Justice Department Said to Investigate Ticketmaster’s Parent Company

Two people with knowledge of the matter said that the Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into the owner of the company. Live Nation may have abused its power over the live music industry.

The power has been in the spotlight since Ms. Swift fans were unable to buy tickets in a pre-sale.

Staff members at the agency's antitrust division have contacted music venues and players in the ticket market, asking about Live Nation's practices and the wider dynamics of the industry. One of the people said the inquiry looked at whether the company maintained a monopoly over the industry.

Live Nation didn't say anything. The spokeswoman for the Justice Department didn't say anything.

The boundaries of antitrust law have been pushed by officials in the Biden administration. The Justice Department succeeded in blocking the purchase of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House but lost other cases. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission.

Live Nation Entertainment was approved by the Justice Department in 2010 as the result of a merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster. That created a giant in the live entertainment business that has no equal.

In its last year of business, Live Nation put on 40,000 events around the world and sold over 500 million tickets through its website. The personal representatives who negotiate business deals for artists are one of the biggest powers of Live Nation. Live Nation had more than 450 artists and 100 managers. It doesn't manage Ms.Swift.

The merger was approved by the Justice Department despite opposition from the music industry. Live Nation could not threaten concert venues with losing access to its tours if they used other ticketing providers. The terms were set to last a decade.

The Justice Department found that Live Nation had violated this provision multiple times. The terms of the settlement were extended by five years, and some of the language in the agreement was changed to clarify what the company could and couldn't do.

One of the people with knowledge of the matter said that Justice Department staff members inquired about Live Nation's compliance with the agreement. Changing a company's structure is the best way to settle antitrust concerns according to officials at the agency.

The debacle involving Ms. Swift's concert tickets this week has added to complaints that Live Nation's power has constrained competition and harmed consumers. It was an example of extraordinary demand for a commodity that is hard to find.

The problems started Tuesday when fans who were interested in buying tickets to Ms. Swift's Eras tour were given access codes.

3.5 million fans registered for the program after a post about it was published on Thursday. Two million customers were placed on a waiting list after the company invited 1.5 million of them to the pre-sale.

Some people who were in the process of buying tickets with their codes were unable to complete their transactions due to the crash of the app. Two million tickets were sold in one day. There was a Capital One card sale on Wednesday.

Friday's public ticket sale was canceled by the company Thursday afternoon. It was not known how many tickets had been sold.

In her first comments about the ticketing debacle, Ms. Swift said she was looking into how it could be improved. She expressed her disappointment in the ticket seller.

We were assured that they could handle this kind of demand and we asked them multiple times if they could.