US seeks to break up Live Nation, Ticketmaster over alleged monopoly

The US Department of Justice filed a major antitrust lawsuit Thursday seeking to break up an alleged monopoly in the live music industry between concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary, bookings website Ticketmaster. "It is time to break up Live Nation." Widespread outages and exorbitant fees caused an uproar, with lawmakers in Washington holding hearings to question Live Nation executives over the debacle. The move against Live Nation also comes as the Biden administration, according to polls, is seen by voters as failing to do enough to curb inflation. Ticketmaster was accused of organizing a boycott of Pearl Jam by live venues and the band eventually gave up its campaign against the ticketing giant.