More than a dozen states — including Utah — are demanding further accountability after Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, reached an apparent agreement with the U.S. Justice Department.
“For years, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have made it harder for Utahns to see the artists they love by driving up ticket prices and squeezing out the competition,” said Utah Attorney General Derek Brown in a statement. “I’m committed to securing the best outcome possible for Utah consumers who have been forced to pay too much at Live Nation and Ticketmaster venues.”
The $280 million settlement reached in the litigation, which was initiated in 2024, received favor from the federal government, but similar criticisms, like Utah’s, came from many other states.
The proposed deal would also require Ticketmaster and Live Nation — who were accused of running an illegal monopoly in the live concert industry — to allow other companies to sell tickets at their venues, cap certain service fees at 15% and sell off 13 of their amphitheaters, all with continual oversight from the federal government for the next eight years.
“We have never relied on exclusivity to drive our ticketing business, it has simply been the result of having the best products, services and people in the industry,” Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation, said earlier this week in a press release. “We are happy to take greater steps to empower artists and venues in their ticketing decisions, and are confident we will continue to succeed on the quality of what we deliver.”
Brown’s office cited the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, showing Utahns paid a total of $400.4 million on live entertainment in 2024.
Aside from the state’s dismay, the New York judge overseeing the case was also displeased with the tentative agreement.
The trial had been underway for a week when Manhattan Judge Arun Subramanian was blindsided by the deal and said it was “entirely unacceptable” that neither party had informed him of the terms until they had signed, per The Associated Press.
Top state attorneys have argued that the settlement does not do enough to end the monopoly Ticketmaster and Live Nation have on the concert industry.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson called it a “terrible deal” on X.
“It falls drastically short of breaking up their monopoly and it won’t stop them from squeezing fans with absurd fees, trapping artists, and bullying independent venues,” he added. “Live Nation = ticket inflation, and we’ll see them back in court shortly.”
The states alongside Utah in furthering litigation include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.
