FTC chief Lina Khan and calling for the breakup of Google.
However nothing concerning the second Trump admin is predictable. In early February, Gail Slater was pushed out. After which only one week into the Reside Nation trial, a part of that lawsuit got here to a sudden and surprising finish. The DOJ settled its portion of the case, extracting what many within the broader stay occasion and music industries see as weak concessions. This has stirred up accusations of outright corruption on behalf of Trump himself, who reportedly intervened within the case on to demand a speedy settlement.
However the lawsuit isn’t over but. As a result of the case towards Reside Nation additionally included dozens of U.S. states and districts, there’s nonetheless a majority of state attorneys common who’ve refused to surrender the struggle. So Reside Nation stays in court docket, combating off accusations that it operates an unlawful monopoly within the ticket enterprise, which is unlawful tied to its promotions enterprise… which is illegally tied to its venues enterprise.
However the DOJ settlement raises all types of difficult questions on the place antitrust coverage stands within the U.S. at the moment, particularly with regard to ongoing instances towards massive tech corporations like Apple and Amazon.
Lauren has been monitoring all of those developments intimately — the trial, the settlement, and now the states persevering with the struggle — so let’s get into it.
For those who’d wish to learn extra about what we mentioned on this episode, take a look at these hyperlinks:
- States’ anti-monopoly case towards Reside Nation continues Monday | The Verge
- The Reside Nation trial restarts with a ‘velvet hammer’ | The Verge
- Reside Nation settles authorities antitrust go well with — and dodges a breakup | The Verge
- The Reside Nation settlement has trade insiders baffled | The Verge
- Take heed to the Reside Nation CEO’s alleged threats to a live performance venue | The Verge
- The threats and bare-knuckle techniques of MAGA’s prime antitrust fixer | Wall Road Journal
- The Trump admin simply gave Reside Nation the present of a lifetime | The New York Occasions
- How Reside Nation allegedly terrorized the live performance trade | The Verge
- The US authorities is making an attempt to interrupt up Reside Nation-Ticketmaster | The Verge (2024)
- Taylor Swift vs. Ronald Reagan: the Ticketmaster story | Decoder (2023)
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