RPT-BREAKINGVIEWS-Live Nation deal reprises trustbuster cringe

By Jonathan Guilford

NEW YORK, March 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Trustbusters are playing the oldies, but not golden ones. The U.S. Department of Justice settled its lawsuit against Live Nation LYV.N, which dominates the concert scene, accepting more promises of good behavior instead of pursuing a split. It's a reprise of bad policy, further drowning out new-wave anti-monopoly bangers.

Live Nation and its Ticketmaster division count few fans beyond the shareholder register. Whether botching sales for megastar Taylor Swift or larding on fees to buy stadium seats, the $40 billion company has irritated musicians, revelers and rivals since the 2010 merger that created a vertically integrated behemoth.

With its control of some 460 venues while promoting hundreds of artists and selling the access to see them, Live Nation exerted its influence over independent establishments, the U.S. government alleged. The company’s share of various markets is enormous, with the DOJ pointing to one arena executive’s testimony that it accounts for 80% of tickets sold for big venues.

Concerns about the undue power stretch back more than 15 years. As part of the merger approval, Live Nation agreed to license its ticketing platform to a competitor, divest a unit, and not to abuse the vast amounts of data it collected.

Along with other merger settlements from the era, including one sealing Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal, Live Nation's consent decree – and its dependence on so-called behavioral remedies -- revitalized hardline antitrust thinkers. Their aggressive agenda gained traction during President Donald Trump’s first term and took hold under President Joe Biden. In 2019, the DOJ said Live Nation violated the terms of an earlier deal and extended it with new ones.

Despite his broken-record routine, boss Michael Rapino scored another hit this week. Granted, the latest agreement is far broader than previous ones, reopening old exclusive contracts to renegotiation, demanding the creation of a new system for other ticketers and capping some fees. It more fully targets Live Nation in its wide breadth of control over events. There is a pragmatic element, too: a judge nixed certain DOJ claims and potentially weakened others.

Only a breakup, however, would make Live Nation and Ticketmaster solo acts again. States that had joined the case vowed to keep fighting, but may find it hard to do so. Worse, this settlement comes under a cloud of worries about enforcement, after the agency’s antitrust chief resigned and a challenge to a major tech deal vanished. After years of dancing to a new tune, antitrust is sadly spinning the same old song.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Live Nation Entertainment, a concert-venue owner, promoter and ticket seller, said on March 9 that it had reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over a lawsuit accusing it of exercising monopoly power across multiple markets.

Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation’s Ticketmaster unit must implement a standardized software interface through which venues can distribute tickets using any third-party marketplace. It also limits Ticketmaster's ability to enter into exclusive contracts with major concert venues, and allows venues under existing contracts that are set to last for more than four more years to loosen exclusivity provisions.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said her state, along with others that had joined the litigation, will continue to fight the case, rejecting the settlement.