Who approved the Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger to begin with?
Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
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Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#12Related: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/explosive-new-documents-u... ("BIG by Matt Stoller: Explosive New Documents Unearthed On Live Nation/Ticketmaster")
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#13Without the Live Nation monopoly, tickets prices should stay the same, but the split between venue, artist, and ticket service should change, right?
Everybody would be making the same, but it would be apparent that your favorite band is the one asking too much for tickets.
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#14How bad do you have to be before the Gov files an antitrust suit these days?
IE/Netscape bad or this apparently.
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#15One important thing to know is that the venues/artists often get a kickback of part of the Ticketmaster fees. In other words, the artists, venues, producers, and Ticketmaster are in cahoots to fleece fans for as much money as possible, and Ticketmaster is willing to play the 'bad guy' and take the blame for high prices, and they get to keep a bigger slice of the overall pie than they would in a highly competitive market for ticketing services because they provide that "service".
Take away this dynamic, and the face price of tickets is going to go up, and the total price is unlikely to change substantially.
Personally, I think this would still be a net plus for society. In order for market forces to work well, you need pricing transparency.
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#16Who approved the Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger to begin with?
The merger was completed in 2010, so the Obama administration. However, the country was coming out of the great recession and the last thing the administration needed was bad PR for "stopping a merger that would prevent people from losing their jobs".
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#17How bad do you have to be before the Gov files an antitrust suit these days? IE/Netscape bad or this apparently.
Biden admin has been on an antitrust tear. Most of the big tech companies have had cases filed against them.
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#18This is already a solved problem- look at how airline seats are handled.
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#19One important thing to know is that the venues/artists often get a kickback of part of the Ticketmaster fees. In other words, the artists, venues, producers, and Ticketmaster are in cahoots to fleece fans for as much money as possible, and Ticketmaster is willing to play the 'bad guy' and take the blame for high prices, and they get to keep a bigger slice of the overall pie than they would in a highly competitive mar…
They aren’t just fleecing fans they’re also ripping off other participants in the market especially competitors. Matt Stoller has written a lot of detail about this.
Re: Justice Department to file antitrust suit against Live Nation
#20When was the last time the Justice Department actually broke up a monopoly?
Don't these suits usually result in a fine and an agreement to stop doing XYZ while both parties wink and nod, then the government lawyers go work in lucrative private practice a few years later?